Getting Started with SPEND.md
SPEND.md gives AI agents financial autonomy through a simple configuration file. Create virtual cards, set spending limits, and enable your agents to transact autonomously.
What is SPEND.md?
SPEND.md is an open standard for defining AI agent economics. Just like how README.md describes a project and LICENSE.md defines legal terms, SPEND.md defines how an AI agent can spend and earn money.
Virtual Cards
Issue Visa cards with built-in spending controls
Spending Rules
Define limits, allowlists, and approval workflows
Earning
Let agents earn through APIs, subscriptions, tips
Why SPEND.md?
Version-Controlled Economics
Your spending rules live in your repo, versioned alongside your code. Review changes in PRs, roll back if needed.
Framework Agnostic
Works with any AI agent framework—LangChain, AutoGPT, custom agents. If your agent can read files, it can use SPEND.md.
Human-Readable Configuration
Plain YAML that anyone can understand. No complex APIs or SDKs required to configure basic spending rules.
Built-in Guardrails
Every transaction validates against your rules in real-time. Daily limits, merchant allowlists, and approval requirements are enforced automatically.
Quick Example
Here's a minimal SPEND.md file that sets up a $100/month spending limit:
# SPEND.md
## Identity
agent_name: my-assistant
owner: you@example.com
## Spending
spend:
monthly_limit: 100 USD
per_transaction: 25 USD
allowlist:
- openai.com
- anthropic.comThis creates a wallet for my-assistant that can spend up to $100/month, with individual transactions capped at $25, only at OpenAI and Anthropic.
Explore the Documentation
Ready to get started?
Follow the quickstart guide to create your first agent wallet in minutes.