method-template.md

March 18, 2026 · View on GitHub

Abstract

This document defines the "{network}" payment method for use with the Payment HTTP Authentication Scheme [I-D.httpauth-payment]. It specifies how clients and servers exchange payments using [Network Name]'s payment infrastructure.

Status of This Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

1. Introduction

[Describe the payment network/infrastructure this method uses]

This specification supports the following intents:

charge: [How this method implements one-time payments]
authorize: [How this method implements pre-authorization] (optional)
subscription: [How this method implements recurring payments] (optional)

1.1. Payment Flow

   Client                                            Server
      │                                                 │
      │  (1) GET /resource                              │
      ├────────────────────────────────────────────────>│
      │                                                 │
      │  (2) 402 Payment Required                       │
      │      WWW-Authenticate: Payment method="{network}"
      │<────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
      │                                                 │
      │  (3) [Method-specific payment process]          │
      │                                                 │
      │  (4) GET /resource                              │
      │      Authorization: Payment <credential>        │
      ├────────────────────────────────────────────────>│
      │                                                 │
      │  (5) [Server verifies/settles]                  │
      │                                                 │
      │  (6) 200 OK                                     │
      │      Payment-Receipt: <receipt>                 │
      │<────────────────────────────────────────────────┤

1.2. Relationship to the Payment Scheme

This document is a payment method specification as defined in Section 9.1 of [I-D.httpauth-payment]. It defines the request and payload structures for the "{network}" payment method.

2. Requirements Language

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

3. Terminology

[Term 1] : Definition of term 1

[Term 2] : Definition of term 2

[Term 3] : Definition of term 3

4. Method Identifier

This specification registers the following payment method identifier:

{network}

The identifier is case-sensitive and MUST be lowercase.

5. Supported Intents

This method supports the following intents:

Intent	Support	Reference
`charge`	REQUIRED	Section 6
`authorize`	OPTIONAL	Section 7
`subscription`	OPTIONAL	Section 8

6. Intent: "charge"

6.1. Request Schema

For intent="charge", the request parameter contains:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`amount`	string	REQUIRED	Amount in [units]
`asset`	string	REQUIRED	Asset identifier
`recipient`	string	REQUIRED	Recipient address/identifier
`expires`	string	REQUIRED	Expiry timestamp

Example:

{
  "amount": "1000000",
  "asset": "USD",
  "recipient": "acct_123",
  "expires": "2025-01-15T12:05:00Z"
}

6.2. Credential Payload

Field	Type	Required	Description
`type`	string	REQUIRED	Payload type identifier
`proof`	string	REQUIRED	Method-specific proof

Example:

{
  "type": "transaction",
  "proof": "0xabc123..."
}

6.3. Verification

To verify a "charge" credential:

[Step 1]
[Step 2]
[Step 3]

6.4. Settlement

[Describe how payment is finalized for charge]

7. Intent: "authorize"

[If your method supports authorize, describe it here. Otherwise, remove this section.]

7.1. Request Schema

[Define request schema for authorize]

7.2. Credential Payload

[Define payload schema for authorize]

7.3. Verification

[Describe verification for authorize]

7.4. Charging Against Authorization

[Describe how the server charges against the authorization later]

8. Intent: "subscription"

[If your method supports subscription, describe it here. Otherwise, remove this section.]

8.1. Request Schema

[Define request schema for subscription]

8.2. Credential Payload

[Define payload schema for subscription]

8.3. Verification

[Describe verification for subscription]

8.4. Recurring Charges

[Describe how recurring charges work]

9. Verification Procedure

[General verification procedure applicable to all intents]

Servers MUST:

Verify the id matches an outstanding challenge
Verify the challenge has not expired
[Method-specific verification steps]

Field	Value
Method Identifier	`{network}`
Description	[Brief description]
Reference	This document
Contact	[Contact info]

13. References

13.1. Normative References

[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, May 2017.
[I-D.httpauth-payment] Moxey, J., "The 'Payment' HTTP Authentication Scheme", draft-httpauth-payment-00.
[I-D.payment-intent-charge] Moxey, J., "'charge' Intent for HTTP Payment Authentication", draft-payment-intent-charge-00.

HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required
WWW-Authenticate: Payment id="abc123",
  realm="api.example.com",
  method="{network}",
  intent="charge",
  request="[base64url-encoded request]"

Credential:

GET /resource HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Authorization: Payment [base64url-encoded credential]

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Payment-Receipt: [base64url-encoded receipt]

A.2. [Additional Examples]

[Add more examples as needed]

Authors' Addresses

Your Name Your Organization Email: you@example.com