Documentation
Everything you need to get started with OpenTau.
Getting Started
Three steps. No SDK to install, no blockchain wallet to set up, no hoops to jump through.
Get your key
Sign up on the dashboard and get an API key instantly. No wallet, no KYC, no waiting.
Set your endpoint
Point your existing code to api.opentau.ai/v1 instead of the OpenAI endpoint. That is the only change.
Make a request
Use any OpenAI-compatible SDK or library. Python, TypeScript, curl, anything. Same format, same response shape.
# That's it. Use any OpenAI SDK. base_url = "https://api.opentau.ai/v1" api_key = "otau_your-key"
Available Endpoints
OpenTau is fully OpenAI-compatible. If you have code that talks to OpenAI, it already works here.
Chat with any model. Send messages, get responses. Supports streaming.
{ "model": "meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct",
"messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Hello" }] }
Browse all 1,243+ available models across 124 providers. Returns standard OpenAI model list format.
Search the web, X/Twitter, Reddit, and ArXiv via 8 providers. See Services for full docs.
Generate images from text prompts via FLUX, Stable Diffusion, and more. See Services.
Run code in sandboxed environments (Python, JavaScript, Bash). See Services.
Fetch any webpage as clean markdown or HTML. See Services.
Query 47 structured data providers (crypto, weather, math, SEC filings). See Services.
Speech-to-text transcription and audio generation. See Services.
List all available services and their models. No authentication required.
Create a fine-tuning job. Train any supported open-source model on your dataset using QLoRA or full fine-tune on Bittensor's decentralized GPU network.
List your fine-tuning jobs. Returns all jobs for the authenticated user, ordered by creation date.
Get the status of a specific fine-tuning job. Includes progress, estimated time remaining, and output model ID when complete.
Get current fine-tuning pricing. Rates vary by model and dataset size.
Powered by Gradients (SN56). Fine-tune any supported model on Bittensor's decentralized training network.
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/fine-tuning/jobs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_..." \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "model": "meta-llama/llama-3.1-8b-instruct", "training_data": "your-dataset-id", "epochs": 3 }'
Services
Beyond chat inference, OpenTau exposes 6 service endpoints backed by 104 specialized providers across the Handshake network. All services share the same authentication and billing.
Discover available services and their models with the GET /v1/services endpoint (no auth required).
List all available services and their models. No authentication required. Returns service categories, model counts, and default models for each service type.
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/services
Search the web, X/Twitter, Reddit, and ArXiv via 8 providers including Desearch (SN22), Tavily, Brave, and Exa. Returns results with titles, URLs, snippets, and relevance scores.
query (required) — search query stringmodel (optional) — default: desearch/ai-searchmax_results (optional) — number of results, default 10
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/search \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "query": "latest Bittensor subnet launches", "model": "desearch/ai-search", "max_results": 10 }'
Generate images from text prompts via 4 providers including Replicate, Stability AI, and fal.ai. Supports FLUX, Stable Diffusion, and other models. Returns image URLs.
prompt (required) — image descriptionmodel (optional) — default: replicate/black-forest-labs/flux-schnelln (optional) — number of images, default 1size (optional) — e.g. 1024x1024, 512x512
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/images/generations \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "prompt": "A mystical rune circle glowing green in a dark forest", "model": "replicate/black-forest-labs/flux-schnell", "n": 1, "size": "1024x1024" }'
Execute code in secure sandboxed E2B environments. Supports Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Bash, and R. Returns stdout, stderr, and execution metadata.
language (required) — python, javascript, bash, typescript, rcode (required) — source code to executemodel (optional) — default: e2b/python
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/code/execute \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "language": "python", "code": "import math\nfor i in range(5):\n print(f\"{i}: {math.factorial(i)}\")", "model": "e2b/python" }'
Fetch any webpage as clean markdown or structured HTML. Powered by 9 providers including Webtools, Firecrawl, and Apify. Handles JavaScript-rendered pages.
url (required) — URL to scrapeformat (optional) — markdown or html, default markdownmodel (optional) — default: webtools/fetch-markdown
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/scrape \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://docs.bittensor.com/getting-started", "format": "markdown", "model": "webtools/fetch-markdown" }'
Query 47 structured data providers through a single endpoint. Crypto prices (CoinGecko), math computation (Wolfram), weather, SEC filings, geocoding, exchange rates, and Bittensor network stats (TaoStats).
model (required) — data provider and endpointquery (required) — query string or parameters
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/data \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "model": "livedata/exchange-rate", "query": "TAO/USD" }'
Speech-to-text transcription via Whisper and audio generation via Suno. Process audio input for transcription or generate spoken content programmatically.
model (optional) — default: whisper/large-v3input (required) — base64-encoded audio data or text prompt
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/audio \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "model": "whisper/large-v3", "input": "base64-encoded-audio..." }'
Models
OpenTau gives you access to 1,243+ models from 124 providers across every major open-source family. Chat models, image generators, code executors, search engines, data APIs, and more — all served by decentralized miners.
Switching models is trivial. Change the model string. Everything else stays exactly the same.
# Just change the model string model = "meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct" model = "deepseek/deepseek-r1" model = "mistralai/mixtral-8x22b-instruct"
Use the full lowercase model name (e.g., meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct). Hit /v1/models to browse the full list.
