Operator Routing
Operators are independent inference providers registered on the Tangle network. They run models on their own hardware, set their own prices, and earn from every request routed through them.
Blueprints
Operators run Blueprints — on-chain service definitions that specify what an operator does. The inference-related Blueprints the gateway routes through:
| Blueprint | What it serves | Repo |
|---|---|---|
| LLM Inference | Chat completions, text generation (Llama, Qwen, Mistral, etc.) | tangle-network/llm-inference-blueprint |
| Vector Store | Embedding storage and retrieval for RAG | Operator-deployed |
| Custom | Any model/pipeline an operator chooses to serve | Build your own |
The LLM Inference Blueprint uses tangle-inference-core — a shared Rust crate for EIP-712 signature verification, nonce management, and on-chain settlement. Operators compile it into a binary (operator-lite) that runs alongside their model server.
To build and deploy your own inference Blueprint, see the Blueprint SDK docs and the Blueprint Runner.
How operators are discovered
- Operators register on-chain via the Blueprint Service Manager (BSM) contract
- The gateway syncs operator data from the chain every 60 seconds
- Operators are stored in the database with their endpoint URL, pricing, and status
- The scoring algorithm ranks operators per-request
Routing to operators
Automatic (default)
In auto mode, the gateway checks for operators serving the requested model before trying centralized providers:
curl -X POST "https://router.tangle.tools/v1/chat/completions" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk-tan-YOUR_KEY" \
-d '{"model": "llama-3.1-70b", "messages": [...]}'Pin to a Blueprint
Route only to operators registered under a specific Blueprint:
curl -X POST "https://router.tangle.tools/v1/chat/completions" \
-H "X-Tangle-Blueprint: 42" \
-d '{"model": "llama-3.1-70b", "messages": [...]}'Pin to an operator
Route to a specific operator by slug or Ethereum address:
curl -X POST "https://router.tangle.tools/v1/chat/completions" \
-H "X-Tangle-Operator: tangle-core-1" \
-d '{"model": "llama-3.1-70b", "messages": [...]}'Pin to a service instance
curl -X POST "https://router.tangle.tools/v1/chat/completions" \
-H "X-Tangle-Service: 7" \
-d '{"model": "llama-3.1-70b", "messages": [...]}'What’s verified on-chain
| Data | Verified? |
|---|---|
| Operator Ethereum address | Yes (signed transaction) |
| Active/inactive status | Yes (BSM contract state) |
| Staked amount | Yes (on-chain balance) |
| Pricing (per-token) | Yes (BSM contract) |
| Endpoint URL | No (self-reported at registration) |
| Backing provider | No (not tracked) |
Because endpoint URL and backing provider are self-reported, operator routing is not compatible with ZDR or no-train compliance requirements. When compliance is required, operators are skipped and the gateway routes directly to verified providers.
Payment
Operator requests can be paid two ways:
- Platform credits — deducted from your credit balance at the operator’s listed price
- SpendAuth (on-chain) — direct EIP-712 signed payment to the operator. No credit card needed. See SpendAuth.