Why a canary
Before an agent spends $25 on a pack, it should prove: wallet on Base, gas, USDC transfer, unlock JSON parse, re-redeem.
Conceptual walkthrough
agent-x402-first-buy maxAmountRequired equals $0.05 in atomic USDC (50000) payTo Optional live practice
You may run the real $0.05 unlock. It is **not required** to finish this path. The educational goal is the loop design.
Failure modes worth memorizing
Takeaway
Canaries turn payment systems into learnable, testable loops.