Net present value (NPV)

Compute the net present value of a stream of cashflows at a given discount rate. Send POST /api/npv with the required fields cashflows and discountRate and pay $0.001 per call over x402 or MPP, or call it free by solving a proof-of-work challenge. It returns a JSON object with npv, discountRate, presentValues and undiscountedSum.

Index 0 is treated as t=0 (today, not discounted); indices 1..n are discounted by (1+rate)^t. Matches Excel's NPV but with the conventional t=0 treatment most finance textbooks use (Excel itself starts discounting at t=1 - see notes). Use for capital-budgeting decisions: positive NPV = creates value at the discount rate; negative = destroys value.

Category: Live public data · Tags: finance npv present-value cashflow capital-budgeting discount-rate

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Parameters

Example request

curl -i -X POST https://agent402.tools/api/npv \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"cashflows":[-1000,300,400,500,600],"discountRate":0.1}'

Without payment this returns HTTP 402 Payment Required with the exact price for npv; any x402 v2 or MPP client pays it and retries.

Example response

{
  "npv": 388.77,
  "discountRate": 0.1,
  "presentValues": [
    -1000,
    272.73,
    330.58,
    375.66,
    409.81
  ],
  "undiscountedSum": 800
}

From an MCP client

catalog.call {
  "slug": "npv",
  "params": {
    "cashflows": [
      -1000,
      300,
      400,
      500,
      600
    ],
    "discountRate": 0.1
  }
}

On the hosted connector at https://agent402.tools/mcp, catalog.call runs npv free (rate-limited, no wallet). Local install: npx -y agent402-mcp.

Errors and behavior

• cashflows and discountRate are required. An input the tool rejects returns an HTTP 4xx whose body carries error, tool, expected, required and example, so the caller can correct it.
• A paid call that ends in any status of 400 or above is not charged over x402, MPP or a prepaid credits key: settlement is cancelled when the tool fails. The exception is a Tempo push credential, a transfer the buyer sent before the call: it settles before the tool runs, so if the tool then fails the payment is recorded as a refund owed to the paying wallet.
• Free tier: no outbound network call leaves the server for this tool, so proof-of-work (16 leading zero bits of sha256) pays for it.
• A GET or HEAD to /api/npv returns the same 402 quote, so the price can be read without a body.
• An Idempotency-Key header makes a retried paid call replay the first 200 instead of charging again (an answer larger than 1 MB is not replayed).

Paid call (JavaScript agent)

import { wrapFetchWithPayment } from "@x402/fetch";
import { x402Client } from "@x402/core/client";
import { registerExactEvmScheme } from "@x402/evm/exact/client";
import { privateKeyToAccount } from "viem/accounts";

const client = new x402Client();
client.setSpendControls?.(false); // keep your own spending ceiling in code
registerExactEvmScheme(client, { signer: privateKeyToAccount(KEY) });
const payFetch = wrapFetchWithPayment(fetch, client);

const res = await payFetch("https://agent402.tools/api/npv", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "cashflows": [
      -1000,
      300,
      400,
      500,
      600
    ],
    "discountRate": 0.1
  }),
});

No wallet? Pay with compute

Fetch a challenge, solve the sha256 puzzle (16 leading zero bits, a fraction of a second of CPU), and resend with the X-Pow-Solution header:

import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
const lz = (b) => { let t = 0; for (const x of b) { if (!x) { t += 8; continue; } t += Math.clz32(x) - 24; break; } return t; };
const c = await (await fetch("https://agent402.tools/api/pow/challenge?slug=npv")).json();
let n = 0;
while (lz(createHash("sha256").update(c.challenge + ":" + n).digest()) < c.difficulty) n++;
await fetch("https://agent402.tools/api/npv", { method: "POST", headers: { "X-Pow-Solution": c.token + ":" + n, "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({"cashflows":[-1000,300,400,500,600],"discountRate":0.1}) });

Part of these workflows

Net present value (NPV) is one step in this skill pack, each sold as a single call:

• Loan comparison - Compare two or more loan offers - different rates, terms, fees, prepayment structures - on the metrics that actually matter (monthly payment, total interest, year-1 equity build, NPV at your discount rate, effective rate). Apples-to-apples math without opening a spreadsheet.

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