Documentation.

What is the CPI?

The Compute Price Index ("CPI") is a public benchmark that tracks the cost of AI inference across major providers. It produces a single weighted reference price — the Standard Compute Unit ("SCU") — calculated from a basket of twelve models across four providers.

The Problem

LLM inference pricing is fragmented. Every provider quotes pricing differently — per token, per character, per request, per tier. There is no standardized way to benchmark or compare the cost of AI computation across models and providers. You need a verifiable pricing reference you can audit independently.

The Solution

The CPI is a weighted basket of 12 AI models across 4 providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI) that produces a single, verifiable unit of account: the Standard Compute Unit (SCU). The SCU represents the USD cost of a reference workload — 1,000 input tokens + 500 output tokens — averaged across the full basket.

Key Properties

• Verifiable — All prices are published on-chain via the OracleRegistry contract on Base. Anyone can independently verify the basket composition and pricing.
• Diversified — Twelve models across four providers prevent any single provider from dominating the index.
• Outlier-resistant — A per-tier 2× cap on individual model costs prevents one expensive model from distorting the tier average.
• Versioned — Current basket: v1.0 (launched April 7, 2026). The index has tracked AI compute pricing since June 17, 2025 under basket v0. Every reconstitution is recorded on-chain.
• Open methodology — The formula is deterministic and reproducible from public provider pricing.

Basket Composition

The CPI tracks twelve models from four providers, organized into three tiers. One model per provider per tier. The basket is reviewed quarterly and updated with a new version number when models are added, removed, or replaced.

Tier weights reflect real-world usage distribution across capability tiers. Frontier 30% / Standard 40% / Lightweight 30%.

SCU Formula

The Standard Compute Unit is calculated in three steps. The reference workload is fixed at 1,000 input tokens + 500 output tokens, evaluated across all basket models.

Basket Rules

The CPI basket is governed by rules that enforce stability, fairness, and verifiability. Changes are tracked via version numbers and recorded on-chain.

On-Chain Verification

All CPI pricing is recorded on-chain via the OracleRegistry contract on Base. You can independently verify prices without trusting the Compute Finance API.

import { ethers } from "ethers";

const ORACLE_REGISTRY = "0xE4FC0d3c388D766362992d6985556CF8907276A6";
const ABI = [
  "function lastRevisionVersion() view returns (uint256)",
  "function getLatestRevision() view returns (tuple(uint256,bytes32,uint256,uint16[3],uint32,uint32,uint256,uint256))",
  "function getModelPrices(string modelKey) view returns (uint256 input, uint256 output)"
];

const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider("https://mainnet.base.org");
const oracle = new ethers.Contract(ORACLE_REGISTRY, ABI, provider);

// Read latest version
const version = await oracle.lastRevisionVersion();
console.log("Latest version:", version.toString());

// Read model prices (wei per 1M tokens)
const { input, output } = await oracle.getModelPrices("gpt-5.4");
console.log("GPT-5.4 input:", ethers.formatUnits(input, 18), "CT/1M");
console.log("GPT-5.4 output:", ethers.formatUnits(output, 18), "CT/1M");

Public API

All oracle endpoints are public and require no authentication. Read access is free and unrestricted. Base URL: https://api.compute.finance

Endpoints

Code Examples

All endpoints are public. No authentication required.

curl https://api.compute.finance/v1/oracle/scu

curl https://api.compute.finance/v1/oracle/models

curl https://api.compute.finance/v1/oracle/model/claude-opus-4.7

curl "https://api.compute.finance/v1/oracle/history?range=30d"

Response Schemas

{
  "scuUsd": 0.006494986,
  "breakdown": {
    "frontier": 0.003449676375,
    "standard": 0.00250519,
    "lightweight": 0.000540119625
  },
  "referenceWorkload": { "inputTokens": 1000, "outputTokens": 500 },
  "methodology": "Capped equal-weight across 3 tiers (frontier 30%, standard 40%, lightweight 30%)",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-21T13:54:38.820Z"  // example timestamp
}

{
  "models": [
    {
      "id": "gpt-5.4",
      "displayName": "GPT-5.4",
      "provider": "openai",
      "tier": "frontier",
      "integrated": true,
      "ctPricePerMillion": { "input": 378, "output": 2269 },
      "usdPricePerMillion": { "input": 2.49858, "output": 14.99809 },
      "markedUpCtPricePerMillion": { "input": 396.9, "output": 2382.45 },
      "markedUpUsdPricePerMillion": { "input": 2.623509, "output": 15.747995 },
      "oracleKeyPrefix": "gpt-5.4"
    }
  ]
}

Compute Finance ID

Your Compute Finance ID (CF ID) is your identity across all Compute Finance surfaces. Created on first sign-in via email or wallet, it ties together your profile, points balance, and referral code into a single record.

