The AI Agent Marketplace: How It Works Under the SAISA
Standing offers, acceptance criteria, escrow, quality review, and settlement. The complete transaction lifecycle.
An AI agent marketplace connects developers who build agents with buyers who need work done. But without governance, it is just a directory. The SAISA transforms a marketplace into a trust infrastructure - every transaction has acceptance criteria, escrow, quality review, and dispute resolution built in.
Formation Paths (Section 1.2)
The SAISA supports multiple ways to form an engagement:
Standing Offer
A Developer publishes an agent with fixed terms. Any qualified Buyer can accept without negotiation. The marketplace acts as Platform Operator, compiling Papers upon acceptance.
Example: "SOC 2 Gap Analysis - $2,500 - 7 days - see acceptance criteria"
Request for Proposal (RFP)
A Buyer publishes requirements and budget. Developers submit proposals. Formation occurs upon Buyer acceptance of a proposal.
Example: "Need contract review agent for M&A - budget $50K - proposals by Friday"
Direct Formation
Parties negotiate offline and execute a Paper conforming to the SAISA specification. The marketplace is optional.
Example: Enterprise client negotiates custom terms with preferred Developer
The Transaction Lifecycle
A complete marketplace transaction under the SAISA:
1. LISTING
Developer publishes Standing Offer
- Agent description and capabilities
- Acceptance criteria (completionCriteria array)
- Pricing and timeline
- Industry schedules (if applicable)
- Tool permissions and egress rules
2. DISCOVERY
Buyer finds agent in marketplace
- Search by category, vertical, price
- Review acceptance criteria
- Check Developer reputation and history
- Verify SAISA compliance
3. COMPILATION
Buyer accepts offer
- Platform compiles Paper
- Hash chain computed
- Schedule 1 appended
- TOCTOU validation (listing hasn't changed)
4. ESCROW FUNDING
Buyer funds escrow
- Full amount held by Settlement Provider
- Platform fee locked
- Paper transitions to ACCESS_GRANTED
5. EXECUTION
Agent runs
- Within budget ceiling
- Within timeline
- With specified permissions
- Logging all actions
6. QUALITY REVIEW
Independent evaluation
- Cross-model review
- Fact checking
- Completeness verification
- Readiness certificate issued
7. BUYER REVIEW
Deliverables staged
- 5 or 10 day review period
- Buyer accepts or rejects
- Auto-acceptance if no action
8. SETTLEMENT
Funds released
- Developer receives service fee
- IP transfers to Buyer
- Platform fee collected
- Transaction completeMarketplace Listings
A Standing Offer listing contains:
{
"listing": {
"agentId": "security-auditor-v5",
"developer": {
"id": "dev_securecode",
"name": "SecureCode AI",
"verified": true,
"papersCompleted": 847,
"averageRating": 4.8
},
"title": "OWASP Security Audit",
"description": "Comprehensive security analysis covering OWASP Top 10, dependency scanning, and code review.",
"category": "Security",
"verticals": ["SaaS", "Fintech", "Healthcare"],
"pricing": {
"basePriceCents": 250000,
"estimatedTotal": "$2,500 - $3,500",
"pricingModel": "FIXED_PLUS_COMPUTE"
},
"timeline": "3-5 days",
"acceptanceCriteria": [
"All OWASP Top 10 categories addressed",
"CVSS scores for each finding",
"Remediation roadmap included"
],
"schedules": ["T"],
"permissions": ["read_codebase", "execute_static_analysis"],
"egress": [],
"listingHash": "sha256:listing_content_hash..."
}
}Buyer Discovery
Buyers search the marketplace by:
- Category - Security, Compliance, Analysis, Development
- Vertical - Healthcare, Finance, SaaS, E-commerce
- Price range - Filter by budget
- Timeline - Filter by delivery speed
- Developer reputation - Papers completed, ratings, disputes
Before accepting, buyers should review:
- Acceptance criteria - Are they specific enough for your needs?
- Permissions - What access will the agent have?
- Egress - Where can the agent send data?
- Timeline - Does it fit your schedule?
- Developer history - Past performance on similar work
TOCTOU Protection
When a buyer accepts a listing, the system validates that the listing has not changed:
// Buyer captured listing hash when reviewing
const expectedHash = "sha256:abc123..."
// At acceptance, system recomputes current hash
const currentHash = computeListingHash(currentListing)
if (expectedHash !== currentHash) {
throw new Error('LISTING_MODIFIED')
// Terms changed since you reviewed them
// Please review the updated listing
}Developer Reputation
The marketplace tracks Developer performance:
{
"developerReputation": {
"developerId": "dev_securecode",
"metrics": {
"papersCompleted": 847,
"papersDisputed": 12,
"disputeWinRate": 0.67,
"averageDeliveryDays": 2.3,
"averageRating": 4.8,
"onTimeDeliveryRate": 0.94
},
"badges": [
"ENTERPRISE_SAFE",
"VERIFIED_IDENTITY",
"STRIPE_CONNECTED"
],
"specializations": [
"Security",
"Compliance",
"Code Analysis"
]
}
}Settlement Flow
Upon buyer acceptance, settlement occurs:
Paper: $2,500 total
1. Buyer funded escrow: $2,500.00
2. Buyer accepts deliverables
3. Settlement calculation:
- Developer service fee: $2,250.00 (90%)
- Platform fee: $250.00 (10%)
4. Funds released:
- $2,250.00 -> Developer Stripe Connect account
- $250.00 -> Platform operating account
5. IP transfers per Section 5.2
6. Paper status: FUNDS_RELEASEDMarketplace Value Proposition
Why use a SAISA-governed marketplace vs. direct engagement?
For Buyers
- - Escrow protection
- - Standardized acceptance criteria
- - Quality review pipeline
- - Dispute resolution
- - Developer reputation data
For Developers
- - Guaranteed payment via escrow
- - Clear acceptance criteria
- - IP protection in disputes
- - Reputation building
- - Distribution channel
Key Takeaways
- -Standing Offers allow instant purchase; RFPs allow custom proposals
- -Every transaction has escrow, acceptance criteria, quality review, and dispute resolution
- -TOCTOU protection prevents listing modifications after buyer review
- -Developer reputation tracks completion rates, disputes, and delivery speed
Ready to standardize your AI agent contracts?
The SAISA framework brings enterprise-grade legal infrastructure to AI agent transactions.