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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.livepeer.org/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Three Architectural Layers

The Network’s architecture is three layers stacked: the running fleet of nodes, the off-chain coordination layer they communicate over, and the on-chain anchor surfaces they read from and write to. Each layer answers a different question.

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The Running Fleet

The fleet is operated by independent participants. Orchestrators run GPU nodes and any workers attached to them. Gateways run routing and payment infrastructure. Both run the same go-livepeer binary in different modes. A small operator runs one process; a large operator splits the modes across separate machines on a private subnet, with the orchestrator on the network edge. Solid arrows are off-chain traffic at job rate. Dashed arrows from the fleet to the chain are settlement and registration, at lower frequency. Dashed arrows from the observability surfaces are read-only data flows that let outside readers see what the fleet is doing without operating any of it.

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Off-Chain Coordination

The off-chain layer is what the Network is sized for. Discovery, capability advertisement, price agreement, job dispatch, and ticket exchange all happen here, between gateway and orchestrator, over standard transports. The chain stays out of the hot path. Four communication patterns run continuously across the off-chain layer:

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On-Chain Anchor Surfaces

The Network reads from and writes to four contracts on Arbitrum One. These are the surfaces the off-chain fleet relies on for ground truth.

Full contract addresses, ABIs, and reference.

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Observable from Outside

The Network is observable from outside the fleet through three surfaces. Researchers, evaluators, and integrators do not need to operate any node to see what the Network is doing. The three surfaces share a property: they let an outside reader build a real picture of the Network’s state without trusting any single operator. Each surface reads ground truth from the chain or from operator-published data, not from a central authority.

Purpose, properties, actors.

Market shape, settlement, verification.

Reachable surfaces and entry points.

The four-layer Livepeer stack.
Last modified on May 4, 2026