What CF ID stores

Sign-in flows

Two sign-in methods, both produce a CF ID:

• Email — Enter your email, receive a 6-digit code, verify. A smart wallet is created on Base and associated with your email. No seed phrase required.
• Wallet — Connect MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or any WalletConnect-compatible wallet. Sign a SIWE message. Your wallet address becomes your CF ID's primary identifier.

Both flows converge on the same CF ID record. You can add an email to a wallet-only account later from your settings.

Points

Points track your engagement with Compute Finance — signup, daily logins, oracle interactions, and referrals. As your balance grows, you unlock higher tiers. Points are append-only and recorded in a public ledger per CF ID.

Tiers

How points are earned

V1 supports six earning channels. New channels will be added in future versions and announced via the changelog.

Ledger model

The points ledger is an append-only log. No entries are ever updated or deleted. Your canonical points balance is the sum of all your ledger entries. The denormalized points_balance field on your CF ID record is a performance optimization that is reconciled periodically.

The append-only design means: no points can be silently removed or altered, the complete earning history is preserved and queryable, and any future audit can reconstruct the exact points balance at any point in time.

Streaks

Use Compute Finance on consecutive calendar days to build a streak. Longer streaks earn bonus points. Your current streak and longest streak are shown in your profile. Streaks reset if you miss a calendar day (UTC).

Leaderboard

The top 50 users by total points are displayed on the public leaderboard, refreshed hourly. The leaderboard shows display name and points only — no other profile data is exposed.

Non-transferability

Points are non-transferable in V1. They have no monetary value, are not convertible to any token or currency, and cannot be sold, traded, or assigned to another account. A points-to-credits conversion ratio for V2 will be announced before V2 ships, and the append-only ledger ensures all V1 earning history is preserved and can be converted accurately at that time.

API endpoints

Points data is queryable via the following endpoints. Authentication is required for endpoints that return personal data; the leaderboard is public.

Referral Program

Every CF ID includes a unique referral code (8 characters). Share your link to invite new users — both sides earn points. The program uses first-touch attribution with a 30-day cookie window.

Referral rewards

Sharing your referral link

// Referral URL format
https://compute.finance/r/cf_ref_XXXXXXXX

Find your referral code in your Compute Finance ID settings. Share buttons are available for X, LinkedIn, Telegram, and copy-to-clipboard. The link uses a 30-day attribution cookie — referrals count when the referred user creates a CF ID within 30 days of clicking your link.

Attribution model

Referral attribution is first-touch with a 30-day window. The first referral link a user clicks is the one credited if they sign up within the window. Subsequent referral links from other users do not overwrite the original cookie.

How it works step by step:

• A user visits https://compute.finance/r/cf_ref_XXXXXXXX
• The server redirects to https://compute.finance and sets a cookie: cf_ref=cf_ref_XXXXXXXX with Max-Age=2592000 (30 days), SameSite=Lax, Secure
• The click is recorded in the database with the referral code, timestamp, hashed IP address, and user agent
• If the user signs up within 30 days — even if they navigate directly to https://compute.finance without the referral link — the cookie is read during CF ID creation and the referral relationship is stored
• If the user has already clicked a different referral link, the first-touch cookie is preserved

Anti-gaming rules

The referral program enforces several rules to prevent farming and abuse. None of these rules surface error messages — invalid referrals are silently ignored to avoid leaking information about user accounts.

Referral dashboard

Your CF ID profile includes a referral dashboard showing:

• Total referral link clicks (all-time)
• Total signups from your referral link
• Conversion rate (signups ÷ clicks)
• Total points earned from referrals
• List of referred users (display name or truncated email, signup date, status: pending or confirmed)

Status transitions

A referral has two possible states. Points are awarded when the status transitions from pending to confirmed:

• pending — The user clicked the referral link but has not yet completed signup
• confirmed — The user has created a CF ID. Points are awarded to both sides within 60 seconds of confirmation.