Soapbox

Opt-in compute pools for paid, private, and collective workloads, implemented in Rust. Bitterbot is the first client; the protocol and worker can run independently.

Runtime 0.3.0-rc.9 is a trusted pilot, not a public cloud marketplace. Paid jobs support Base Sepolia USDC escrow with fixed operator payouts and confirmed settlement. Mainnet is disabled. The original non-redeemable TEST_CREDIT mode remains available for development. Storage is an account-scoped temporary artifact service on one coordinator.

The rc9 runtime update adds isolation health/recovery and an optional persistent Docker service for WSL. Upgrade the host and sandbox runner together; the older branded Desktop overlay below is a separate release.

The desktop wizard release includes click-to-open setup, prerequisite checks and guarded rollback for Bitterbot 1.8.0 on Ubuntu/WSL2. The approved installer and branded desktop integration are rc6; the checksum-pinned GPU runtime remains rc5. Compute is visible and enabled by default; enrollment, worker activation and each payment require user action. See the review disposition for the included fixes.

What runs today

• Authenticated coordinator with persistent SQLite jobs, accounts, reservations, receipts, and artifacts.
• Independent workers connecting over HTTP on loopback or HTTPS remotely.
• CPU SHA-256 batches with independently recomputed results.
• GPU embedding batches through a pinned local Ollama model, automatic warmup, NVIDIA admission checks and runtime evidence.
• Private pool ACLs, collective project ACLs and daily quotas, paid budget reservation and settlement.
• Heartbeats, one active lease per worker, bounded renewal, cancellation, retry and refund.
• Scoped API credentials, operator pause, local pause file, admission limits, and idempotency.
• Bitterbot gateway adapter and desktop Compute view (in the sibling bitterbot-desktop repository).
• End-to-end tests with actual worker processes.

GPU residency is observed from Ollama, not attested. Embeddings are checked for shape, not semantic correctness. Workers are explicitly admitted and trusted in this release. The isolated Linux/WSL worker enforces CPU, RAM, zero-swap and process limits. Legacy host execution is an explicit development option and cannot accept USDC jobs.

Start with Phase 2 isolation and USDC setup.

The earlier host-runtime increment is documented in Phase 2 GPU setup and architecture and physical GPU validation. The sibling bitterbot-desktop repository includes scripts/soapbox-gpu-pilot.ps1 for development. Testers should use the packaged desktop wizard.

Quick start

Prerequisites: stable Rust and a C toolchain. Node 22+ is needed only for the demo.

cargo build --locked
node scripts/demo.mjs

The demo starts a coordinator and two workers, submits all three job modes, checks results, verifies accounting and artifact retrieval, prints a report, and stops its processes. Every run generates fresh local credentials. It does not contact a payment provider.

To leave the demo available for the Bitterbot UI:

node scripts/demo.mjs --keep

This writes a private, ignored .local/demo.env with the three Bitterbot connection settings. Load those settings into the gateway environment and restart the gateway. See the runbook. Do not commit this file.

If you built into another target directory, set SOAPBOX_BINARY to the executable. For example:

SOAPBOX_BINARY=/tmp/soapbox-target/debug/soapbox node scripts/demo.mjs

Verify

cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --locked -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace --locked

CI runs these checks on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Local verification is recorded in VALIDATION.md; CI configuration is not evidence that those hosts passed.

Documents

• Architecture and trust boundaries
• Phased MVP plan and acceptance gates
• API and wire examples
• Operations and Bitterbot integration
• Operator isolation health, recovery, and Docker/WSL troubleshooting
• Legacy Java mapping
• Threat model and current limitations
• Partner pilot briefs

The repository does not depend on the old Java blockchain or transcoding stack. The original Java repository remains separate.

Windows development demo

Build the native executable with cargo build --locked, then run the demo from the repository root in PowerShell:

.\scripts\demo.ps1

Add -Keep to leave the demo running for the Bitterbot UI. The script restores your prior SOAPBOX_BINARY setting on exit. This executable is an unsigned debug build; the source and build instructions are the portable deliverable.

Installable public test release

See release validation and buyer and operator setup for the Ubuntu 24.04 / WSL2 x64 package compatible with Bitterbot 1.8.0.