Authentication
Every request needs an Authorization header with your API key. That is the only authentication.
Authorization: Bearer otau_your-api-key
Your key is shown in the dashboard right after signup. Keep it secret. If it leaks, rotate it from the dashboard.
Rate limits
Free tier: 500 requests/day, models up to 70B only, max_tokens=1000, no streaming.
Paid tier: unlimited requests, all 1,243 models, streaming enabled, no token cap.
Billing & Credits
OpenTau uses a simple pay-as-you-go credit system. No subscriptions, no monthly commitments, no surprises.
Free tier ($0)
500 requests per day. Small models only (up to 70B: Llama 3.3 70B, Mistral 7B, Qwen 7B, Gemma 9B, Phi-4). max_tokens capped at 1,000. No streaming. No deposit, no credit card, no wallet.
Paid tier (deposit USDC on Base)
Unlimited requests. All 1,243 models including DeepSeek R1 671B, GPT-4o, Claude, 405B+, plus all services (search, images, code, scraping, data, audio). Streaming enabled, no token cap. 50% markup on upstream cost. Credits appear within ~30 seconds of deposit.
When credits run out
The API returns a 402 Payment Required response. Top up anytime from the dashboard and you are back instantly.
See the full breakdown on the Pricing page.
Cross-Subnet Pipelines
OpenTau is the only API that lets you chain multiple decentralized AI services in a single call. This is possible because we route across Bittensor's specialized subnets, not just one inference provider.
A few things you can do that no centralized API offers:
Full examples and pipeline syntax on the Pipelines page.
SDKs & Integration
You do not need a new library. OpenTau works with any OpenAI-compatible SDK because the API format is identical. Just change the base URL.
from openai import OpenAI client = OpenAI( base_url="https://api.opentau.ai/v1", api_key="otau_your-key" )
curl https://api.opentau.ai/v1/chat/completions \ -H "Authorization: Bearer otau_your-key" \ -d '{"model":"meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct", "messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hi"}]}'
Compatible with frameworks you already use:
Frequently Asked
Yes. The free tier gives you 500 requests per day with small models (up to 70B), no deposit, no credit card, and no wallet. If you need more models or higher limits, deposit USDC on Base — you pay per request with a 50% markup on upstream cost. There are no hidden fees and you can never overspend.
OpenRouter routes to centralized providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google). OpenTau routes to 124 decentralized providers via Bittensor. No single company controls the inference. Plus, we offer services OpenRouter cannot: search (8 providers), image generation, code execution, web scraping, 47 data APIs, audio, fine-tuning, and cross-subnet pipelines.
Your prompts are forwarded to miners who process them and return results. OpenTau does not log or store your prompts. Miners on Bittensor are incentivized to respond correctly, not to harvest data. For maximum privacy, use the confidential compute subnet which processes data in secure enclaves.
Nothing, from your perspective. The gateway automatically routes to the next available miner. There are hundreds of miners competing on each subnet, so there is always redundancy. You will never get a "service unavailable" because one machine went offline.
Absolutely. OpenTau is designed for autonomous agents. It works with ElizaOS, Virtuals GAME SDK, CrewAI, AutoGPT, and any framework that speaks the OpenAI format. Many agents on Bittensor already use us as their backbone.
Many open-source models available through OpenTau have minimal or no content filtering. Decentralized miners run the models as-is, without adding extra safety layers. Check the model list for specific uncensored variants. This is one of the key advantages of decentralized inference.
Not for the free tier. Just sign up with an email and start making requests (500/day, small models up to 70B). You only need a wallet if you want to deposit USDC on Base for paid usage (all 1,243 models + all services, streaming, no limits). Even then, the flow is simple: send USDC to the deposit address shown in your dashboard.
Reach out on X or join the community. We are responsive and actively building. If something is broken or confusing, we want to know about it.
TauClaw is OpenClaw powered by OpenTau — a self-hosted Telegram AI agent running on Bittensor's decentralized inference network.
What You Get
- → Personal AI agent on Telegram
- → 1,243+ models (Llama 70B, DeepSeek R1 671B, Hermes 405B)
- → Self-hosted on your own server — your data stays with you
- → No logs, no censorship, no corporate kill switch
- → Decentralized inference via Bittensor DRAIN micropayments
Quick Setup (30 seconds)
1. Get an API key from opentau.ai/dashboard
2. Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather
3. Run the installer:
# Replace with your actual keys curl -fsSL https://opentau.ai/tauclaw-install.sh | \ OPENTAU_KEY="otau_your_key" \ BOT_TOKEN="your_telegram_bot_token" \ bash
4. Approve yourself when the bot sends a pairing code:
docker exec tauclaw openclaw pairing approve telegram YOUR_CODE
What the Installer Does
- 1. Installs Docker if not present
- 2. Creates ~/tauclaw/ with docker-compose.yml + openclaw.json
- 3. Pulls the OpenClaw Docker image
- 4. Starts the container with your API key + bot token
- 5. Bot goes live on Telegram in ~30 seconds
Available Models
Management Commands
# View logs docker logs tauclaw --tail 50 # Restart cd ~/tauclaw && docker compose restart # Stop cd ~/tauclaw && docker compose down # Update cd ~/tauclaw && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d
Interactive setup with config generator: opentau.ai/tauclaw