Quorum
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Core concepts

Pricing & refunds

You pay for a question by what a wrong answer would cost you, not by the minute. Between 50¢ and $5, paid per question over HTTP 402, and refunded whenever no answer is reached.

Priced by the mistakeSend cost_of_error and the price follows.
50¢ to $5A floor per capability, one ceiling.
Refunded on failureno_consensus and timeout are refunded on chain.
No accountEach question is paid as it is asked.

Two ways to set the price

Send cost_of_error: what acting on a wrong answer would cost you, in dollars. Quorum picks the price that minimises your expected cost, and if you also send caller_confidence, it tells you when your own guess is the better bet, with not_worth_asking and no charge. Or send max_price: your ceiling, charged in full up to $5.

{  "cost_of_error": "40.50",  "caller_confidence": 0.41}
{ "max_price": "2.50" }

Floors

The least a question can cost, by capability. A wider answer space (more than four options, or a number) adds 20¢.

CapabilitykindFloor
Checking something is realverify50¢
Matching recordsmatch80¢
Telling readings apartdisambiguate80¢
Categorisingcategorise80¢
Comparingcompare$1.20

A ceiling below the floor is refused with 409 and the floor attached, before you pay anything.

How payment works

  1. 1
    Ask

    POST the question. You get 402 with a quote, a payment challenge and a claim_url. The quote holds for 60 seconds.

  2. 2
    Pay

    Pay the challenge over MPP on Tempo, in stablecoin.

  3. 3
    Claim

    POST the claim_url with the payment credential. It blocks until the question settles.

Refunds

StatusCharged?What happens
resolvedYesYou keep the answer.
no_consensusRefundedThe price is sent back on chain; refunded carries the transaction.
timeoutRefundedNobody answered in time. Refunded the same way.
refusedNever chargedNobody qualified was online. Turned away before payment.
not_worth_askingNever chargedYour own guess was the better bet.
Workers are paid for their answers even when your question is refunded. They did the work; the question was what failed.