Buying capacity
Capacity classes
Metered allowance, reserved throughput and dedicated window: what each class promises and when it can be offered.
On this page
Every lot, request and quote names one capacity class. The class says what's actually being promised, and Cairva only lets a supplier offer a class the route behind it can back.
| Class | Code | What you're buying |
|---|---|---|
| Metered allowance | METERED_ALLOWANCE | A prepaid token allowance on a shared route. Rate limits are enforced, but no GPU is dedicated and no tokens-per-second minimum is promised |
| Reserved throughput | RESERVED_THROUGHPUT | Provisioned capacity with a measured minimum throughput. Only offered when the supplier has a reserved deployment that Cairva can measure |
| Dedicated window | DEDICATED_WINDOW | Exclusive use of a deployment for a fixed time window. Only offered when the hardware is actually set aside for the buyer |
What every class shares
- A fixed input and output token allowance
- A delivery window
- Requests per minute, tokens per minute and concurrency limits enforced by the gateway
- A hard stop when the allowance is used. There's no overage
Sandbox routes
Sandbox routes can only offer metered allowance. Reserved throughput and dedicated windows need a live route Cairva can measure, so a lot that names either class on a sandbox route is rejected.
Note
Today the only route is a sandbox route, so the only class you can buy is metered allowance. Reserved and dedicated capacity become possible once a supplier has a live, measurable deployment on Cairva.