livepeer · rickstaa · Jul 29, 2026 · Jul 28, 2026 · Jul 29, 2026 · Jul 29, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Example **apps that run on** the Livepeer **live runner** — [go-livepeer](http
 The point is to **swap the compute without changing your app — permissionlessly, no lock-in**. Your app stays a plain service with little or no Livepeer-specific code, so you're never tied to us. And the network is permissionless: anyone can run or extend it, no one gatekeeps what you deploy, and no single party can take your app down. Write the app once; **move the compute freely**.
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> Live runners aren't on go-livepeer `main` yet — they live on the [`ja/live-runner`](https://github.com/livepeer/go-livepeer/tree/ja/live-runner) branch. Until it merges, both the orchestrator image and the SDK come from that branch.
+> Live runners ship in mainline go-livepeer since [v0.9.0](https://github.com/livepeer/go-livepeer/releases/tag/v0.9.0). The Python SDK still comes from the [`ja/live-runner`](https://github.com/livepeer/livepeer-python-gateway/tree/ja/live-runner) branch until it is published to PyPI.
 
 ## How it works
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ flowchart LR
   app["Your app<br/>HTTP / WebSocket / trickle"]
   signer["Remote signer<br/>(on-chain)"]
 
-  client -->|"discover → reserve → call → release"| orch
+  client -->|"single-shot: discover → call · persistent: + reserve/release"| orch
   orch -->|"forwards your endpoints, unchanged"| app
   app -.->|"dynamic: register_runner · static: runners.json"| orch
   signer <-.->|"micropayment tickets"| orch
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ Need a schema that isn't here? [Open an issue](https://github.com/livepeer/live-
 
 | Example                        | Goal                                            | Registration | Mode                               | Transport         |
 | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------- | ----------------- |
-| [`hello-world`](./hello-world) | The simplest app: one request, one response     | dynamic      | persistent (single-shot by nature) | HTTP (JSON)       |
-| [`tiles`](./tiles)             | Capacity fan-out — one session per tile         | dynamic      | persistent (single-shot by nature) | HTTP (base64 PNG) |
+| [`hello-world`](./hello-world) | The simplest app: one request, one response     | dynamic      | single-shot                        | HTTP (JSON)       |
+| [`tiles`](./tiles)             | Capacity fan-out — one call per tile            | dynamic      | single-shot                        | HTTP (base64 PNG) |
 | [`echo`](./echo)               | Realtime video, transformed and echoed back     | dynamic      | persistent                         | trickle           |
 | [`vllm`](./vllm)               | Drop-in OpenAI API; the client stays unmodified | static       | persistent (single-shot by nature) | HTTP + SSE        |
 
@@ -71,26 +71,21 @@ flowchart LR
 
 Chosen _at_ registration (above); **defaults to `persistent`** — set on both `register_runner(...)` and in `runners.json`. The examples set it explicitly.
 
-- **Persistent** — a held-open session billed per second of wall-clock. Best for realtime / streaming. (`echo`)
-- **Single-shot** — one request in, one response out. Best for batch / request-response. (`hello-world`, `vllm` are single-shot by nature.)
+- **Persistent** — a held-open session the client reserves and releases, billed per second of wall-clock (or once, with fixed pricing). Best for realtime / streaming. (`echo`, `vllm`)
+- **Single-shot** — one request in, one response out; the orchestrator reserves a session per call and releases it when the response returns, so the client manages no session at all. Best for batch / request-response. (`hello-world`, `tiles`)
 
-> [!IMPORTANT]
-> Single-shot payment isn't implemented yet ([go-livepeer#3955](https://github.com/livepeer/go-livepeer/issues/3955)), so the single-shot-by-nature apps above register as **persistent**. On-chain that bills per second for the whole open session and overbills short calls — keep them **offchain-only** until #3955 lands ([#5](https://github.com/livepeer/live-runner-example-apps/issues/5)).
+> [!NOTE]
+> The `vllm` example is single-shot by nature but stays **persistent** for now: it meters per second across a reserved session, and true per-token billing is brokerage for the gateway/signer layer.
 
