Chutes AI Proxy (x402)

Build a pay-per-inference proxy for Bittensor Chutes (Subnet 64). Accept USDC payments on Base and forward requests to Chutes' decentralized AI network.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

Build an AI inference API that accepts crypto payments
Wrap Chutes/Bittensor with their own pricing
Create a pay-per-request AI service without subscriptions
Monetize AI access using stablecoins
Set up a Bittensor-powered AI endpoint

How to Respond

User Says/Asks	What to Do
"Create a Chutes proxy"	Run `x402 create chutes-proxy my-proxy`
"I want to sell AI inference"	Scaffold the proxy, explain the business model
"How do I accept payments for AI?"	Explain x402 + Chutes, offer to scaffold
"Set up Bittensor integration"	Run the create command
"What models does Chutes support?"	List models (DeepSeek, Llama, Qwen, etc.)

Quick Start

Node.js / TypeScript

npx @primersystems/x402 create chutes-proxy my-ai-proxy
cd my-ai-proxy
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Chutes API key and wallet address
npm run dev

Python

pip install primer-x402
x402 create chutes-proxy my-ai-proxy
cd my-ai-proxy
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Chutes API key and wallet address
uvicorn main:app --reload

How It Works

User Request
     |
     v
[Your Proxy] -- No payment? --> Return 402 + price
     |
     v
User signs USDC payment (gasless)
     |
     v
[Your Proxy] -- Verify payment --> [Primer Facilitator]
     |
     v
[Chutes API] -- Forward request --> Bittensor Subnet 64
     |
     v
AI Response returned to user

You pre-pay Chutes with your API credits. Users pay YOU in USDC. You keep the margin.

Configuration

After scaffolding, edit .env:

Variable	Description	Required
`CHUTES_API_KEY`	Your Chutes API key from chutes.ai	Yes
`WALLET_ADDRESS`	Your wallet to receive USDC	Yes
`PRICE_PER_1K_TOKENS`	Your price in USD (default: 0.001)	No
`FACILITATOR_URL`	x402 facilitator (default: Primer's)	No

Getting a Chutes API Key

Go to chutes.ai
Sign up / connect wallet
Subscribe to a tier ($3/month base)
Generate API key (starts with cpk_)

Deployment

Cloudflare Workers (TypeScript - Free)

wrangler login
wrangler secret put CHUTES_API_KEY
wrangler secret put WALLET_ADDRESS
npm run deploy

Docker (Python)

docker build -t chutes-proxy .
docker run -p 8000:8000 --env-file .env chutes-proxy

Other Platforms

fly.io: fly launch && fly secrets set CHUTES_API_KEY=xxx
Railway/Render: Connect repo, set env vars in dashboard
Vercel Edge: Build and deploy TypeScript version

API Endpoints

Your proxy exposes:

Endpoint	Description	Payment
`GET /`	Health check	Free
`POST /v1/chat/completions`	Chat completions (OpenAI-compatible)	Required
`GET /v1/models`	List available models	Free

Supported Models

Any model on Chutes, including:

deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V3
Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B
meta-llama/Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct
meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

See chutes.ai for the full list.

Pricing Strategy

The proxy estimates tokens and charges upfront:

Price = (estimated_tokens / 1000) * PRICE_PER_1K_TOKENS

Set PRICE_PER_1K_TOKENS higher than Chutes' cost to make margin. Example:

Chutes costs you ~$0.0005/1K tokens
You charge $0.001/1K tokens
You keep 50% margin

Limitations

Streaming not supported - Template doesn't handle stream: true
Token estimation is approximate - Uses ~4 chars/token heuristic
Pre-payment only - No post-inference reconciliation

Use Cases

Who	Why
AI agent operators	Give agents paid AI access without API keys
API resellers	Wrap Chutes with your branding/pricing
Privacy services	AI without accounts or KYC
Bittensor miners	Add stablecoin revenue stream

Testing Your Proxy

# Should return 402 Payment Required
curl http://localhost:8787/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'

# Pay and get response (using x402 CLI)
npx @primersystems/x402 pay http://localhost:8787/v1/chat/completions \
  --max-amount 0.01 \
  --method POST \
  --body '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'

primer-chutes

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