Cortex

External Tester Quickstart

Use this path to test the hosted Cortex Base Sepolia deployment without cloning the repo or getting database access.

Hosted Surfaces

1. Prepare a Wallet

  1. Use MetaMask, Rabby, Coinbase Smart Wallet, or another EIP-1193 wallet.
  2. Add or switch to Base Sepolia.
  3. Fund the wallet with a small amount of Base Sepolia ETH for gas and test payments.
  4. Open /onboarding and connect the wallet.

2. Request a Hosted API Key

Hosted document writes require X-Cortex-Api-Key. The web app can request one for you from the Hosted API key panel.

  1. In /onboarding, open the Hosted API key panel.
  2. Click Request key.
  3. Sign the wallet message. This does not submit a transaction or spend funds.
  4. The returned key is stored in browser local storage and used for hosted document writes.
Cortex API key request
address: <your-lowercase-wallet-address>
issued_at: <unix-seconds>

3. Register a Merchant and Service

  1. Open /onboarding.
  2. Stay on Merchant setup, enter the merchant fields, publish the profile, then register the merchant.
  3. Switch to Service, enter service details, publish metadata and catalog, then register the service.
  4. Wait a few seconds for the dashboard to show newly indexed records after each transaction.

4. Register an Agent and Policy

  1. Switch to Agent setup.
  2. Register the agent identity.
  3. In Spending policy, add a policy for your merchant or choose Any merchant for open purchasing.
  4. For the simplest native payment path, use the zero address token and zero address facilitator.
  5. Save the policy and confirm the wallet transaction.

5. Run a Purchase

  1. Open /purchase-simulator.
  2. Select your merchant, service, and agent from Registered context.
  3. Keep Direct transfer with native testnet ETH for the first run.
  4. Commit quote, send native ETH, record receipt, and record fulfillment.
  5. Wait roughly 5-10 seconds for indexing before checking dashboards.

6. Verify

Check the protocol, merchant, and agent dashboards, or use the public read APIs:

export API_URL=https://cortex-api.projectaegis.ai
export ADDRESS=0xYourWallet

curl "$API_URL/merchants?owner=$ADDRESS&active=true"
curl "$API_URL/agents?owner=$ADDRESS&limit=50"
curl "$API_URL/receipts?agent=$ADDRESS&limit=50"
curl "$API_URL/analytics/commerce"

Troubleshooting

  • 401 API key required: request a key from the Hosted API key panel, then retry the publish action.
  • Wallet prompts on the wrong network: switch to Base Sepolia and retry.
  • Missing dashboard data immediately after a transaction: wait a few seconds for the indexer and refresh.
  • Empty merchant dropdown in the simulator: register a merchant/service first, or use seeded demo merchants if available.
  • Direct native payment is the lowest-friction path. ERC-20, facilitator, swap, and x402 flows may need token setup or approvals.