What is Direct?
Direct is a peer-to-peer marketplace for remote execution. It connects consumers who need work performed on remote infrastructure with independent providers who offer that capacity. Providers set their prices, and consumers pay for usage.
The marketplace
Direct makes it straightforward to buy and sell work between independent parties, with provider verification and secure payment built into the marketplace. It combines:
The client. Consumers and providers run the same Direct client on their own machines. It gives consumers access to the network through a local API endpoint and lets providers offer services backed by their infrastructure.
The protocol. Direct defines the rules for exchanging work over the peer-to-peer network. Usage metering and payment are built in, with cryptographically verifiable payment authorizations and records of the work performed.
Direct-operated infrastructure. Direct runs peers that continually verify providers' services and keep the provider directory. They provide trusted information about unfamiliar providers without being in the path of direct service requests.
Services built on Direct
Direct is designed to support many kinds of remote execution. Service implementations build on this foundation to create markets for particular kinds of work, each defining what providers can offer and consumers can request. The first available services are:
Blockchain RPC. Provides access to blockchain nodes for reading balances, querying on-chain activity, and submitting transactions across supported chains.
AI inference. Runs AI models for conversations, agents, and other applications, with providers supplying the compute needed to generate responses.
About this documentation
This documentation explains the foundation shared by Direct's services and the decisions behind its design. Why Direct introduces the reasoning, followed by How it works, which traces a request through the network. The remaining chapters take a closer look at the technology that makes the marketplace work piece by piece.