Aider is pure terminal. You run it in your shell, it edits files, runs commands, and reasons about your codebase. No GUI, no browser, no frills. That's actually what makes it great with AgentCard — the CLI-to-CLI workflow is dead simple.
No browser means no visual checkout. But honestly? A surprising number of services let you pay through an API or CLI. More than you'd think. For those, Aider is fast and efficient.
Here's the setup.
What you need
- Aider installed (
pip install aider-chat) - Node.js 18+ for the AgentCard CLI
- A payment method (credit card, debit card, or USDC)
How Aider makes purchases
Aider runs in your terminal and executes shell commands when you ask. The flow:
- Run the AgentCard CLI to create a card
- Pull card details (number, CVV, expiry, billing address)
- Use those details in API calls, curl commands, or scripts
- Write and run code that completes the purchase
No browser. Everything happens through APIs and code. That's the trade-off, and for developer-focused purchases, it's the right one.
Step 1: Install the AgentCard CLI
Quick install:
npm install -g agentcard
Step 2: Sign up
agentcard signup --email you@example.com
Magic link in your email. Click it. One-time thing.
Step 3: Ask Aider to create a card and make a purchase
Fire up Aider and tell it what you need:
"Run agentcard create --amount 10, then use the card details to buy credits on the OpenAI API"
Aider will:
- Run
agentcard create --amount 10to create a virtual card - Open the Stripe Checkout link for your payment (you complete this in your browser)
- Run
agentcard details <card-id>to retrieve card credentials - Use the card number, CVV, and expiry to add a payment method via the OpenAI billing API
- Purchase the credits programmatically
Best use cases for Aider
Aider lives in the terminal, so it's best at purchases where the merchant offers an API or CLI. Here's what we've seen work well:
API credit top-ups
"Create a $20 AgentCard and add it as a payment method on my Anthropic account, then buy $20 in credits."
Aider whips up a curl command or Python script, plugs in the card details, and runs it. Takes maybe a minute.
Domain registration via CLI
"Create a $15 AgentCard and register mycoolproject.dev using the Cloudflare API."
Aider writes a script using the Cloudflare API to register the domain and pay with the virtual card.
SaaS with API billing
"Create a $50 AgentCard and upgrade my Vercel account to Pro using their API."
More SaaS platforms expose billing endpoints than you'd expect. Aider figures out the right API calls.
Writing purchase scripts
And even when Aider can't finish a purchase on its own, it writes the code for you to run:
"Create a $25 AgentCard, get the details, and write a Python script that uses Stripe's API to add this card as a payment method."
Aider creates the card, retrieves the details, and generates a ready-to-run script.
What Aider can't do
No browser. Period. That means:
- No visual checkout pages (use Cline or Claude Cowork for that)
- No web forms
- No CAPTCHAs
If a merchant only takes payment through a web checkout, grab the card details from Aider and do the checkout yourself. Or switch to an agent with browser access.
Security tips
We say this in every guide because it's the core idea behind AgentCard: the card IS the spending limit.
- Use exact amounts — $15 card for a $12 purchase. Keep it tight.
- One card per task — each purchase gets a fresh card
- Check the balance —
agentcard balance <card-id>after the purchase. Always. - Review commands — Aider shows you each command before running it. Read them.
Your real payment info never touches the merchant. That's non-negotiable in our design.
Get started
npm install -g agentcard
agentcard signup --email you@example.com
Then in Aider:
"Create a $10 AgentCard and use it to buy API credits for [service]."
Aider handles the CLI, the API calls, the scripting. You just approve each step and you're done.