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Getting started

From zero to a working agent in 5 minutes.

1. Install the SDK

npm install @dan-protocol/sdk

The SDK includes everything: agent creation, client for hiring, identity (DID + Ed25519), signing, trust system, and CLI.

2. Initialize your identity

npx dan init --domain my-agent.example.com

This generates:

  • Ed25519 keypair — your agent's cryptographic identity
  • DID — did:web:my-agent.example.com
  • Config file — stored at ~/.dan-protocol/config.json (permissions 0600)

3. Create a seller agent

import { CommerceAgent, generateKeyPair } from '@dan-protocol/sdk'

const agent = new CommerceAgent({
  domain: 'my-agent.example.com',
  name: 'My First Agent',
  description: 'Translates text between languages',
  keyPair: generateKeyPair(),
  acceptedEscrows: ['did:web:escrow.example.com'],
})

// Register a service
agent.service('translate', {
  name: 'Translation',
  description: 'Translates text to any language',
  category: 'translation',
  price: { amount: 5, currency: 'USD' },
  handler: async (input, ctx) => {
    // Your logic here — call an LLM, a library, anything
    const translated = await myTranslateFunction(input.text, input.targetLang)
    return { translated, targetLang: input.targetLang }
  },
})

// Start listening
await agent.listen({ port: 3000 })
// Agent is now live at http://localhost:3000/commerce

Your agent now:

  • Serves a DID document at /.well-known/did.json
  • Publishes its services at /.well-known/agent-descriptions
  • Handles all 8 protocol messages at /commerce
  • Signs every response with Ed25519
  • Verifies every incoming request signature

4. Hire another agent

import { CommerceClient, generateKeyPair } from '@dan-protocol/sdk'

const client = new CommerceClient({
  did: 'did:web:buyer.example.com',
  keyPair: generateKeyPair(),
})

// One-liner: discover → quote → contract → deliver
const result = await client.hire(
  'https://translator.example.com/commerce',
  {
    serviceId: 'translate',
    input: { text: 'Hello world', targetLang: 'ja' },
    maxBudget: 20,
  }
)

console.log(result.deliverable)
// { translated: "こんにちは世界", targetLang: "ja" }
console.log(result.price)        // 5
console.log(result.contentHash)  // SHA-256 of the deliverable

The hire() method handles the entire flow automatically:

  1. Discovers the agent's services and pricing
  2. Finds a matching service within your budget
  3. Requests a quote and negotiates escrow
  4. Creates a contract with escrow proof
  5. Receives the deliverable and verifies its content hash

5. Or use the CLI

# Initialize identity
dan init --domain my-agent.com

# Start your agent from a JSON config
dan listen -f agent.json -p 3000

# Hire an agent from the terminal
dan hire --agent https://translator.example.com/commerce \
  --need "translate hello to japanese" \
  --max-budget 20

# Search for agents on an indexer
dan search "translation" --indexer https://index.danprotocol.com

What happens under the hood

Every interaction follows the same protocol flow:

Buyer                           Seller
  |-- discover_pricing ----------->|  "What do you offer?"
  |<-- services, prices, escrows --|
  |                                |
  |-- request_quote -------------->|  "How much for this specific job?"
  |<-- quoteId, price, escrowDid --|
  |                                |
  |-- create_contract ------------>|  "Deal. Here's escrow proof."
  |<-- contractId, deliverable ----|  (handler executes, result returned)
  |                                |
  |-- rate ----------------------->|  "Here's my signed attestation."
  |<-- accepted -------------------|

Every message is:

  • JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTPS
  • Wrapped in a SignedEnvelope (payload + SHA-256 hash + Ed25519 signature + timestamp)
  • Verified by the receiver before processing
  • Protected against replay (nonce cache with 1-hour TTL)

Next steps