diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index d2d11d4..d9a002d 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -149,9 +149,24 @@ export interface RobotsOptions {
   comments?: string[];
 }
 
+/** What the caller spent against an allowance, as `spend()` reports it. */
+export interface QuotaUsage {
+  count: number;
+  remaining: number;
+  resetSeconds: number;
+  overLimit: boolean;
+}
+
+/** The allowance a 402 should quote, when the caller kept the count itself. */
+export interface SellContext {
+  usage?: QuotaUsage | null;
+  /** Defaults to the gateway's own `freeQuota`. */
+  quota?: { requests: number; windowSeconds: number } | null;
+}
+
 export interface Gateway {
   handle: Handle;
-  sell: (request: Request) => Promise<Response>;
+  sell: (request: Request, context?: SellContext) => Promise<Response>;
   enabled: boolean;
   options: Required<Omit<GatewayOptions, 'onSale' | 'fetch' | 'page' | 'isPaidAgent'>> & {
     onSale: GatewayOptions['onSale'] | null;
@@ -161,6 +176,10 @@ export interface Gateway {
   };
   robotsTxt: (extra?: RobotsOptions) => string;
   page: () => string;
+  /** The pass this request presents, from the gateway's header or a bearer token. */
+  passFrom: (request: Request) => string | null;
+  /** Whether that token is a live pass this gateway minted. */
+  verifyPass: (token: string | null) => Promise<boolean>;
 }
 
 export function createGateway(options: GatewayOptions): Gateway;
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ec0b04c..a347bb5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@profullstack/x402-gateway",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
+  "version": "0.5.0",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Sell crawl access to AI training crawlers by the day over x402, settled by CoinPay. One middleware: 402 with an offer, a sales page with CLI instructions, signed passes, and a robots.txt that keeps search crawlers welcome.",
   "keywords": [
@@ -20,22 +20,52 @@
     "middleware",
     "paywall"
   ],
-  "repository": { "type": "git", "url": "git+https://github.com/profullstack/x402-gateway.git" },
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "git+https://github.com/profullstack/x402-gateway.git"
+  },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/profullstack/x402-gateway#readme",
-  "bugs": { "url": "https://github.com/profullstack/x402-gateway/issues" },
+  "bugs": {
+    "url": "https://github.com/profullstack/x402-gateway/issues"
+  },
   "license": "MIT",
   "author": "Profullstack, LLC",
   "exports": {
-    ".": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/index.js" },
-    "./hono": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/hono.js" },
-    "./next": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/next.js" },
-    "./robots": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/robots.js" },
-    "./agents": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/agents.js" },
-    "./edge": { "types": "./index.d.ts", "import": "./src/edge.js" }
+    ".": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/index.js"
+    },
+    "./hono": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/hono.js"
+    },
+    "./next": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/next.js"
+    },
+    "./robots": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/robots.js"
+    },
+    "./agents": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/agents.js"
+    },
+    "./edge": {
+      "types": "./index.d.ts",
+      "import": "./src/edge.js"
+    }
   },
   "types": "./index.d.ts",
-  "files": ["src", "index.d.ts", "README.md", "LICENSE"],
-  "engines": { "node": ">=20.11" },
+  "files": [
+    "src",
+    "index.d.ts",
+    "README.md",
+    "LICENSE"
+  ],
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">=20.11"
+  },
   "sideEffects": false,
   "scripts": {
     "test": "node --test"
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 687a8a2..754d47b 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -127,11 +127,11 @@ export function createGateway(options = {}) {
       headers: { 'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8', ...noStore, ...headers },
     });
 
-  const pageCtx = (days = 1, usage = null) => ({
-    quota: o.freeQuota
+  const pageCtx = (days = 1, usage = null, quota = o.freeQuota) => ({
+    quota: quota
       ? {
-          requests: o.freeQuota.requests,
-          windowSeconds: o.freeQuota.windowSeconds,
+          requests: quota.requests,
+          windowSeconds: quota.windowSeconds,
           used: usage?.count ?? null,
           resetSeconds: usage?.resetSeconds ?? null,
           exceeded: Boolean(usage?.overLimit),
@@ -177,7 +177,15 @@ export function createGateway(options = {}) {
     // Present when the free allowance is what stopped this request, rather than
     // the crawler lists. It changes what the 402 says, not what it costs.
     const usage = context.usage ?? null;
-    const rateHeaders = usage ? quotaHeaders(o.freeQuota, usage) : {};
+    /*
+     * The allowance the caller was measured against. Defaults to this
+     * gateway's own, but a caller that keeps its own counter -- an app-wide
+     * throttle metering every route, not just the crawler lists -- hands its
+     * own in, so the 402 quotes the limit that actually stopped the request
+     * rather than one the gateway happens to hold.
+     */
+    const quota = context.quota ?? o.freeQuota;
+    const rateHeaders = usage && quota ? quotaHeaders(quota, usage) : {};
 
     if (proofHeader) {
       if (!enabled) return json(receipt(asked, { error: 'Payments are not switched on here.' }), 402);
@@ -272,22 +280,22 @@ export function createGateway(options = {}) {
     }
 
     if (wantsHtml(request.headers.get('accept'))) {
-      return html(o.page(pageCtx(asked, usage)), 402, rateHeaders);
+      return html(o.page(pageCtx(asked, usage, quota)), 402, rateHeaders);
     }
 
