@cipherpay/zipher-cli

Headless Zcash light wallet for AI agents. Shielded payments, spending policies, and x402 paywall access — from the command line or via MCP.

Install

npm install -g @cipherpay/zipher-cli

Installs two binaries: zipher (CLI) and zipher-mcp-server (MCP server for AI agents).

Quick start

# One-command setup: creates encrypted wallet, prints seed phrase + MCP config
zipher wallet init

# Check balance (auto-syncs)
zipher balance

# Send ZEC
zipher send --to <address> --amount 0.01

# Pay any 402 paywall
zipher pay https://api.example.com/premium/weather

# Cross-chain swap (ZEC → SOL, USDC, etc.)
zipher swap quote --to SOL --amount 0.5
zipher swap execute --to SOL --amount 0.5 --destination <solana-address>

# Session-based payments (prepaid credit)
zipher session open --url https://api.example.com --amount 0.1
zipher session request --id <session-id> --endpoint /data

MCP server

For AI agent frameworks (Claude, Cursor, etc.), add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zipher": {
      "command": "zipher-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

The MCP server loads the wallet seed from the encrypted OWS vault created by zipher wallet init. No environment variables needed.

MCP tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | wallet_status | Balance, sync height, seed source, lock state | | wallet_lock / wallet_unlock | Clear seed from memory when not in use | | propose_send | Create a transaction proposal (policy-checked) | | confirm_send | Sign and broadcast a proposed transaction | | approve_send | Approve a transaction flagged for human review | | get_pending_approval | Check if a transaction is awaiting approval | | pay_url | Pay an x402 paywall in one step | | session_open / session_request | Prepaid session-based payments | | swap_quote / swap_execute | Cross-chain swaps via Near Intents | | get_policy / set_policy | View and update spending limits |

Security model

• Encrypted vault — seed phrase encrypted at rest (OWS standard)
• Process hardening — core dumps disabled, ptrace blocked
• Spending policies — per-transaction limits, daily caps, address allowlists
• Human-in-the-loop — transactions above threshold require explicit approval
• Audit logging — every agent action logged with timestamps
• Lock/unlock — seed cleared from memory when wallet is locked

Spending policies

Default policy (created by zipher wallet init):

max_per_tx = 1000000      # 0.01 ZEC per transaction
daily_limit = 10000000     # 0.1 ZEC per day
approval_threshold = 5000000  # 0.05 ZEC requires human approval
allowlist = []             # Empty = any address allowed

Edit at ~/.zipher/mainnet/policy.toml or use set_policy via MCP.

Supported platforms

| OS | Arch | |-------|-------| | macOS | ARM64 | | macOS | x64 | | Linux | x64 | | Linux | ARM64 |

Links

• GitHub
• CipherPay