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A facilitator is a service that sits between the resource server and the blockchain. It verifies payment proofs and settles transactions on-chain so that merchants never need to manage blockchain infrastructure directly.

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Why facilitators exist

Without a facilitator, every merchant would need to:
  • Run blockchain nodes or connect to RPCs
  • Verify cryptographic signatures for each payment scheme
  • Submit transactions and monitor confirmations
  • Handle gas fees and failed transactions
Facilitators abstract all of this. The merchant sends the payment proof to the facilitator, and the facilitator handles verification and settlement.

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How they work

Client                    Server                  Facilitator        Blockchain
  |                         |                         |                  |
  |--- request + payment -->|                         |                  |
  |                         |--- verify + settle ---->|                  |
  |                         |                         |--- submit tx --->|
  |                         |                         |<-- confirmation -|
  |                         |<-- settlement result ---|                  |
  |<-- 200 + resource ------|                         |                  |

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Facilitator API

Facilitators expose four endpoints:
EndpointMethodPurpose
/acceptsPOSTReturns enriched payment requirements (adds facilitator-specific fields)
/verifyPOSTVerifies a payment proof without settling
/settlePOSTVerifies and settles a payment on-chain
/supportedGETLists supported schemes, networks, and assets

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/accepts

The middleware calls /accepts on startup to get the full payment requirements including any facilitator-specific fields. These are cached and returned to clients in 402 responses.

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/settle

When a client sends a valid X-PAYMENT header, the middleware forwards it to /settle. The facilitator:
  1. Validates the payment payload structure
  2. Verifies cryptographic signatures
  3. Checks amounts, addresses, and nonces
  4. Submits the transaction on-chain
  5. Returns a settlement result with the transaction hash

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Default facilitator

Corbits provides a free production-ready facilitator: 
https://facilitator.corbits.dev
This is the default used in faremeter’s middleware and examples. It supports Solana (devnet, mainnet) and EVM (Base Sepolia, Base, Polygon).

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Running your own

You can run a facilitator using @faremeter/facilitator. See the Facilitator guide for setup instructions.

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Further reading

  • Payment Schemes — What happens inside the facilitator for each chain.
  • Middleware — How to configure the middleware to talk to a facilitator.