📷 Photography · photo editing history

Provenance · x402

A non-destructive editing ledger where every adjustment layer is captured on-chain. Producers pay 0.01 USDC to 'Rollback' or 'Fork' an edit state, turning creative history into a verifiable, liquid asset. Pay-per-reversion ensures accountability while rewarding creators who share their workflow 'recipes' for others to learn from.

Base + x402 paywall· x402 native
Section · Onchain

The primitive.

full primer →

The onchain primitive runs at the right moment in the flow and surfaces a clear, verifiable result that photographers can act on without web3 jargon.

Why this primitiveBy monetizing the granular steps of the editing process (the 'history' rather than just the 'result'), we shift the value from a static JPEG to the intellectual property of the process itself. x402 handles the micro-metering required for high-frequency undo/redo or state-branching actions.

Kernel
an x402 pay-per-use paywall on Base Sepolia — Privy embedded wallet signs EIP-3009 USDC authorizations, a same-origin proxy relays PAYMENT-SIGNATURE to a facilitator (PayAI) that settles 0.01 USDC and returns a Base tx hash in PAYMENT-RESPONSE
Drives the UI as
a 4-step flow log (Challenge → Sign → Retry → Settle) that ends with a live BaseScan tx link proving the micropayment cleared
Appendix · Secrets

Required keys.

METAMASK_PRIVATE_KEY
Exported from MetaMask. Fund on Base Sepolia via the Coinbase faucet.
open ↗
BASE_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL
Alchemy Base Sepolia HTTPS endpoint (or https://sepolia.base.org).
open ↗
ETHERSCAN_API_KEY
Single Etherscan v2 key — covers BaseScan (chainId 84532) with no extra key.
open ↗
PRIVY_APP_ID
Enables Google sign-in and sponsored Base Sepolia transactions.
open ↗
PINATA_JWT
Pins images / JSON / manifests to IPFS.
open ↗

Add these in your Lovable project under Settings → Secrets before pasting the prompt below.

Appendix · Mega-prompt

The build prompt.

Paste into a fresh Lovable project. Make sure all five secrets above are set first. read the build strategy →

Build "Provenance" in ONE Lovable message. Single-page x402-native paid app on Base Sepolia.

CONCEPT
A non-destructive editing ledger where every adjustment layer is captured on-chain. Producers pay 0.01 USDC to 'Rollback' or 'Fork' an edit state, turning creative history into a verifiable, liquid asset. Pay-per-reversion ensures accountability while rewarding creators who share their workflow 'recipes' for others to learn from.
Discipline: Photography (photo editing history).
Onchain primitive: x402 micropayments on Base Sepolia (USDC via EIP-3009). Why: By monetizing the granular steps of the editing process (the 'history' rather than just the 'result'), we shift the value from a static JPEG to the intellectual property of the process itself. x402 handles the micro-metering required for high-frequency undo/redo or state-branching actions.

5-CREDIT BUDGET (HARD LIMIT):
- ONE single-page app. No Lovable Cloud, no database, no auth flows beyond Privy drop-in.
- NO smart contract deploy. x402 settles USDC via EIP-3009 `transferWithAuthorization` — the USDC contract already exists at 0x036CbD53842c5426634e7929541eC2318f3dCF7e on Base Sepolia (chainId 84532).
- Privy is the auth + signing layer (Google login + embedded wallet on Base Sepolia).
- At most ONE AI call per user action (Lovable AI Gateway with LOVABLE_API_KEY, only if AI is part of the idea).
- Skip tests, skip CI, skip docs. Ship the demo.

STACK
- React + Vite + TanStack Start (the template Lovable ships).
- Privy embedded wallet wraps <App /> in src/main.tsx:
    <PrivyProvider appId={import.meta.env.VITE_PRIVY_APP_ID}
      config={{ loginMethods:['google'], embeddedWallets:{createOnLogin:'users-without-wallets'},
                defaultChain:{ id: 84532, name:'Base Sepolia' } }}>
- viem public client uses Alchemy Base Sepolia — put the URL in src/data/rpc.json as
  { "baseSepolia": "https://base-sepolia.g.alchemy.com/v2/<KEY>" } and use
  createPublicClient({ chain: baseSepolia, transport: http(rpc.baseSepolia) }).
  The default public RPC is rate-limited — Alchemy is required for USDC balanceOf.

TEN NON-OBVIOUS x402 RULES (get these wrong and it silently fails)
1. CORS: proxy the facilitator. Public x402 facilitators (including x402.payai.network) do NOT send
   Access-Control-Allow-Origin. A direct browser fetch throws "TypeError: Failed to fetch" BEFORE
   you see the 402. Wrap the upstream call in a same-origin TanStack server route at
   src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts and forward PAYMENT-SIGNATURE (request) + PAYMENT-RESPONSE (response).
2. x402 v2 envelope shape. The base64-encoded PAYMENT-SIGNATURE payload is NOT
   { scheme, network, payload } at top level — that's v1 and PayAI rejects it as invalid_payload.
   It MUST be:
     { "x402Version": 2,
       "accepted": { /* the full PaymentRequirement you picked, echoed back verbatim */ },
       "payload":  { "signature": "0x…",
                     "authorization": { from, to, value, validAfter, validBefore, nonce } } }
3. Network id is CAIP-2: "eip155:84532" for Base Sepolia (NOT "base-sepolia"). Match on this
   when picking a requirement from accepts[].
4. Amount field renamed. v2 uses `amount` (atomic units, string), NOT v1's `maxAmountRequired`.
   USDC has 6 decimals — "10000" = 0.01 USDC.
5. Header names are literal-cased and non-standard: PAYMENT-SIGNATURE (request) and PAYMENT-RESPONSE (response).
6. EIP-3009 domain fields come from requirement.extra. Use extra.name ("USDC") and extra.version ("2")
   in the EIP-712 domain — NOT hardcoded. chainId is 84532; verifyingContract is requirement.asset.
7. nonce is bytes32 random, generated client-side (crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(32)) → 0x-hex).
   Never reuse. validAfter = now-60s, validBefore = now + maxTimeoutSeconds (default 300).
8. Sign via Privy embedded wallet's provider, NOT React hooks: get the EIP-1193 provider
   (const provider = await embedded.getEthereumProvider()) and call
   provider.request({ method: "eth_signTypedData_v4", params: [address, JSON.stringify(typedData)] }).
9. Alchemy RPC in src/data/rpc.json (rule above). USDC balanceOf against the default public RPC will flake.
10. Fund flow uses Circle faucet (https://faucet.circle.com/, choose Base Sepolia). Show the user's
    Privy address prominently, link to the faucet, then a "Refresh balance" button. ~10s arrival.