 ## Calling your app
 
-The client side is the same shape for every app — **discover → reserve → call → release**:
+The client side depends on the runner's mode:
 
-1. **Discover** the app via the orchestrator's `/discovery`.
-2. **Reserve** a session (`reserve_session`).
-3. **Call** it — one `call_runner`, streamed frames, or a WebSocket, depending on transport.
-4. **Release** the session (`stop_runner_session`), which settles payment on-chain.
+- **Single-shot** — **discover → call**: find the app via `runner_selector`, then one `call_runner`. The orchestrator reserves a session for the call and releases it when the response returns; on the paid path `call_runner` answers the 402 payment challenge inline. (`hello-world`, `tiles`)
+- **Persistent** — **discover → reserve → call → release**: reserve a session (`reserve_session`), call it — `call_runner`, streamed frames, or a WebSocket, depending on transport — then release it (`stop_runner_session`), which settles payment on-chain. (`echo`, `vllm`)
 
 Each example's `client.py` shows its exact calls — grep `# Livepeer:` to find them.
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> This is the flow today. Once single-shot lands ([#5](https://github.com/livepeer/live-runner-example-apps/issues/5)), we intend to abstract it into a single call — exact design TBD.
-
 ## External examples
 
 Apps that integrate the live runner and live in their own repos — production deployments and standalone examples alike:
@@ -128,7 +123,7 @@ On-chain runs add a **remote signer** that holds the payer wallet and mints [pro
 
 - **Wallets stay outside the repo** — `*_KEYSTORE_DIR` points at go-livepeer keystores (mounted read-only); only the address + password come from `.env`.
 - **`.env` is per example and gitignored** — copy `.env.example` and fill in RPC, network, keystore paths, accounts, and pricing (it holds the keystore password).
-- **Runner price is a plain USD amount**: the app advertises `PRICE` (e.g. `0.01`). `currency` and `unit` default to `usd` / `hour`, so only `price` is required. With `hour` the orchestrator converts it to wei via the price feed and meters the session per second. Apps with bounded per-call work can register `unit="fixed"` to bill the price once per session (see tiles). The signer caps what it pays at `MAX_PRICE_PER_UNIT`, compared per billing unit: one second of runtime when metered (0.000111USD is about 0.40 USD/hour), the whole session price when fixed.
+- **Runner price is a plain USD amount**: the app advertises `PRICE` (e.g. `0.01`). `currency` and `unit` default to `usd` / `hour`, so only `price` is required. With `hour` the orchestrator converts it to wei via the price feed and meters the session per second. Apps with bounded per-call work can register `unit="fixed"` to bill the price once per session (see hello-world, tiles). The signer caps what it pays at `MAX_PRICE_PER_UNIT`, compared per billing unit: one second of runtime when metered (0.000111USD is about 0.40 USD/hour), the whole session price when fixed.
 - **Payments are probabilistic** — on a short run you'll rarely see a redemption; that's expected.
 
 ### Verifying discovery

diff --git a/hello-world/.env.example b/hello-world/.env.example
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@ ORCH_ETH_PASSWORD=your-operator-keystore-password
 # Registered orch = ticket recipient (-ethOrchAddr); empty = use the operating key.
 ORCH_ONCHAIN_ADDR=0xYourRegisteredOrchestrator
 
-# Runner price (on-chain): USD per hour, converted to wei via the price feed.
-PRICE=0.01
-# Signer's max-price cap (payer side), applied per second of runtime
-# (0.000111USD is about 0.40 USD/hour).
+# Runner price (on-chain): USD billed once per call (fixed pricing).
+# Keep under ~0.00019: the signer signs at most 100 tickets per payment,
+# and the demo orchestrator runs -ticketEV=1e9 (numTickets = fee / ticketEV).
+PRICE=0.0001
+# Signer's max-price cap (payer side), compared per billing unit. With fixed
+# pricing the unit is one call, so this must exceed PRICE.
 MAX_PRICE_PER_UNIT=0.000111USD
diff --git a/hello-world/README.md b/hello-world/README.md
@@ -5,19 +5,16 @@ The smallest possible app on the Livepeer network: a synchronous request/respons
 |              |                                      |
 | ------------ | ------------------------------------ |
 | App id       | `livepeer-example/hello-world`       |
-| Runner mode  | persistent (single-shot by nature)   |
+| Runner mode  | single-shot                          |
 | Registration | dynamic (self-registers via the SDK) |
 | Transport    | HTTP (JSON request/response)         |
 | Port         | 8989                                 |
 
