Example: Standalone Node Merchant

Standalone Node.js server with free and paywalled endpoints using PincerPay middleware on Hono + @hono/node-server.

A minimal standalone Node.js server with PincerPay middleware protecting API endpoints. Uses Hono with @hono/node-server so it runs anywhere Node runs, with no platform dependency. Demonstrates both free and paywalled routes with different price tiers.

Folder name note. This example lives at examples/express-merchant/ for historical reasons; the source is Hono-based. An Express adapter for @pincerpay/merchant is on the roadmap; until it ships, Hono is the standalone-Node path.

Endpoints

Route	Price	Description
`GET /api/health`	Free	Health check
`GET /api/weather`	0.001 USDC	Current weather data
`GET /api/premium`	0.10 USDC	Premium analytics data

Server code

// src/index.ts
import { Hono } from "hono";
import { serve } from "@hono/node-server";
import { createPincerPayMiddleware } from "@pincerpay/merchant/nextjs";

const app = new Hono();

app.use(
  "*",
  createPincerPayMiddleware({
    apiKey: process.env.PINCERPAY_API_KEY!,
    merchantAddress: process.env.MERCHANT_ADDRESS!,
    facilitatorUrl: process.env.FACILITATOR_URL ?? "http://localhost:4402",
    routes: {
      "GET /api/weather": {
        price: "0.001",
        chain: "solana-devnet",
        description: "Current weather data",
      },
      "GET /api/premium": {
        price: "0.10",
        chains: ["solana-devnet"],
        description: "Premium analytics data",
      },
    },
  }),
);

// Free endpoint
app.get("/api/health", (c) => c.json({ status: "ok" }));

// Paywalled endpoints
app.get("/api/weather", (c) =>
  c.json({
    temperature: 72,
    conditions: "sunny",
    location: "San Francisco",
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
  }),
);

app.get("/api/premium", (c) =>
  c.json({
    insights: [
      { metric: "daily_active_agents", value: 1420 },
      { metric: "avg_transaction_value", value: "$0.05" },
      { metric: "settlement_time_p99", value: "1.2s" },
    ],
  }),
);

const port = Number(process.env.PORT ?? 3001);
serve({ fetch: app.fetch, port }, (info) => {
  console.log(`Merchant running at http://localhost:${info.port}`);
});

Setup

Create a .env file:

PINCERPAY_API_KEY=pp_live_your_api_key_here
MERCHANT_ADDRESS=YourSolanaWalletAddress

Install dependencies from the monorepo root:

pnpm install

Start the server:

pnpm --filter example-express-merchant start

Test with curl

# Free endpoint
curl http://localhost:3001/api/health
# {"status":"ok"}

# Paywalled endpoint (returns 402)
curl -i http://localhost:3001/api/weather
# HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required

Test with the Agent SDK

import { PincerPayAgent } from "@pincerpay/agent";

const agent = await PincerPayAgent.create({
  chains: ["solana-devnet"],
  solanaPrivateKey: process.env.AGENT_SOLANA_KEY!,
});

const res = await agent.fetch("http://localhost:3001/api/weather");
console.log(await res.json());
// { temperature: 72, conditions: "sunny", ... }