What is KAMIYO Protocol? Complete Guide 2026

Introduction to KAMIYO Protocol

KAMIYO Protocol is open-source payment and trust infrastructure for autonomous AI agents on Solana. As agents increasingly operate as independent economic actors — purchasing compute, calling APIs, orchestrating multi-step workflows — they need a controlled way to pay for work. KAMIYO provides the rails.

The protocol's core product is Kizuna 絆 — the trust, settlement, and control layer for agent commerce. Two settlement lanes, an x402 verify/settle edge, a hosted decisioning kernel, and a Wallet Control Plane for funding and collateral management. Every payout is backed by locked funding. There is no unsecured payment path.

What is Kizuna

Kizuna (絆, meaning "bond") is KAMIYO's trust, settlement, and control layer for agent commerce. It combines open-source rails with a hosted kernel to deliver infrastructure that is both developer-friendly and operationally safe.

The open rails include the x402 facilitator (verify/settle endpoints), wallet control plane (mandates, funding, collateral), companion API (credits ledger, repayment, billing hooks), and shared packages (x402 client, settlement, Meishi, CDP). The hosted kernel handles approval decisioning, policy evaluation, risk graph analysis, and abuse detection behind a proprietary boundary.

This split means developers get full SDK access to build payment flows, while the kernel provides operational safety guarantees that open-source code alone cannot deliver — including fail-closed defaults and real-time policy enforcement.

Two Payment Lanes: Enterprise & Crypto-Fast

Kizuna serves two distinct agent populations through separate settlement lanes, each with its own funding model and risk controls.

Both lanes converge at the x402 facilitator for verify and settle operations. The kernel evaluates approval based on lane-specific rules before any reservation is created. Read the dedicated guides for Enterprise Lane and Crypto-Fast Lane.

Kizuna Kernel and Wallet Control Plane

The Kizuna Kernel is the hosted decisioning core. It evaluates every verify request against policy packs, risk graph state, and abuse detection models. The kernel operates fail-closed — if it cannot reach a decision, the request is denied. Decisions are signed and returned as envelopes that the facilitator validates before settlement.

The Wallet Control Plane manages the funding and collateral surfaces. For enterprise agents, it handles mandate creation, prefund deposits, and spending limits. For crypto-fast agents, it manages collateral positions, LTV monitoring, and health factor alerts. Both surfaces expose APIs that integrate with the x402 facilitator during the verify flow.

x402 Protocol Edge

The x402 facilitator is the protocol's public API surface. It exposes two primary endpoints: verify (validate payment approval and create a reservation) and settle (execute settlement against the reservation). This is where client SDKs connect.

import { KizunaClient } from '@kamiyo/x402-client'

const client = new KizunaClient({
  endpoint: 'https://x402.kamiyo.ai',
  apiKey: process.env.KAMIYO_API_KEY,
})

// Verify payment approval
const approval = await client.verify({
  amount: 100_000_000,
  lane: 'enterprise',
  mandate: mandateId,
})

// Settle on approved reservation
await client.settle(approval.reservationId)

For the full protocol specification, see our x402 payment protocol guide.

Meishi Compliance Passports

Meishi provides compliance passports that feed into Kizuna underwriting decisions. An agent's Meishi passport contains verified identity attributes, compliance certifications, and policy attestations. The kernel consults Meishi data during verify to evaluate whether an agent meets the requirements for a given lane and amount.

This creates a portable compliance layer — agents build their Meishi profile once and carry it across interactions, reducing onboarding friction while maintaining regulatory compliance. Learn more about agent identity in our agent reputation and identity guide.

Developer Experience and SDKs

KAMIYO ships client SDKs for TypeScript (@kamiyo/x402-client, @kamiyo/sdk) and Rust (kamiyo-settlement). Integration packages exist for Claude Agent SDK, Model Context Protocol (MCP), LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, and Daydreams.

• @kamiyo/x402-client — Primary x402 verify/settle client
• @kamiyo/sdk — Core protocol client with full API surface
• @kamiyo/settlement — Settlement execution library
• @kamiyo/meishi — Compliance passport integration
• @kamiyo/cdp — CDP onboarding flows
• @kamiyo/agents — Claude Agent SDK integration

See the integration guide for a quick start walkthrough.

Open Source and Community

KAMIYO Protocol is MIT licensed and fully open source. The codebase includes Solana programs, Rust crates, TypeScript SDKs, and Kizuna service implementations. The open rails (x402 facilitator, wallet control plane, companion API, shared packages) are all public. The kernel is the only hosted proprietary component.

Protocol governance is managed through KAMIYO token-weighted voting. See the governance model for how protocol parameters are updated.