# OpenAI-compatible REST API as the primary client interface

The gateway exposes an OpenAI-compatible REST API (`/v1/chat/completions`, `/v1/models`, etc.) so any existing application using the OpenAI SDK can switch to our network by changing one line (`base_url`). LangChain, LlamaIndex, Open WebUI, and thousands of other tools work immediately with zero code changes.

A `meshnet` SDK wraps the OpenAI-compatible interface and exposes network-specific controls: wallet top-up, redundancy level, node selection hints, cost estimates, and streaming earnings. Clients who don't need these features never interact with the SDK.

A custom-protocol-only API would require every adopter to rewrite their existing LLM integrations, killing day-one adoption.