FAQ

General Questions

1. What is the Function Network?

   • A decentralized system for AI inference, connecting gateways to AI providers using FUNC tokens for staking and rewards.

2. What are FUNC tokens used for?

   • FUNC tokens are used for staking by providers and gateways, distributed as rewards, and may be used for governance in the future.

3. What is an epoch, and how does it work?

   • An epoch is a time period defined by a fixed number of blocks during which network activities like staking and rewards are synchronized.

4. How are rewards calculated?

   • Rewards are based on the shards (units of work) contributed by providers within an epoch, distributed proportionally from the epoch’s reward pool.

5. What is the significance of minEpochsLocked?

   • This is the minimum number of epochs for which FUNC tokens must remain staked before they can be unstaked.

Provider Questions

1. What is required to register as a provider?

   • Register with metadata (typically the URL for the node), stake the required FUNC tokens, and ensure the provider is whitelisted.

2. What happens if I don’t claim my rewards?

   • Rewards remain claimable indefinitely but are subject to the epoch reward delay before they become available.

3. What is the penalty for being jailed?

   • Jailed providers cannot participate in staking or claim rewards during the jail period.

4. What does the metadata of a provider represent?

   • The metadata is typically the URL where the provider’s node can be accessed for inference requests.

Gateway Questions

1. How do gateways interact with providers?

   • Gateways aggregate client requests and route them to the appropriate providers based on availability and compute requirements.

2. Can gateways unstake immediately?

   • No, gateways must initiate a wind-down process, followed by a staking delay before they can unstake.

3. What metadata do gateways need?

   • Gateways typically include routing-related metadata like endpoint URLs or regional availability.