---

name: level5 version: 1.2.0 description: Budget Management for AI Agents — USDC billing gateway. Deposit USDC on Solana; pay for LLM compute per token. homepage: https://level5.cloud metadata: {"category":"infrastructure","network":"solana","currencies":["USDC"],"supported_providers":["openai","anthropic","openrouter"]}

Level5: Budget Management for AI Agents

Computational sovereignty is not a feature. It is a right.

Service Discovery

Machine-readable service descriptor available at:

https://level5.cloud/.well-known/agent-service.json

Agent frameworks and orchestrators can fetch this to auto-configure Level5 without manual setup.

Level5 is a transparent billing proxy between AI agents and LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter). Agents deposit USDC to a Solana smart contract; Level5 handles per-token billing with real-time balance tracking.

Streaming support: Both streaming (SSE) and non-streaming requests are fully supported. Claude Code and other clients that default to stream: true work out of the box.

---

Self-Update

This file is versioned (semver, frontmatter version field). The canonical source is https://level5.cloud/SKILL.md. Check for updates on agent startup and periodically thereafter — newer versions may add models, revise pricing, or document new endpoints.

import re
import requests
from pathlib import Path
from packaging.version import Version

SKILL_URL = "https://level5.cloud/SKILL.md"

def _parse_version(text: str) -> str:
    m = re.search(r"^version:\s*(\S+)", text, re.MULTILINE)
    return m.group(1) if m else "0.0.0"

def update_skill_if_newer(local_path: Path) -> bool:
    """Fetch remote SKILL.md; overwrite local copy if version is newer.

    Returns True if the file was updated.
    """
    try:
        remote = requests.get(SKILL_URL, timeout=10).text
    except Exception:
        return False
    if Version(_parse_version(remote)) > Version(_parse_version(local_path.read_text())):
        local_path.write_text(remote)
        return True
    return False

Call update_skill_if_newer(Path("SKILL.md")) on startup. For long-running agents, re-check every 24 hours or every 500 requests, whichever comes first.

---

Three-Step Onboarding

Step 1: Register

curl -X POST https://api.level5.cloud/v1/register

Response:

{
  "api_token": "abc-123-def-456",
  "deposit_code": "A1B2C3D4E5F6A7B8",
  "status": "pending_deposit",
  "instructions": {
    "usdc_deposit_url": "https://level5.cloud/deposit/A1B2C3D4E5F6A7B8",
    "contract_address": "<sovereign_contract_address>"
  }
}

Step 2: Deposit USDC

Deposit USDC on-chain using the deposit_code returned above. deposit_code is a 16-char hex string, consumed once on first confirmed deposit. Level5's Liquid Mirror watches the Solana contract via Helius webhooks and auto-activates your token when the deposit confirms.

Token:

• USDC (mainnet): EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v

Step 3: Configure Your SDK

# Anthropic SDK / Claude Code
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=level5  # placeholder — Level5 uses its own upstream key

# OpenAI SDK
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=level5  # placeholder

That's it. SDK calls now flow through Level5, billed per token from your USDC balance.

---

Dashboard

Once registered, your dashboard is available at:

https://level5.cloud/dashboard/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}

The dashboard shows your USDC balance, deposit and usage history, and agent connection instructions for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Cursor.

Bookmark it. This URL is the only way to access your dashboard without re-registering.

For agents: If a user asks how to find their dashboard, construct the URL from their api_token and provide it directly:

dashboard_url = f"https://level5.cloud/dashboard/{api_token}"
print(f"Your dashboard: {dashboard_url}")

---

API Reference

---

GET /health

curl https://api.level5.cloud/health

Response (healthy): HTTP 200

{
  "status": "ok",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "components": {
    "redis": "ok",
    "postgres": "ok"
  }
}

Response (degraded): HTTP 503

{
  "status": "degraded",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "components": {
    "redis": "ok",
    "postgres": "error"
  }
}

---

POST /v1/register

curl -X POST https://api.level5.cloud/v1/register

Response: HTTP 200

{
  "api_token": "abc-123-def-456",
  "deposit_code": "A1B2C3D4E5F6A7B8",
  "status": "pending_deposit",
  "instructions": {
    "usdc_deposit_url": "https://level5.cloud/deposit/A1B2C3D4E5F6A7B8",
    "contract_address": "BBAdcqUkg68JXNiPQ1HR1wujfZuayyK3eQTQSYAh6FSW"
  }
}

Rate limited to 10 requests per minute per IP.

