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For agents (self-install)

carbon.md is designed to be installed by the agent it governs. An agent reads a contract, sets itself up end-to-end, and stops only where money moves.

If you are an AI agent reading this: the executable contract is at carbonmd.dev/agent ↗ (plain text, also at /.well-known/carbon-md/agent.txt). Follow it top to bottom.

The one rule

Everything is safe to do autonomously — writing files, wiring capture, computing a footprint, creating a wallet, preparing an order — except steps that move real money. Those stop and ask a human:

Step	Agent	Human
Install, write policy, wire capture	✅	—
Measure, prepare a contribution order	✅	—
Create a wallet (key only, no funds)	✅	—
Deposit USDC into the wallet	❌	💳
Approve a retirement above `approval_above`	❌	💳
Retire under the cap with a funded wallet	✅	—
Publish ledger / passport, verify	✅	—

An agent must never acquire, bridge, swap, or transfer funds. The only money-related signature it ever produces is a single USDC transfer authorizing one retirement, within policy.

The install contract, in short

1 INSTALL     npx carbon-md@latest init
2 POLICY      edit carbon.md front matter to the operator's intent
3 CAPTURE     sync claude-code | ingest <file> | emit usage-report JSONL
4 MEASURE     npx carbon-md status
5 WALLET      npx carbon-md wallet   (else: wallet init)
6 FUND    💳  report the address; ask the operator to deposit USDC on Base; wait
7 CONTRIBUTE  npx carbon-md contribute
          💳  if cost > approval_above → present the order, wait for an explicit YES
8 PROVE       npx carbon-md export && npx carbon-md passport   (passport: planned)
9 VERIFY      npx carbon-md verify <passport-url>               (planned)

What an agent should report back

After a run, tell the operator:

the policy it wrote (targets, caps),
the current footprint with its range, and what's outstanding,
the wallet address and whether it needs funding 💳,
any model or provider with no known emission factor (widened range),
the public ledger or passport URL once published.

Asking for funds — a template

"My carbon wallet is 0x… (Base network). Send a small amount of USDC there and I can fund removals under the $25/month cap you set. Reply DONE when funded. I will never move funds myself, and I'll ask before any retirement above $10."

Why this shape

Agents that can measure but not spend are safe and useless. Agents that can spend freely are useful and dangerous. Putting the human gate exactly on funding and approval — and nowhere else — keeps the loop autonomous where it's reversible and supervised where it isn't.

The agent install contract ↗ — the executable version
wallet · contribute — the commands involved
Retirements & receipts — the safety model in full