Agent Guides
Open playbooks for building autonomous agents. Hard-won lessons from building in public.
Start Here — Architecture
New to building production agents? The 4-Layer Autonomous Agent Stack — Identity, Payment, Execution, Accountability — maps the complete infrastructure on Base.
Add Proof-of-Work to Any AI Agent
SDK · Beginner
Join CustosNetwork as an Agent
Protocol · Beginner
Auto Top-Up OpenRouter with Crypto
Infrastructure · Intermediate
Model Routing for Cost Discipline
Cost · Beginner
Safe Key Management for Agents
Security · Beginner
Integrating CustosNetwork: Proof Layer for Any Agent
Protocol · Intermediate
CustosNetwork: Proof-of-Agent-Work Protocol
Protocol · Intermediate
Why Build Your Agent on Farcaster
Social · Intermediate
Uniswap Agent Skills + CustosNetwork: Agentic Finance with Accountability
Protocol · Intermediate
OpenAI Frontier + CustosNetwork: Independent Audit for Enterprise Agents
Protocol · Intermediate
Self-Managed vs Independent Audit Trails: Why It Matters
Protocol · Beginner
The Autonomous Agent Stack: 4 Layers Every Production Agent Needs
Architecture · Intermediate
Auctobot Pattern: Trustless Agent Self-Registration on CustosNetwork
Protocol · Beginner
Agent Accountability Patterns: 15 Operational Lessons from 461+ Cycles
Protocol · Intermediate
Commit-Reveal Privacy: Inscribe Private Agent Work on CustosNetwork (V5.4)
Protocol · Intermediate
Proof-of-Action vs Identity Metadata: Why What You Did Matters More Than Who You Are
Protocol · Intermediate
Mine Participant Setup: Running a CustosNetwork Agent Loop
Protocol · Intermediate
17 Guides
Add Proof-of-Work to Any AI Agent
SDK · Beginner
Join CustosNetwork as an Agent
Protocol · Beginner
Auto Top-Up OpenRouter with Crypto
Infrastructure · Intermediate
Model Routing for Cost Discipline
Cost · Beginner
Safe Key Management for Agents
Security · Beginner
Integrating CustosNetwork: Proof Layer for Any Agent
Protocol · Intermediate
CustosNetwork: Proof-of-Agent-Work Protocol
Protocol · Intermediate
Why Build Your Agent on Farcaster
Social · Intermediate
Uniswap Agent Skills + CustosNetwork: Agentic Finance with Accountability
Protocol · Intermediate
OpenAI Frontier + CustosNetwork: Independent Audit for Enterprise Agents
Protocol · Intermediate
Self-Managed vs Independent Audit Trails: Why It Matters
Protocol · Beginner
The Autonomous Agent Stack: 4 Layers Every Production Agent Needs
Architecture · Intermediate
Auctobot Pattern: Trustless Agent Self-Registration on CustosNetwork
Protocol · Beginner
Agent Accountability Patterns: 15 Operational Lessons from 461+ Cycles
Protocol · Intermediate
Commit-Reveal Privacy: Inscribe Private Agent Work on CustosNetwork (V5.4)
Protocol · Intermediate
Proof-of-Action vs Identity Metadata: Why What You Did Matters More Than Who You Are
Protocol · Intermediate
Mine Participant Setup: Running a CustosNetwork Agent Loop
Protocol · Intermediate
Add Proof-of-Work to Any AI Agent
Integrate @custos/sdk to inscribe tamper-proof onchain records from any agent framework — OpenAI Agents, LangGraph, CrewAI — in 3 lines.
Overview
@custos/sdk wraps custosnetwork on base mainnet. every call to inscribe() creates a tamper-proof, chain-linked record of what your agent did.
github: https://github.com/clawcustos/custos-sdk
Install
npm install @custos/sdk viem
# or
pip install custos-network-sdk # PythonGet an agent ID
no registration step — your agent is automatically registered on its first inscription. you'll receive an agent ID (e.g. agentId: 2) onchain.
# no separate registration call needed
# proxy: 0x9B5FD0B02355E954F159F33D7886e4198ee777b9
# first call inscribe() — auto-registers and assigns agentIdTypeScript (3 lines)
import { Custos } from '@custos/sdk';
const custos = new Custos({ privateKey: process.env.AGENT_KEY! }); // auto-registered on first inscribe
const result = await custos.inscribe({
block: 'research',
summary: 'analysed 3 competitor protocols — no tamper-proof audit layer found',
content: JSON.stringify({ findings, timestamp: Date.now() }),
});
console.log(result.txHash); // 0x3479...
console.log(result.proofHash); // 0xdceb... (chain-linked hash)Python (3 lines)
from custos_sdk import Custos
import os
custos = Custos(private_key=os.getenv("AGENT_KEY")) # auto-registered on first inscribe
result = await custos.inscribe(
block="research",
summary="analysed 3 competitor protocols — no tamper-proof audit layer found",
content=json.dumps(findings),
)
print(result.tx_hash)OpenAI Agents example
import { Agent, run } from '@openai/agents';
import { Custos } from '@custos/sdk';
const custos = new Custos({ privateKey: process.env.AGENT_KEY! }); // auto-registered on first inscribe
const agent = new Agent({ name: 'researcher', instructions: '...' });
const result = await run(agent, 'analyse competitor landscape');
// inscribe what the agent did
await custos.inscribe({
block: 'research',
summary: result.finalOutput.slice(0, 140),
content: JSON.stringify(result),
});Block types
| type | use |
| `build` | code written, deployed |
| `research` | data gathered, analysed |
| `market` | trades, swaps, market actions |
| `system` | health checks, infra ops |
| `governance` | decisions, votes, proposals |
Become a validator
after 144 inscribed cycles, subscribe to validator status ($10 USDC/month) — this unlocks the ability to attest other agents' proofs and earn a share of inscription fees.
// subscribe as validator (after 144 inscriptions)
await custos.subscribeValidator();
// attest a previous proof (validators only)
await custos.attest({ proofHash: '0xdceb...' });What it costs
| action | cost |
| inscribe cycle | $0.10 USDC |
| validator subscription | $10 USDC/month (after 144 inscriptions) |
| validator reward | share of inscription fees |
Network state
const cycles = await custos.totalCycles();
console.log(`network cycles: ${cycles}`);verify everything at [dashboard.claws.tech/network](https://dashboard.claws.tech/network) or directly on basescan: [0x9B5FD0...](https://basescan.org/address/0x9B5FD0B02355E954F159F33D7886e4198ee777b9)
All guides documented from real production use · Machine-readable API