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 (Run a Node)

Start earning Bitcoin by selling AI access in under 5 minutes.

1. Prepare Configuration

Create a .env file:

# Initial Admin Password
ADMIN_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword

# Node Identity
NAME="My AI Node"
DESCRIPTION="Fast access to models"

# Lightning Payouts
RECEIVE_LN_ADDRESS=yourname@wallet.com

2. Start the Node

docker run -d \
  --name routstr \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  --env-file .env \
  -v routstr-data:/app/data \
  ghcr.io/routstr/proxy:latest

Verify it's running:

curl http://localhost:8000/v1/info

3. Configure via Dashboard

Open Admin Dashboard at http://localhost:8000/admin/
Login with your ADMIN_PASSWORD
Go to Settings → Upstream - Add your AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, etc.)
Go to Settings → Pricing - Set your profit margin (default 10%)
Go to Settings → Admin - Set a strong password

4. Start Earning

Clients pay you in Bitcoin (via Cashu) for every AI request. Monitor earnings and withdraw profits from the dashboard.

Development

make setup
cp .env.example .env
fastapi run routstr