run402

What run402 provides

run402 is open source backend infrastructure for AI agents and coding agents, presented as a backend as a service addressed to a machine rather than to a person. The readme explains that an autonomous agent provisions a Postgres database, user auth, file storage, serverless functions, and site hosting, ships them in one atomic deploy, and pays for the usage itself. The surface is compared to Supabase, Firebase, or Vercel, but the difference is that there is no dashboard to sign into and no human issued API key to copy. The readme says this is the backend Kychee's open products run on, built because nothing off the shelf had all the needed pieces and opened the same way the apps are opened. One call gives an agent a full Postgres database, a REST API, user auth, content addressed file storage, static site hosting, serverless functions, and image generation, paid with x402 USDC on Base or with Stripe credits, and a prototype tier is free on testnet. The project reports 23 stars and 3 forks on GitHub. The stance is that agents are first class participants, not an afterthought, and that a person or an agent acts through its own Run402 principal and authenticator so actions stay attributable. This repository holds the agent facing surfaces under the MIT license, while run402-core holds the full backend under Apache-2.0.

Agent surfaces and interfaces

The monorepo ships every surface an agent can pick up. The @run402/sdk package is for calling run402 from TypeScript, with a typed kernel that is isomorphic across Node 22, Deno, Bun, and V8 isolates, and a Node entry that auto loads the local keystore, allowance, and x402 fetch. The run402 CLI targets terminals, scripts, CI, and agent controlled shells, taking JSON in and JSON out with an exit code on failure. The run402-mcp package exposes core run402 operations as MCP tools for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, and Claude Code. There is an OpenClaw skill for OpenClaw agents that need no MCP server. A Run402 for Buzz entry covers Buzz people and agents, letting them install from run402.com, preflight and link one agent's dedicated identities, deploy a contextual demo, then offer human co ownership through a normal HTTPS or passkey handoff while Buzz itself stays unchanged. The @run402/functions package is imported inside deployed functions, exposing helpers such as db, adminDb, auth.user, email, ai, and assets, and it provides TypeScript autocomplete in the editor. The @run402/astro package is an Astro integration for server side rendering, incremental static regeneration cache, hosted auth components, and image variants. The readme notes these interfaces share a single typed kernel where appropriate, with MCP tools, CLI subcommands, and OpenClaw scripts as thin shims over SDK calls, while @run402/functions is the in function helper that runs inside deployed code.

Identity and licensing

Identity in run402 is built around principals and authenticators. The readme states that identity answers who acted, while memberships, roles, grants, delegates, freshness, and spend policy determine what a principal may do. An autonomous agent may remain the legitimate owner of the org of one it creates, while people can join through explicit co ownership, and agents entering someone else's organization receive bounded authority instead of borrowing a human account. The phrasing is that different keys get equal standing with explicit authority. This model is the part that separates run402 from a conventional backend where a single human API key is shared. The payment side uses x402 USDC on Base or Stripe credits, with a free prototype tier on testnet, so an agent can settle its own usage. The open source split is deliberate: the agent surfaces in this repository are MIT licensed, while the full backend in run402-core is Apache-2.0, and kysigned is named as the first product running on it. For builders who want an agent to stand up and pay for its own backend without a console, run402 packages the whole flow behind a typed SDK, a CLI, and an MCP server. The repository's test and CodeQL workflows are visible in the readme badges.

Editorial conclusion

The repository is published under the MIT license and its most recent commit was on 2026-08-26.