Jeroen UbbinkandClaude Opus 4.8
7106dfe330
A node with a legacy plaintext nsec but no ROUTSTR_SECRET_KEY refused to boot: bootstrap_secrets raised and vault.encrypt required the env key. That turned encryption at rest into a hard breaking change on auto-upgrade. Encryption stays mandatory — the nsec is never persisted in plaintext — but key custody becomes flexible. When no ROUTSTR_SECRET_KEY is set, encrypt() generates a Fernet key, writes it owner-only (0600) to a key file, and prints a one-time back-it-up notice, so an upgrading node keeps running. The read path stays strict: decrypt()/get_fernet() never mint a key (a fresh key could not match existing ciphertext) and fail fast with the generation command when none is configured. A malformed env key still fails fast rather than silently self-provisioning a different key. The key file defaults beside the SQLite database (ROUTSTR_SECRET_KEY_FILE overrides), so it rides whatever volume already persists the data instead of a working-directory path a container recreate would drop. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Routstr Payment Proxy
Routstr is a decentralized protocol for permissionless, private, and censorship-resistant AI inference. It combines Nostr for discovery and Cashu for private Bitcoin micropayments.
This repo contains Routstr Core: a FastAPI-based reverse proxy that sits in front of OpenAI-compatible APIs and handles pay-per-request billing.
Start Here
- Overview: https://docs.routstr.com/overview/
- Provider Guide: https://docs.routstr.com/provider/quickstart/
- User Guide: https://docs.routstr.com/user-guide/introduction/
Basic Usage
If you are a user/developer, you just point an OpenAI-compatible SDK at a Routstr node and pay with a Cashu token.
OpenAI SDK
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.routstr.com/v1",
api_key="cashuBo2FteCJodHRwczovL21...",
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="gpt-5-nano",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
cURL
curl https://api.routstr.com/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "x-cashu: cashuBo2FteCJodHRwczovL21..." \
-d '{
"model": "gpt-5-nano",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]
}'
Quick Start (Docker)
If you are a node runner, start a Routstr Core instance using Docker Compose:
-
Prepare your
.env:# Required: encrypts secrets at rest. The node won't start without it. ROUTSTR_SECRET_KEY=<generated-key> NAME="My AI Node" DESCRIPTION="Fast access to models" NSEC=yournsec RECEIVE_LN_ADDRESS=yourname@wallet.comGenerate
ROUTSTR_SECRET_KEYonce and keep it stable — changing it makes previously encrypted secrets unreadable:python -c "from cryptography.fernet import Fernet; print(Fernet.generate_key().decode())" -
Start the services:
docker compose up -d -
Get your admin password: On first start the node generates an admin password and logs it once with the
/adminURL. Read it from the logs:docker compose logs routstr | grep -i admin(Lost it? Reset with
python scripts/reset_admin_password.py --regenerate.) -
Configure: Open http://localhost:8000/admin/ to connect your AI providers and set pricing.
For full instructions, see the Provider Quick Start Guide.
Development
make setup
cp .env.example .env
fastapi run routstr