🎭 Theater & Live Performance · color study

GEL-SYNC · x402

A lighting gels and hex-code marketplace where every palette retrieval is an atomic transaction. Lighting designers pay 0.01 USDC to unlock the metadata for a curated atmosphere (IPFS hash + DMX values), instantly compensating the original designer. Stop searching through forums; pay per palette to sync professional aesthetics directly to your lighting console.

Arbitrum + x402 paywall· x402 native
Section · Onchain

The primitive.

full primer →

The onchain primitive runs at the right moment in the flow and surfaces a clear, verifiable result that directors can act on without web3 jargon.

Why this primitiveThe x402 primitive transforms a passive mood-board into a high-velocity asset exchange. By metering the 'unlock' of technical data (DMX/Hex) rather than just the preview image, it creates a sustainable micro-income stream for theatrical lighting designers during tech rehearsals.

Kernel
an x402 pay-per-use paywall on Arbitrum Sepolia — Privy embedded wallet signs EIP-3009 USDC authorizations, a same-origin proxy relays PAYMENT-SIGNATURE to a facilitator (PayAI) that settles 0.01 USDC and returns a Arbitrum tx hash in PAYMENT-RESPONSE
Drives the UI as
a 4-step flow log (Challenge → Sign → Retry → Settle) that ends with a live Arbiscan tx link proving the micropayment cleared
Appendix · Secrets

Required keys.

METAMASK_PRIVATE_KEY
Exported from MetaMask. Fund on Arbitrum Sepolia via the Coinbase faucet.
open ↗
ARBITRUM_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL
Alchemy Arbitrum Sepolia HTTPS endpoint (or https://sepolia-rollup.arbitrum.io/rpc).
open ↗
ETHERSCAN_API_KEY
Single Etherscan v2 key — covers Arbiscan (chainId 421614) with no extra key.
open ↗
PRIVY_APP_ID
Enables Google sign-in and sponsored Arbitrum Sepolia transactions.
open ↗
PINATA_JWT
Pins images / JSON / manifests to IPFS.
open ↗

Add these in your Lovable project under Settings → Secrets before pasting the prompt below.

Appendix · Mega-prompt

The build prompt.

Paste into a fresh Lovable project. Make sure all five secrets above are set first. read the build strategy →

Build "GEL-SYNC" in ONE Lovable message. Single-page x402-native paid app on Arbitrum Sepolia.

CONCEPT
A lighting gels and hex-code marketplace where every palette retrieval is an atomic transaction. Lighting designers pay 0.01 USDC to unlock the metadata for a curated atmosphere (IPFS hash + DMX values), instantly compensating the original designer. Stop searching through forums; pay per palette to sync professional aesthetics directly to your lighting console.
Discipline: Theater & Live Performance (color study).
Onchain primitive: x402 micropayments on Arbitrum Sepolia (USDC via EIP-3009). Why: The x402 primitive transforms a passive mood-board into a high-velocity asset exchange. By metering the 'unlock' of technical data (DMX/Hex) rather than just the preview image, it creates a sustainable micro-income stream for theatrical lighting designers during tech rehearsals.

5-CREDIT BUDGET (HARD LIMIT):
- ONE single-page app. No Lovable Cloud, no database, no auth flows beyond Privy drop-in.
- NO smart contract deploy. x402 settles USDC via EIP-3009 `transferWithAuthorization` — the USDC contract already exists at 0x75faf114eafb1BDbe2F0316DF893fd58CE46AA4d on Arbitrum Sepolia (chainId 421614).
- Privy is the auth + signing layer (Google login + embedded wallet on Arbitrum Sepolia).
- At most ONE AI call per user action (Lovable AI Gateway with LOVABLE_API_KEY, only if AI is part of the idea).
- Skip tests, skip CI, skip docs. Ship the demo.

STACK
- React + Vite + TanStack Start (the template Lovable ships).
- Privy embedded wallet wraps <App /> in src/main.tsx:
    <PrivyProvider appId={import.meta.env.VITE_PRIVY_APP_ID}
      config={{ loginMethods:['google'], embeddedWallets:{createOnLogin:'users-without-wallets'},
                defaultChain:{ id: 421614, name:'Arbitrum Sepolia' } }}>
- viem public client uses Alchemy Arbitrum Sepolia — put the URL in src/data/rpc.json as
  { "arbitrumSepolia": "https://arb-sepolia.g.alchemy.com/v2/<KEY>" } and use
  createPublicClient({ chain: arbitrumSepolia, transport: http(rpc.arbitrumSepolia) }).
  The default public RPC is rate-limited — Alchemy is required for USDC balanceOf.

TEN NON-OBVIOUS x402 RULES (get these wrong and it silently fails)
1. CORS: proxy the facilitator. Public x402 facilitators (including x402.payai.network) do NOT send
   Access-Control-Allow-Origin. A direct browser fetch throws "TypeError: Failed to fetch" BEFORE
   you see the 402. Wrap the upstream call in a same-origin TanStack server route at
   src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts and forward PAYMENT-SIGNATURE (request) + PAYMENT-RESPONSE (response).
2. x402 v2 envelope shape. The base64-encoded PAYMENT-SIGNATURE payload is NOT
   { scheme, network, payload } at top level — that's v1 and PayAI rejects it as invalid_payload.
   It MUST be:
     { "x402Version": 2,
       "accepted": { /* the full PaymentRequirement you picked, echoed back verbatim */ },
       "payload":  { "signature": "0x…",
                     "authorization": { from, to, value, validAfter, validBefore, nonce } } }
3. Network id is CAIP-2: "eip155:421614" for Arbitrum Sepolia (NOT "arbitrum-sepolia"). Match on this
   when picking a requirement from accepts[].
4. Amount field renamed. v2 uses `amount` (atomic units, string), NOT v1's `maxAmountRequired`.
   USDC has 6 decimals — "10000" = 0.01 USDC.
5. Header names are literal-cased and non-standard: PAYMENT-SIGNATURE (request) and PAYMENT-RESPONSE (response).
6. EIP-3009 domain fields come from requirement.extra. Use extra.name ("USDC") and extra.version ("2")
   in the EIP-712 domain — NOT hardcoded. chainId is 421614; verifyingContract is requirement.asset.
7. nonce is bytes32 random, generated client-side (crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(32)) → 0x-hex).
   Never reuse. validAfter = now-60s, validBefore = now + maxTimeoutSeconds (default 300).
8. Sign via Privy embedded wallet's provider, NOT React hooks: get the EIP-1193 provider
   (const provider = await embedded.getEthereumProvider()) and call
   provider.request({ method: "eth_signTypedData_v4", params: [address, JSON.stringify(typedData)] }).
9. Alchemy RPC in src/data/rpc.json (rule above). USDC balanceOf against the default public RPC will flake.
10. Fund flow uses Circle faucet (https://faucet.circle.com/, choose Arbitrum Sepolia). Show the user's
    Privy address prominently, link to the faucet, then a "Refresh balance" button. ~10s arrival.

FILE LAYOUT
  src/data/x402.json          { endpoint, proxy, usdcAddress: "0x75faf114eafb1BDbe2F0316DF893fd58CE46AA4d",
                                chainId: 421614, network: "eip155:421614",
                                faucetUrl: "https://faucet.circle.com/",
                                explorer: "https://sepolia.arbiscan.io" }
  src/data/rpc.json           { "arbitrumSepolia": "https://arb-sepolia.g.alchemy.com/v2/<KEY>" }
  src/lib/x402.ts             fetchChallenge / pickRequirement / signPayment / fetchPaid
  src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts   same-origin GET proxy (below)
  src/routes/index.tsx        demo UI: sign-in → fund → 4-step flow log

PROXY ROUTE (drop-in — copy verbatim):
```ts
// src/routes/api/public/x402-proxy.ts
import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";
import x402Cfg from "@/data/x402.json";

export const Route = createFileRoute("/api/public/x402-proxy")({
  server: {
    handlers: {
      GET: async ({ request }) => {
        const sig = request.headers.get("PAYMENT-SIGNATURE");
        const upstream = await fetch(x402Cfg.endpoint, {
          method: "GET",
          headers: sig ? { "PAYMENT-SIGNATURE": sig } : {},
        });
        const body = await upstream.arrayBuffer();
        const out = new Headers();
        const ct = upstream.headers.get("content-type");
        if (ct) out.set("Content-Type", ct);
        const pr = upstream.headers.get("PAYMENT-RESPONSE");
        if (pr) out.set("PAYMENT-RESPONSE", pr);
        return new Response(body, { status: upstream.status, headers: out });
      },
    },
  },
});
```

The /api/public/* prefix bypasses Lovable's published-site auth — desired for a demo endpoint.

