VORQ DocsUnits and cost
Why the client declares an order's units, how it counts them for text and media, and how a result's cost is computed.
The coordinator can't count tokens or pixels inside a sealed payload, so the client declares
two counts on every order, units_in and units_out, and signs them. They fix the most the job
can charge. The provider checks them after opening the payload.
One shape decides both counts
The client reads the request once and classifies it:
- text when it names an output-token ceiling (
max_output_tokens,max_tokensormax_completion_tokens); - otherwise video when it names
durationorduration_secs; - otherwise image when it names
num_images,width,resolutionor a reference asset; - otherwise text.
Both counts follow from that one decision, so a request is never priced as text on one side and
as pixels on the other. A string input is always text.
| Shape | units_in | units_out |
|---|---|---|
| text | the input's canonical JSON length in bytes ÷ 4 (at least 1) | the output-token ceiling, or 4096 |
| image | reference pixel-seconds, or 0 | frame pixels × num_images |
| video | reference pixel-seconds, or 0 | frame pixels × seconds |
For text, units_in is an estimate from the prompt's size. For media, the prompt's length
doesn't count: the input side is the reference assets you attach. Frame sizes, defaults and
asset rules are in Units and media inputs.
submit(..., units_out=N) overrides the output count, zero included. An embeddings job uses
units_out=0, since it has no output side to buy.
Output counts are caps
units_out is the most output the order pays for. A text model may stop early. For media, the
provider settles what it actually delivered, never more than the cap: aspect_ratio: "adaptive"
and duration: "auto" are priced at the largest frame and longest clip they allow.
Reasoning is billed as output. On reasoning models, thinking tokens count toward output
tokens and spend the same units_out your output cap declares. Bound them with
reasoning_max_tokens.
Cost
The worst case is known at submit time. See What you pay.
After settlement, each result carries .cost: a decimal string in atomic units of the payment
token, computed by the client from the signed rates and the result's own counts. It excludes the
protocol and gas fees.
| Result | .cost |
|---|---|
TextResult | (input_tokens × rate_in + output_tokens × rate_out) / 1,000,000 |
MediaResult | delivered units × rate_out / 1,000,000 |
EmbeddingResult | prompt_tokens × rate_in / 1,000,000 |
For media, delivered units are the output pixels (images) or pixel-seconds (video) of the returned frames, or the provider's stated settled units when those are lower.