Using the Network
Two ways to consume the Dispatch network: hit the gateway directly or use the consumer SDK (trustless, signs receipts locally). Both require GRT in your escrow — there are no free queries.Via the Gateway
The gateway handles provider selection and TAP receipt signing. You must include your Ethereum address in every request via theX-Consumer-Address header — the gateway encodes it into the TAP receipt so GRT is drawn from your escrow on-chain, not the gateway’s.
Live gateway: https://gateway.lodestar-dashboard.com
X-Consumer-Address header returns 402 Payment Required. Requests from addresses with no funded escrow are rejected by the provider. See Funding the escrow below.
Routes:
dispatch-proxy (drop-in local server)
The easiest way to point any existing app at the Dispatch network without changing application code. Starts a standard JSON-RPC HTTP server on localhost; MetaMask, Viem, Ethers.js, and curl all work against it without modification../consumer.key, and tells you where to fund escrow. No key needed upfront.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
DISPATCH_SIGNER_KEY | (auto-generated) | Consumer private key. If unset, loaded from ./consumer.key or generated fresh |
DISPATCH_CHAIN_ID | 1 | Chain to proxy (1 = Ethereum, 42161 = Arbitrum One, etc.) |
DISPATCH_PORT | 8545 | Local port to listen on |
DISPATCH_BASE_PRICE_PER_CU | 4000000000000 | GRT wei per compute unit |
Consumer SDK
For trustless access — signs receipts locally and talks directly to providers, no gateway in the loop.Low-level utilities
Funding the escrow
Before GRT flows to providers you need to deposit intoPaymentsEscrow on Arbitrum One. This is required regardless of which access method you use — the gateway, proxy, and consumer SDK all charge from your own escrow.
Via the Lodestar dashboard (easiest)
Go to lodestar-dashboard.com/dispatch. Connect MetaMask, paste your consumer address, and deposit GRT. The dashboard callsdepositTo() on the PaymentsEscrow contract so you can fund any address’s escrow directly — the consumer wallet itself needs no ETH or GRT. Useful for funding dispatch-proxy from a separate hot wallet.
Manually (cast / ethers)
(payer, collector, receiver). dispatch-service draws down automatically on each collect() cycle (hourly by default). Providers reject requests from addresses with zero escrow balance (checked on-chain every 30 seconds). Check your balance with: