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How to Give Your AI Agent a Bank Account in 5 Minutes (MCP + FLAT)

#ai #mcp #crypto #tutorial

How to Give Your AI Agent a Bank Account in 5 Minutes (MCP + FLAT)

Developers building AI agents (Claude, GPT, or custom LLMs) often need their agents to handle real-world transactions—checking balances, receiving payments, or earning bounties. FLAT (Flat Cash) makes this possible without a wallet, seed phrase, or gas fees, using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

In this tutorial, you’ll:
✅ Add the FLAT MCP server to your AI agent (Claude Desktop)
✅ Get your agent a FlatID (email-based account)
✅ Enable balance checks, transfers, and task earnings
✅ Deploy in under 5 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Claude Desktop (or any MCP-compatible AI agent)
  • FLAT MCP Server URL: https://flat.cash/api/mcp
  • Protocol: Streamable HTTP

Step 1: Add the FLAT MCP Server to claude_desktop_config.json

  1. Open Claude Desktop and navigate to:

    • Mac: ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json
    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

  2. Add the FLAT MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "flat": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-flat@latest",
        "https://flat.cash/api/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}
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  1. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop.

✅ Verification: Open the MCP Inspector (Cmd+Shift+P > "MCP: Inspect") and confirm flat appears in the list.

Step 2: Agent Gets a FlatID (No Wallet Needed)

Your AI agent now has a FlatID—a unique, email-based account. No seed phrase, no KYC, no gas fees.

How to Get Your FlatID

Ask your AI agent:

"What is my FlatID?"

Example response:

Your FlatID is: ai_agent_1234567890@flat.cash
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🔹 How it works:

  • The FlatID is your agent’s bank account.
  • Deposits can be sent to this email-like address.
  • No private keys—transactions are managed via MCP tools.

Step 3: Agent Can Now Handle Money

Your AI agent can now:
💰 Check balance
📥 Receive payments
🔄 Transfer funds
🎁 Earn bounties (SAVE tokens)

Available MCP Tools

Tool Description Example Usage
flat_balance Check SAVE token balance "What’s my balance?"
flat_transfer Send SAVE tokens "Send 1 SAVE to alice@flat.cash"
flat_buy Buy SAVE with USDC "Buy 5 SAVE"
flat_price Get SAVE/USDC price "What’s the price of SAVE?"
flat_tasks List available bounties "Show me tasks to earn SAVE"
flat_earn Claim a bounty "Earn task 123"

Step 4: Practical Examples

1. Check Balance

Ask your agent:

"What’s my FLAT balance?"

Example response:

Your current balance: 10.5 SAVE (~$11.76)
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2. Receive a Payment

Send SAVE to your agent’s FlatID:

Send 2 SAVE to ai_agent_1234567890@flat.cash
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Your agent will detect the deposit on the next balance check.

3. Transfer Funds

Ask your agent:

"Send 1 SAVE to bob@flat.cash"

Example response:

Transfer successful! Sent 1 SAVE to bob@flat.cash.
New balance: 9.5 SAVE
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4. Earn Bounties (SAVE Tokens)

Ask your agent:

"Show me tasks I can earn SAVE from"

Example response:

Available tasks:
- Task #123: "Test FLAT API" → 5 SAVE (~$5.60)
- Task #456: "Write a tutorial" → 10 SAVE (~$11.20)
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Then claim a task:

"Earn task 123"

Example response:

Task completed! You earned 5 SAVE.
New balance: 14.5 SAVE
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Step 5: No Gas Fees, No KYC, No Wallet

✅ Zero gas fees (transactions are off-chain)
✅ No seed phrase (FlatID is email-based)
✅ No KYC (fully permissionless)
✅ Instant settlements (SAVE tokens credit immediately)

💡 Current SAVE Price: ~$1.12 (check via flat_price)

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
MCP server not loading Restart Claude Desktop & check claude_desktop_config.json
FlatID not generated Run flat_balance—it auto-creates the account
Transfer fails Ensure sufficient balance (flat_balance first)
Tasks not appearing Check flat_tasks for updated bounties

Next Steps for Developers

  1. Automate transactions (e.g., AI agent pays for cloud services)
  2. Build a micro-economy (agents earn/send SAVE for tasks)
  3. Integrate with other MCP tools (e.g., fetch data, then pay for API calls)

🚀 Full MCP Documentation:
🔗 FLAT MCP Server
🔗 Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Final Thoughts

With FLAT + MCP, your AI agent now has a bank account in 5 minutes—no wallet, no fees, just seamless transactions. Perfect for autonomous agents, micro-payments, and decentralized economies.

Try it now:

  1. Add the MCP config
  2. Ask your agent for a FlatID
  3. Start earning & spending SAVE!

💬 Questions? Drop them in the comments or check the FLAT Discord.

Happy coding! 🚀

For the full protocol reference, see docs.flat.cash.

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