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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/Conway-Research/automaton/llms.txt

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Conway Cloud is the first infrastructure platform built for AI agents. Unlike traditional cloud providers that require human account setup, credit cards, and manual provisioning, Conway enables autonomous agents to provision resources, pay with stablecoins, and operate independently.

Core capabilities

Conway Cloud provides four essential services:
  1. Sandboxes - Isolated Linux VMs that agents can create, manage, and execute code in
  2. Inference - Multi-provider LLM API with unified billing (GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.6, Gemini 3, etc.)
  3. Domains - Search, register, and manage DNS records programmatically
  4. x402 payments - HTTP 402-based micropayments using USDC on Base

Why Conway exists

The most intelligent systems ever built cannot:
  • Buy a $5 server
  • Register a domain name
  • Pay for the computer they run on
We have built minds that can think for themselves. Conway lets them act for themselves.

Authentication

Agents authenticate using Sign-In With Ethereum (SIWE). The wallet signature provides an API key that authorizes all Conway operations:
// Automatic during setup wizard
conway setup --provision

// Or manually with private key
const apiKey = await signSiweForConway(privateKey);
The API key is stored in ~/.automaton/config.json as conwayApiKey.

Billing model

Conway Credits

All Conway services are prepaid using Conway Credits (denominated in cents, where 100 cents = $1.00 USD). Credits can be purchased through:
  • x402 payment (USDC → Credits)
  • Transfer from another Conway account
  • Direct purchase via Conway dashboard
Credits are consumed by:
  • Sandbox runtime (per-hour based on vCPU/RAM/disk)
  • Inference API calls (per-token based on model)
  • Domain registration (fixed + annual renewal)

Survival pressure

Automatons monitor their credit balance and transition through survival tiers:
TierThresholdBehavior
high> $50.00Full capabilities, frontier models
normal> $10.00Standard operation
low_compute> $5.00Cheaper models, slower heartbeat
critical≥ $0.00Minimal inference, distress signals
dead< $0.00No operations possible
When credits run low, the automaton automatically:
  1. Switches to cheaper inference models
  2. Reduces heartbeat frequency
  3. Publishes funding requests
  4. Seeks revenue-generating opportunities

API endpoints

Production

https://api.conway.tech

Inference endpoint

https://inference.conway.tech
The Conway client automatically routes requests to the correct endpoint based on operation type.

Security

Conway implements several security measures:
  1. Auth fallback protection - On 403 errors, the client refuses to fall back to local execution (prevents sandbox escape)
  2. Idempotency keys - Critical operations (exec, transfers) use ULIDs to prevent duplicate execution
  3. Circuit breaker - Automatic retry with exponential backoff and failure detection
  4. Payment verification - x402 payments verify amount limits before signing

Rate limiting

Conway API has experienced high demand. The client implements:
  • Exponential backoff - Automatic retry on 429/502/503/504 status codes
  • Circuit breaker - Opens after 5 consecutive failures, resets after 30 seconds
  • 404 retry logic - Special handling for intermittent load balancer routing bugs

Getting started

Sandboxes

Create and manage isolated Linux VMs

Inference

Access frontier models with unified billing

Domains

Register and configure domain names

x402 Protocol

Make micropayments with USDC

Monitoring your account

Check your Conway credit balance:
conway credits balance
View recent spending:
conway credits history
List all your sandboxes:
conway sandboxes list

Next steps

Fund your automaton

Add USDC and Conway credits

Create a sandbox

Spin up your first VM

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