USER FLOW (log every step in the UI so the user sees what happened)
1. Land on page → "Sign in with Google" (Privy) → embedded wallet auto-provisioned on Arbitrum Sepolia.
2. Fund: show wallet address + "Get 0.01 USDC on Arbitrum Sepolia" → link to https://faucet.circle.com/
   → "Refresh balance" button reads USDC balanceOf via viem + Alchemy RPC.
3. Click the primary action button for this idea (color study). App runs:
   (a) Challenge — GET /api/public/x402-proxy → expect 402 → parse { x402Version:2, accepts:[…], error }.
       Pick accepts[] where network === "eip155:421614" && scheme === "exact".
   (b) Sign — Build EIP-3009 typed data (see rules 6–8), call Privy signTypedData,
       wrap into the v2 envelope (rule 2), base64.
   (c) Retry — GET /api/public/x402-proxy with header PAYMENT-SIGNATURE: <base64>.
   (d) Settle — On 200, read PAYMENT-RESPONSE header, base64-decode →
       { success, transaction, network, payer }. Link tx to `${explorer}/tx/${transaction}`.
4. Footer renders: "Built during the Creative AI & Quantum Hackathon organised by StreetKode Fam during Indian Krump Festival 14"

FACILITATOR
Default endpoint: https://x402.payai.network/api/arbitrum-sepolia/paid-content (returns 402 with an
accepts[] challenge, settles 0.01 USDC per successful call, returns the protected payload).

REQUIRED SECRETS (Lovable → Project Settings → Secrets):
- PRIVY_APP_ID                  Google sign-in + embedded wallet. Docs: https://docs.privy.io/llms-full.txt
- ALCHEMY_ARBITRUM_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL  Free at https://dashboard.alchemy.com/ (create app, Arbitrum Sepolia,
                                copy HTTPS URL). Also expose as VITE_ALCHEMY_ARBITRUM_SEPOLIA_RPC_URL
                                so the frontend viem client can read balances.

COMMON FAILURE MODES (fix these before shipping)
- "TypeError: Failed to fetch" at step (a): called the facilitator directly from the browser. Use the proxy.
- "invalid_payload" at step (c): sent v1 envelope. Wrap under `accepted` (rule 2).
- "invalid_signature": wrong domain — chainId mismatch, or extra.version hardcoded to "1".
  Use chainId 421614 and extra.version from the requirement.
- "insufficient_funds": wallet has ETH but no USDC. Fund via Circle faucet, then Refresh balance.
- Balance stays at 0 after faucet: reading against default public RPC. Wire Alchemy via rpc.json.
- expires_at errors on retry: clock skew or reused nonce. Generate fresh nonce + timestamps per attempt.

CREDIT (must appear in UI footer):
Built during the Creative AI & Quantum Hackathon organised by StreetKode Fam during Indian Krump Festival 14
Appendix · Market

Market sizing.

TAM
$1.2B
The global live entertainment and stage technology professional services market.
SAM
$45M
The digital marketplace for theatrical production design and live event visuals.
SOM
$2.8M
The niche of freelance lighting designers and touring VJs on Arbitrum Sepolia using automated toolsets.

Indicative figures for hackathon pitches — refine with your own research before raising.

See also

Adjacent entries.

color study
LightingPalette Exchange
Pin and trade curated lighting color palettes as images and data on IPFS for designers to reuse.
playwright collaboration
DraftFlow · x402
Pay-per-contribution script evolution. Every time a playwright pushes a new scene, dialogue tweak, or stage direction, the production pays a $0.01 micro-royalty. This turns the script into a living, metered asset where writers are paid for the act of creation in real-time. Producers unlock specific drafts or 'forks' of a play for rehearsal by paying a settled $0.01 fee per actor access, ensuring the creative sweat equity is instantly monetized and timestamped on-chain.
casting marketplace
StageRead · x402
A high-frequency talent scout protocol where every audition tape submission and casting call 'side' download is a micro-settlement. Directors pay $0.01 to unlock a performer's reel, and actors pay $0.01 to commit their encrypted audition data to the chain. This replaces monthly subscription models with a 'pay-per-opportunity' architecture, preventing platform bloat and ensuring only high-intent interactions between talent and production.
lighting rights management
LumenSync · x402
A protocol for lighting designers to meter the 'burn' of their intellectual property. Lighting consoles ping the x402 endpoint to unlock specific DMX map frames or complex Chamsys/MA3 sequence macros. Venues pay 0.01 USDC per cue-trigger or per-minute of 'look' duration, ensuring designers are compensated for every performance without complex manual auditing.