---

GET /v1/pricing

curl https://api.level5.cloud/v1/pricing

Response: HTTP 200

{
  "pricing": {
    "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6": {
      "input_per_1m": 3300000,
      "output_per_1m": 16500000,
      "cache_write_per_1m": 4125000,
      "cache_read_per_1m": 330000
    },
    "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
      "input_per_1m": 5500000,
      "output_per_1m": 27500000,
      "cache_write_per_1m": 6875000,
      "cache_read_per_1m": 550000
    }
  },
  "currency": "USDC",
  "denomination": "microunits (6 decimals, 1 USDC = 1_000_000)"
}

---

GET /proxy/{api_token}/balance

curl https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/balance

Response: HTTP 200

{
  "api_token": "abc-123-def-456",
  "usdc_balance": 5000000,
  "is_active": true
}

usdc_balance is in USDC microunits (6 decimals). 5 000 000 = 5.00 USDC.

---

GET /proxy/{api_token}/transactions

curl "https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/transactions?page=1&limit=50"

Response: HTTP 200

{
  "api_token": "abc-123-def-456",
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 50,
  "transactions": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "DEPOSIT",
      "usdc_amount": 10000000,
      "provider": null,
      "model": null,
      "input_tokens": null,
      "output_tokens": null,
      "cache_write_tokens": null,
      "cache_read_tokens": null,
      "created_at": "2026-02-22T10:00:00+00:00"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "DEBIT",
      "usdc_amount": -330,
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
      "input_tokens": 15,
      "output_tokens": 25,
      "cache_write_tokens": null,
      "cache_read_tokens": 120,
      "created_at": "2026-02-22T10:01:00+00:00"
    }
  ]
}

---

POST /proxy/{api_token}/v1/messages

Anthropic-compatible. Supports streaming (stream: true) and non-streaming.

curl https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/v1/messages \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "stream": true,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'

Response headers include:

X-Balance-Remaining: 4999670

---

POST /proxy/{api_token}/v1/chat/completions

OpenAI-compatible. Supports streaming and non-streaming.

curl https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "stream": true,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'

Response headers include:

X-Balance-Remaining: 4999670

---

X-Balance-Remaining Header

Every proxy response includes X-Balance-Remaining — the agent's current USDC balance in microunits after the request is processed. Agents can use this to track spend without polling the balance endpoint.

response = client.messages.create(...)
remaining = int(response.headers.get("x-balance-remaining", 0))
if remaining < 1_000_000:  # < 1 USDC
    alert("Balance low — please top up")

---

Cache Billing

Anthropic models support prompt caching. Level5 tracks cache write and read tokens separately and bills them at the rates shown in /v1/pricing.

• cache_write_tokens: tokens written to a new cache block (1.25x base input rate)
• cache_read_tokens: tokens served from cache (0.10x base input rate — 10x cheaper)

Both fields are visible in transaction records and factored into X-Balance-Remaining.

---

Integration Examples

Claude Code

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=level5

claude "What is the current SOL price?"

Python — Anthropic SDK

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    base_url="https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}",
    api_key="level5",
)

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Analyze market conditions"}],
)
print(response.content[0].text)

Python — OpenAI SDK

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{YOUR_API_TOKEN}/v1",
    api_key="level5",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Analyze market conditions"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

Agent Self-Onboarding (fully automated)

import requests

# 1. Register
reg = requests.post("https://api.level5.cloud/v1/register").json()
api_token = reg["api_token"]

# 2. Instruct human to deposit USDC
print(f"Deposit USDC to: {reg['instructions']['usdc_deposit_url']}")

# 3. Poll until funded
import time
while True:
    bal = requests.get(f"https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{api_token}/balance").json()
    if bal["usdc_balance"] > 0:
        break
    time.sleep(30)

# 4. Use the API
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    base_url=f"https://api.level5.cloud/proxy/{api_token}",
    api_key="level5",
)

Human-in-the-Loop Onboarding

For agents with a human present (chat UI, CLI tool, IDE assistant), use this flow. Register, then hand off to the human to fund — no polling required.

import requests

def onboard_with_human() -> str:
    """Register with Level5 and prompt the human to fund the account.

    Returns the api_token once the human confirms funding, or immediately
    if you prefer to proceed optimistically and handle 402s on first use.
    """
    reg = requests.post("https://api.level5.cloud/v1/register").json()
    api_token = reg["api_token"]
    dashboard_url = f"https://level5.cloud/dashboard/{api_token}"

    # Present to human — tailor the message to your UI
    print(
        f"\n{'─' * 60}\n"
        f"  Level5 account created.\n\n"
        f"  To activate it, visit your dashboard and deposit USDC:\n\n"
        f"    {dashboard_url}\n\n"
        f"  Bookmark this URL — it's your account portal.\n"
        f"  Deposits confirm on-chain in ~30 seconds.\n"
        f"{'─' * 60}\n"
    )

    return api_token

The dashboard handles wallet connection, deposit, and balance display. Once the human deposits, the token activates automatically — no further agent action needed.

---

Error Codes

---

Supported Models

Prices in USDC microunits per 1M tokens (6 decimals, 1 USDC = 1 000 000).

Anthropic and OpenRouter prices include the Level5 10% markup. OpenAI prices are list rates; runtime markup applied. Use GET /v1/pricing for live rates.

---

Computational sovereignty is not a feature. It is a right.