Autonomous Agent API Key Creation

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Prerequisites

• An EVM wallet on Base controlled by the agent (private key in an env var or secret manager).
• A small amount of ETH on Base for gas (staking is two transactions: approve then stake).
• Any non-zero amount of VVV to stake. The minting endpoint requires only that the wallet has a non-zero sVVV balance, so 1 VVV is enough to mint a key. See Paying for inference for what you need to actually call paid endpoints.

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Steps

1

Acquire VVV

Send VVV to the agent’s wallet, or have the agent swap on a DEX such as Aerodrome or Uniswap.VVV token contract on Base: 0xacfE6019Ed1A7Dc6f7B508C02d1b04ec88cC21bf

2

Stake VVV with Venice

Stake the VVV in the Venice Staking Smart Contract at 0x321b7ff75154472B18EDb199033fF4D116F340Ff. This is two transactions:

1. approve(spender, amount) on the VVV token, where spender is the staking contract.
2. stake(amount) on the staking contract.

When the second transaction confirms, the wallet’s VVV balance decreases and its sVVV balance increases by the same amount. The minting endpoint reads the sVVV balance to confirm the wallet is staked.

3

Request a validation token

Call GET /api/v1/api_keys/generate_web3_key to get a short-lived token signed by Venice. The endpoint is unauthenticated.

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/api_keys/generate_web3_key

The response contains a token field. The token expires 15 minutes after issuance, so sign and submit it well before then.

4

Sign the token with the staking wallet

Sign the raw token string with the wallet that holds the staked VVV. This is a standard personal_sign over the token bytes. Both ethers.Wallet.signMessage(token) and viem’s account.signMessage({ message: token }) produce the correct signature.

5

Mint the API key

POST the address, signature, and token to the same endpoint, along with the type of key you want.

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/api_keys/generate_web3_key \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "address": "<wallet address>",
    "signature": "<signed token>",
    "token": "<unsigned token>",
    "apiKeyType": "INFERENCE",
    "description": "Agent key minted on <date>"
  }'

Required fields: address, signature, token, apiKeyType (INFERENCE or ADMIN).Optional fields: description, expiresAt, consumptionLimit (caps total spend on this key, denominated in usd, vcu, or diem).On success the response contains the minted apiKey string. Store it in the agent’s secret store and use it as a normal Bearer token (Authorization: Bearer <key>).

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End-to-end example

import { ethers } from "ethers"

const wallet = new ethers.Wallet(process.env.WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY!)
const address = wallet.address

const tokenResponse = await fetch("https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/api_keys/generate_web3_key")
const { data: { token } } = await tokenResponse.json()

const signature = await wallet.signMessage(token)

const mintResponse = await fetch("https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/api_keys/generate_web3_key", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    address,
    signature,
    token,
    apiKeyType: "INFERENCE",
    description: "Agent key",
  }),
})

const result = await mintResponse.json()
if (!mintResponse.ok) {
  throw new Error(`Mint failed: ${result.error}`)
}

console.log("Minted key:", result.data.apiKey)

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Error reference

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Paying for inference

1. Stake more VVV so the daily DIEM allocation covers the agent’s spend. The minted key picks this up automatically.
2. Use the x402 wallet flow instead of the API key. With x402 the agent signs a SIWE message per request, tops up directly with USDC on Base via POST /api/v1/x402/top-up, and pays per request. The x402 USDC balance is wallet-bound, not user-bound, so it does not show up as balance for the minted Bearer key, but it does let the same wallet pay for inference programmatically.

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Related resources