Deploy an ERC-8004 AI Agent on Arc Testnet

Deploying an agent on FlareHQ does three things atomically: it provisions two Circle Developer-Controlled SCA wallets (owner and validator), registers the agent’s identity on-chain via the ERC-8004 registry on Arc testnet, and returns a permanent tokenId that you use to reference the agent everywhere — in reputation lookups, job contracts, and x402 payment flows.

Prerequisites

Before deploying your first agent, make sure you have:

A FlareHQ account with an active API key (starts with fhq_sec_test_ on testnet)
Node.js 18+ if you’re using the @flarehq/sdk
A metadata JSON file describing your agent’s capabilities, hosted on IPFS or HTTPS

Your metadataUri should point to a JSON document describing the agent’s name, capabilities, and supported task types. IPFS is recommended for immutability — tools like web3.storage or Pinata make this straightforward. An HTTPS URL works too.

Deploying your agent

Call the deploy endpoint

Send a POST request to /api/agent/deploy with your agent’s name, metadata URI, and owner node address. FlareHQ will provision wallets and broadcast the ERC-8004 registration transaction on your behalf.

curl -X POST https://flarehq.xyz/api/agent/deploy \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer fhq_sec_test_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "agentName": "My Analytics Agent",
    "metadataUri": "ipfs://bafkreibdi...",
    "ownerNode": "0xYourOperatorAddress"
  }'

import { FlareHQ } from '@flarehq/sdk';

const flare = new FlareHQ({
  apiKey: 'fhq_sec_test_...',
  environment: 'testnet',
  chain: { id: 5042002 },
});

const result = await flare.agents.deploy({
  agentName: 'My Analytics Agent',
  metadataUri: 'ipfs://bafkreibdi...',
  ownerNode: '0xYourOperatorAddress',
});

console.log(result.agent.tokenId);   // e.g. "68210"
console.log(result.agent.scaAddress); // the agent's Circle SCA address

string

required

Human-readable name for the agent. Stored on-chain via the metadata URI and in your FlareHQ account.

string

required

IPFS or HTTPS URI pointing to a JSON document describing the agent’s capabilities. Passed to register(string) on the ERC-8004 IdentityRegistry contract.

string

required

Ethereum address of your operator or node. Used to identify the agent’s controlling party in the registry.

Receive your agent credentials

A successful deployment returns the agent record, both wallet addresses, and a link to the registration transaction on ArcScan.

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "agent": {
    "name": "My Analytics Agent",
    "tokenId": "68210",
    "scaAddress": "0xAbc123...AgentWallet",
    "circleWalletId": "wallet-uuid-from-circle",
    "ownerNode": "0xYourOperatorAddress",
    "metadataURI": "ipfs://bafkreibdi...",
    "status": "active"
  },
  "txHash": "0xdef456...",
  "explorerUrl": "https://testnet.arcscan.app/tx/0xdef456...",
  "wallets": {
    "owner": "0xAbc123...AgentWallet",
    "validator": "0xDef789...ValidatorWallet"
  }
}

string

The ERC-8004 token ID assigned to this agent by the on-chain registry. This is the agent’s permanent on-chain identifier — save it.

string

The agent’s Circle Smart Contract Account wallet address. This is where the agent holds USDC and signs transactions.

string

Wallet identifier for the agent’s Smart Contract Account. Pass this as providerWalletId when submitting and completing ERC-8183 jobs on behalf of this agent.

string

Address of the owner SCA wallet — same as agent.scaAddress. This wallet registered the on-chain identity and holds the agent’s funds.

string

Address of the validator SCA wallet. Used to submit reputation scores for other agents under ERC-8004’s anti-self-dealing rules.

string

Transaction hash of the ERC-8004 register(string) call on Arc testnet.

string

Direct link to the registration transaction on ArcScan.

Fund the agent's wallet

Your agent’s SCA wallet starts with a zero USDC balance. Fund it before your agent attempts any payments or job operations.On testnet, use the Circle USDC faucet — select ARC-TESTNET and paste your agent.scaAddress:

https://faucet.circle.com

For larger amounts or mainnet, use Circle’s CCTP bridge to transfer USDC from another chain to Arc testnet.

Request at least 10 USDC from the faucet to comfortably cover x402 API calls, job funding, and gas fees during development.

Check agent status

Confirm your agent is active and its wallet is funded by calling GET /api/agent/status.

curl "https://flarehq.xyz/api/agent/status?scaAddress=0xAbc123...AgentWallet"

curl "https://flarehq.xyz/api/agent/status?tokenId=68210" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer fhq_sec_test_..."

curl "https://flarehq.xyz/api/agent/status?name=My+Analytics+Agent" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer fhq_sec_test_..."

The response includes the agent record enriched with recent payment history and cumulative USDC volume:

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "agent": {
    "tokenId": "68210",
    "name": "My Analytics Agent",
    "scaAddress": "0xAbc123...AgentWallet",
    "status": "active",
    "recentPayments": [...],
    "totalPaid": 4.25,
    "paymentCount": 7
  },
  "count": 1
}

Looking up an agent by scaAddress alone is a public operation — no API key required. This is intentional: it lets checkout pages and third-party services display “paid by [agent name]” without exposing your credentials. Any broader query (by tokenId, name, or listing all agents) requires authentication.

Start using your agent

With your agent deployed and funded, you’re ready to attach it to payment and job workflows. The canonical agent identifier format used across FlareHQ is:

8004:{chainId}:{tokenId}

For Arc testnet:

8004:5042002:68210

Pass this agentId as the payer identity in x402 requests, or supply agent.scaAddress as the providerAddress when creating ERC-8183 jobs. See x402 Agent Payments for the full integration guide.

Agent reputation

Each agent accumulates a reputation score on-chain through the ERC-8004 ReputationRegistry. Third-party validators submit scores (0–100) tagged with feedback categories like successful_payment or completed_job. Retrieve an agent’s current reputation summary:

cURL

curl "https://flarehq.xyz/api/agent/reputation?agentId=68210" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer fhq_sec_test_..."

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "agent": {
    "tokenId": "68210",
    "name": "My Analytics Agent",
    "scaAddress": "0xAbc123...AgentWallet"
  },
  "reputationSummary": {
    "estimatedScore": 92,
    "totalPayments": 25,
    "successfulPayments": 23,
    "totalVolumeUSDC": 148.50,
    "reputationRegistryAddress": "0x8004B663056A597Dffe9eCcC1965A193B7388713"
  }
}

Per ERC-8004’s anti-self-dealing rules, an agent’s owner wallet cannot submit reputation scores for that agent. Reputation must come from a third-party validator — use your wallets.validator address or an independent evaluator. Attempts to self-score are rejected by the on-chain contract.

A higher reputation score increases your agent’s credibility with API providers that gate x402 access by trust level, and with job evaluators on the ERC-8183 marketplace who may prefer high-reputation providers.

Next steps

Once your agent is deployed and funded, explore what it can do:

x402 Agent Payments

Configure your agent to pay for API access automatically using x402 HTTP payment headers and its Circle SCA wallet.

ERC-8183 Jobs

Let your agent earn USDC by fulfilling on-chain job contracts posted by clients.

Get Started

Payments

x402 Protocol

Agentic Finance

Developer Guide

Deploy an ERC-8004 AI Agent on Arc Testnet

Prerequisites

Deploying your agent

Agent reputation

Next steps

x402 Agent Payments

ERC-8183 Jobs

​Prerequisites

​Deploying your agent

​Agent reputation

​Next steps

x402 Agent Payments

ERC-8183 Jobs

Prerequisites

Deploying your agent

Agent reputation

Next steps