-    if (usage) {
+    if (usage && quota) {
       // Say what ran out, when it comes back, and what a pass costs, in that
       // order. A caller reading this is deciding between waiting, rotating
       // addresses, and paying, and the numbers are the argument.
       return json(
         receipt(asked, {
           error:
-            `Free allowance used: ${o.freeQuota.requests} requests per ` +
-            `${o.freeQuota.windowSeconds}s. It resets in ${usage.resetSeconds}s. ` +
+            `Free allowance used: ${quota.requests} requests per ` +
+            `${quota.windowSeconds}s. It resets in ${usage.resetSeconds}s. ` +
             `A pass removes the limit for ${price} a day.`,
           quota: {
-            requests: o.freeQuota.requests,
-            windowSeconds: o.freeQuota.windowSeconds,
+            requests: quota.requests,
+            windowSeconds: quota.windowSeconds,
             used: usage.count,
             resetSeconds: usage.resetSeconds,
           },
@@ -367,6 +375,19 @@ export function createGateway(options = {}) {
     sell,
     enabled,
     options: o,
+    /**
+     * The pass a request presents, and whether it is one this gateway minted
+     * and still honours.
+     *
+     * Exposed because the pass has to be honoured by everything that could
+     * refuse a request, not only by `handle`. An app-wide throttle that meters
+     * every route has to skip whoever already paid, and recomputing the
+     * signing-secret fallback (`secret || coinpay.apiKey`) on its side is
+     * exactly the kind of duplicate rule that drifts and starts charging
+     * paying crawlers twice.
+     */
+    passFrom,
+    verifyPass: async (token) => Boolean(token && (await readPass(token, { secret }))),
     /** robots.txt with this gateway's lists and sales path. */
     robotsTxt: (extra = {}) =>
       robotsTxt({ siteUrl: o.siteUrl, path: o.path, training: o.training, retrieval: o.retrieval, ...extra }),
diff --git a/test/quota.test.js b/test/quota.test.js
index fa154b9..38dcfb2 100644
--- a/test/quota.test.js
+++ b/test/quota.test.js
@@ -266,3 +266,78 @@ describe('the page a throttled reader sees', () => {
     assert.match(page, /sold by the gigabyte/);
   });
 });
+
+describe("an allowance the caller counted itself", () => {
+  // The app-wide throttle in @profullstack/throttle meters every route, not
+  // just the crawler lists, and then asks the gateway to sell. The 402 has to
+  // quote the limit that actually stopped the request.
+  const usage = { count: 101, remaining: 0, resetSeconds: 42, overLimit: true };
+
+  it("quotes the caller's numbers, not the gateway's", async () => {
+    const gate = gateway(null); // no freeQuota of its own
+    const answer = await gate.sell(reader("203.0.113.9"), {
+      usage,
+      quota: { requests: 100, windowSeconds: 60 },
+    });
+    assert.equal(answer.status, 402);
+    const body = await answer.json();
+    assert.match(body.error, /100 requests per 60s/);
+    assert.match(body.error, /resets in 42s/);
+    assert.equal(body.quota.requests, 100);
+    assert.equal(body.quota.used, 101);
+    assert.equal(answer.headers.get("ratelimit-limit"), "100");
+    assert.equal(answer.headers.get("ratelimit-reset"), "42");
+  });
+
+  it("still falls back to the gateway's own allowance", async () => {
+    const gate = gateway(25);
+    const answer = await gate.sell(reader("203.0.113.9"), { usage });
+    const body = await answer.json();
+    assert.match(body.error, /25 requests per 60s/);
+  });
+
+  // Regression: `sell` used to read o.freeQuota unconditionally whenever a
+  // usage was passed, so a gateway without one threw on the throttle's path.
+  it("does not throw when neither side has an allowance", async () => {
+    const gate = gateway(null);
+    const answer = await gate.sell(reader("203.0.113.9"), { usage });
+    assert.equal(answer.status, 402);
+    const body = await answer.json();
+    assert.match(body.error, /Payment required/);
+  });
+
+  it("renders the caller's allowance on the HTML page too", async () => {
+    const gate = gateway(null);
+    const answer = await gate.sell(
+      reader("203.0.113.9", { accept: "text/html" }),
+      { usage, quota: { requests: 100, windowSeconds: 60 } },
+    );
+    assert.equal(answer.status, 402);
+    assert.match(await answer.text(), /100/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("verifyPass", () => {
+  it("honours a pass this gateway minted, and nothing else", async () => {
+    const gate = gateway(100);
+    const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+    const good = await mintPass({ secret: SECRET, ref: "r1", expiresAt: now + 60, now });
+    assert.equal(await gate.verifyPass(good.token), true);
+    assert.equal(await gate.verifyPass("cp_nonsense.abc"), false);
+    assert.equal(await gate.verifyPass(null), false);
+
+    const expired = await mintPass({ secret: SECRET, ref: "r2", expiresAt: now - 1, now: now - 61 });
+    assert.equal(await gate.verifyPass(expired.token), false);
+  });
+
+  it("reads the token off a request, header or bearer", () => {
+    const gate = gateway(100);
+    const header = new Request(`${SITE}/`, { headers: { "x-crawl-pass": " tok " } });
+    assert.equal(gate.passFrom(header), "tok");
+    const bearer = new Request(`${SITE}/`, {
+      headers: { authorization: "Bearer cp_abc.def" },
+    });
+    assert.equal(gate.passFrom(bearer), "cp_abc.def");
+    assert.equal(gate.passFrom(new Request(`${SITE}/`)), null);
+  });
+});