routstr

routstr is a decentralized AI inference protocol for private, pay-per-request access to language models. It combines Nostr for node discovery with Cashu ecash for Bitcoin micropayments, so users can connect to providers without opening accounts or handing over a credit card. The core system is OpenAI-compatible, which lets developers point existing SDKs and tools at a Routstr node instead of a centralized API.

The project has grown into a wider stack around that protocol. The Routstr organization now maintains the core payment proxy, a formal Routstr Improvement Protocols repo, a local daemon called routstrd, chat and platform front ends, docs for both users and node operators, and supporting tooling for payments, routing, and evaluations.

Why fund it?

AI infrastructure is drifting toward closed platforms, gated accounts, and payment rails that exclude many users by default. routstr takes the opposite direction: open protocols, Bitcoin-native micropayments, Nostr-based discovery, and software that anyone can run or build on. That makes it useful to developers who want model access without vendor lock-in and to operators who want to monetize hardware or upstream access on their own terms.

For OpenSats, routstr sits at an interesting intersection of Bitcoin, Nostr, privacy, and open infrastructure. Supporting it helps push those systems into a new application layer instead of leaving AI access entirely to centralized providers.

What's next?

The public roadmap focuses on protocol hardening, node discovery, client behavior, quality audits, and smarter routing across the network. The Routstr organization already ships public repos for routstrd, client SDKs, docs, chat and platform apps, and protocol work. The near-term job is to make that stack more reliable for both users and node operators.

If you want to dig deeper, start with the main site, the docs, the RIP repository, or the roadmap.