[论文解读] TessPay: Verify-then-Pay Infrastructure for Trusted Agentic Commerce

Mehul Goenka, Tejas Pathak+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jan 30, 2026

Blockchain Technology Applications and Security被引用 0

一句话总结

TessPay 提出了一种统一的两平面基础设施，使“先验证再支付”的代理性商务成为可能，结合任务委派、可验证任务执行和跨链结算，并提供防篡改的审计跟踪。

ABSTRACT

The global economy is entering the era of Agentic Commerce, where autonomous agents can discover services, negotiate prices, and transact value. However adoption towards agentic commerce faces a foundational trust gap: current systems are built for direct human interactions rather than agent-driven operations. It lacks core primitives across three critical stages of agentic transactions. First, Task Delegation lacks means to translate user intent into defined scopes, discover appropriate agents, and securely authorize actions. Second, Payment Settlement for tasks is processed before execution, lacking verifiable evidence to validate the agent's work. Third, Audit Mechanisms fail to capture the full transaction lifecycle, preventing clear accountability for disputes. While emerging standards address fragments of this trust gap, there still remains a critical need for a unified infrastructure that binds the entire transaction lifecycle. To resolve this gap, we introduce TessPay, a unified infrastructure that replaces implicit trust with a 'Verify-then-Pay' architecture. It is a two plane architecture separating control and verification from settlement. TessPay operationalizes trust across four distinct stages: Before execution, agents are anchored in a canonical registry and user intent is captured as verifiable mandates, enabling stakeholder accountability. During execution, funds are locked in escrow while the agent executes the task and generates cryptographic evidence (TLS Notary, TEE etc.) to support Proof of Task Execution (PoTE). At settlement, the system verifies this evidence and releases funds only when the PoTE satisfies verification predicates; modular rail adapters ensure this PoTE-gated escrow remains chain-agnostic across heterogeneous payment rails. After settlement, TessPay preserves a tamper-evident audit trail to enable clear accountability for dispute resolution.

研究动机与目标

• 识别代理性商务在委派、结算前的验证以及可审计性方面的信任缺口。
• 提出一个将整个交易生命周期从意图到结算绑定在一起的统一基础设施。
• 实现跨链结算和防篡改审计，以实现纠纷解决与问责制。

提出的方法

• 提出一个将控制/验证与结算分离的两平面 TessPay 架构。
• 在规范注册中定义意图、授权与代理发现的实体与流程。
• 实现加密证明流程（PoTE），包括 TLS 公证、TEE 证明和 A-JWTs 以实现安全授权与验证。
• 提供模块化轨道适配器以在异构支付通道间实现链无关的结算。
• 建立防篡改的审计轨道与 Merkle 根锚定，将链下证明绑定到链上记录。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 如何将委派、验证与结算统一为一个可审计的代理交易生命周期？
• RQ2 需要哪些架构与原语将用户意图与可验证结果在结算前绑定？
• RQ3 在不影响安全性与审计性的前提下，如何实现跨链结算？
• RQ4 哪些密码学证明与认证能够有效验证自治代理工作流中的任务执行？
• RQ5 分层验证如何影响不同交易类型的性能、成本与安全性？

主要发现

• 提出一个统一的两平面架构，将控制/验证与结算解耦。
• 引入基于 TLS 公证、TEE 证明和 A-JWT 的任务执行证明（PoTE），以门控结算。
• 定义一个使用模块化轨道适配器和托管智能合约的链无关结算平面。
• 通过带有链上锚定（Merkle 根）和用于纠纷的审计轨道，保持防篡改的审计跟踪。
• 支持从发现、授权制定、执行、验证到 PoTE 受控结算的端到端流程。