FILE LAYOUT
  src/data/x402.json          { endpoint, proxy, usdcAddress: "0x036CbD53842c5426634e7929541eC2318f3dCF7e",
                                chainId: 84532, network: "eip155:84532",
                                faucetUrl: "https://faucet.circle.com/",
                                explorer: "https://sepolia.basescan.org" }
  src/data/rpc.json           { "baseSepolia": "https://base-sepolia.g.alchemy.com/v2/<KEY>" }
  src/lib/x402.ts             fetchChallenge / pickRequirement / signPayment / fetchPaid
  src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts   same-origin GET proxy (below)
  src/routes/index.tsx        demo UI: sign-in → fund → 4-step flow log

PROXY ROUTE (drop-in — copy verbatim):
```ts
// src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts
import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";
import x402Cfg from "@/data/x402.json";

export const Route = createFileRoute("/api/public/x402-proxy")({
  server: {
    handlers: {
      GET: async ({ request }) => {
        const sig = request.headers.get("PAYMENT-SIGNATURE");
        const upstream = await fetch(x402Cfg.endpoint, {
          method: "GET",
          headers: sig ? { "PAYMENT-SIGNATURE": sig } : {},
        });
        const body = await upstream.arrayBuffer();
        const out = new Headers();
        const ct = upstream.headers.get("content-type");
        if (ct) out.set("Content-Type", ct);
        const pr = upstream.headers.get("PAYMENT-RESPONSE");
        if (pr) out.set("PAYMENT-RESPONSE", pr);
        return new Response(body, { status: upstream.status, headers: out });
      },
    },
  },
});
```

The /api/public/* prefix bypasses Lovable's published-site auth — desired for a demo endpoint.

USER FLOW (log every step in the UI so the user sees what happened)
1. Land on page → "Sign in with Google" (Privy) → embedded wallet auto-provisioned on Base Sepolia.
2. Fund: show wallet address + "Get 0.01 USDC on Base Sepolia" → link to https://faucet.circle.com/
   → "Refresh balance" button reads USDC balanceOf via viem + Alchemy RPC.
3. Click the primary action button for this idea (photo editing history). App runs:
   (a) Challenge — GET /api/public/x402-proxy → expect 402 → parse { x402Version:2, accepts:[…], error }.
       Pick accepts[] where network === "eip155:84532" && scheme === "exact".
   (b) Sign — Build EIP-3009 typed data (see rules 6–8), call Privy signTypedData,
       wrap into the v2 envelope (rule 2), base64.
   (c) Retry — GET /api/public/x402-proxy with header PAYMENT-SIGNATURE: <base64>.
   (d) Settle — On 200, read PAYMENT-RESPONSE header, base64-decode →
       { success, transaction, network, payer }. Link tx to `${explorer}/tx/${transaction}`.
4. Footer renders: "Built during the Creative AI & Quantum Hackathon organised by StreetKode Fam during Indian Krump Festival 14"

FACILITATOR
Default endpoint: https://x402.payai.network/api/base-sepolia/paid-content (returns 402 with an
accepts[] challenge, settles 0.01 USDC per successful call, returns the protected payload).

REQUIRED SECRETS (Lovable → Project Settings → Secrets):
- PRIVY_APP_ID                  Google sign-in + embedded wallet. Docs: https://docs.privy.io/llms-full.txt
- ALCHEMY_BASE_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL  Free at https://dashboard.alchemy.com/ (create app, Base Sepolia,
                                copy HTTPS URL). Also expose as VITE_ALCHEMY_BASE_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL
                                so the frontend viem client can read balances.

COMMON FAILURE MODES (fix these before shipping)
- "TypeError: Failed to fetch" at step (a): called the facilitator directly from the browser. Use the proxy.
- "invalid_payload" at step (c): sent v1 envelope. Wrap under `accepted` (rule 2).
- "invalid_signature": wrong domain — chainId mismatch, or extra.version hardcoded to "1".
  Use chainId 84532 and extra.version from the requirement.
- "insufficient_funds": wallet has ETH but no USDC. Fund via Circle faucet, then Refresh balance.
- Balance stays at 0 after faucet: reading against default public RPC. Wire Alchemy via rpc.json.
- expires_at errors on retry: clock skew or reused nonce. Generate fresh nonce + timestamps per attempt.

CREDIT (must appear in UI footer):
Built during the Creative AI & Quantum Hackathon organised by StreetKode Fam during Indian Krump Festival 14
Appendix · Market

Market sizing.

TAM
$4.2B
The global creative software economy moving toward transparent, AI-interactive workflows.
SAM
$450M
The digital asset management and professional photo editing tool market for creators.
SOM
$12M
High-stakes commercial photography, forensics, and AI-training datasets requiring verifiable human edit-trails.

Indicative figures for hackathon pitches — refine with your own research before raising.

See also

Adjacent entries.