 Prerequisites (Docker, `uv`, and the not-yet-released `livepeer-gateway` SDK — pinned in `pyproject.toml`) and the shared on-chain/payment setup live in the [repo README](../README.md).
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> This app currently runs in **persistent** mode. It will switch to **single-shot** once [#5](https://github.com/livepeer/live-runner-example-apps/issues/5) ships.
-
 ## How it's wired
 
-The app is **dynamically registered**: it self-registers with the orchestrator via `register_runner` ([runner.py](runner.py)) and exposes a single `POST /hello`, reverse-proxied through the orchestrator. The client calls it with `reserve_session` → `call_runner` → `stop_runner_session` ([client.py](client.py)) — discover, reserve, call, release; one request, one response. Grep `# Livepeer:` in either file to see the exact calls. This is the base flow every other example builds on.
+The app is **dynamically registered**: it self-registers with the orchestrator via `register_runner` ([runner.py](runner.py)) and exposes a single `POST /hello`, reverse-proxied through the orchestrator. The client calls it with `runner_selector` → `call_runner` ([client.py](client.py)) — discover, then one call. Because the runner is **single-shot**, there is no session to manage: the orchestrator reserves one for the call and releases it when the response returns, and on the paid path `call_runner` answers the 402 payment challenge inline. Grep `# Livepeer:` in either file to see the exact calls. This is the base flow every other example builds on.
 
 ## Run offchain (free)
 
@@ -45,11 +42,11 @@ uv run client.py --name livepeer \
 docker compose -f compose.yml -f compose.onchain.yml down
 ```
 
-The app registers with a price (`--price` in USD/hour from `.env`) and the orchestrator advertises it in `/discovery`. The SDK client does discovery, the session, the `/hello` call, and payment itself — paying through the remote signer with **no gateway in between**. So this is the full paid stack end to end: **app + orchestrator + remote signer + SDK client**.
+The app registers with a price (`--price` from `.env`, in USD billed once per call — **fixed pricing**, the natural fit for bounded request/response work) and the orchestrator advertises it in `/discovery`. The SDK client does discovery, the `/hello` call, and payment itself — paying through the remote signer with **no gateway in between**. So this is the full paid stack end to end: **app + orchestrator + remote signer + SDK client**.
 
 ## Run without Docker
 
-Start an orchestrator built from `ja/live-runner` (see [Build from source](https://docs.livepeer.org/v1/orchestrators/guides/install-go-livepeer#build-from-source)), then the app and client directly:
+Start an orchestrator built from go-livepeer `v0.9.0` or newer (see [Build from source](https://docs.livepeer.org/v1/orchestrators/guides/install-go-livepeer#build-from-source)), then the app and client directly:
 
 ```sh
 ./livepeer -orchestrator -useLiveRunners -serviceAddr localhost:8935 -orchSecret abcdef -v 6

diff --git a/hello-world/client.py b/hello-world/client.py
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""hello-world client: reserve an orchestrator session, call the app, settle up.
+"""hello-world client: discover a runner, call the app, pay inline.
 
 Livepeer integration (grep `# Livepeer:`):
-  1. reserve_session()      — discover orchestrators advertising the app, reserve one
-                             (to be removed once #4 lands)
-  2. call_runner()          — invoke the app through the orchestrator
-  3. stop_runner_session()  — end the session (settles payment on-chain)
+  1. runner_selector()  — discover orchestrators advertising the app
+  2. call_runner()      — call the app through the orchestrator; on the paid path it
+                          answers the 402 payment challenge inline. Single-shot needs
+                          no reserve/stop: the orchestrator reserves the session for
+                          this one request and releases it when the response returns.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
 import asyncio
 import logging
-from contextlib import suppress
 
 from livepeer_gateway.errors import LivepeerGatewayError
-from livepeer_gateway.live_runner import call_runner, stop_runner_session
-from livepeer_gateway.selection import reserve_session
+from livepeer_gateway.live_runner import call_runner
+from livepeer_gateway.selection import runner_selector
 
 DEFAULT_DISCOVERY = "https://localhost:8935/discovery"
 APP_ID = "livepeer-example/hello-world"
@@ -43,27 +43,22 @@ async def main() -> None:
     )
     args = _parse_args()
     signer_url = args.signer.strip() or None
-    session = None
     try:
-        session = await reserve_session(  # Livepeer: 1 (to be removed once #4 lands)
-            discovery_url=args.discovery,
-            app=APP_ID,
-            signer_url=signer_url,
+        cursor = await runner_selector(  # Livepeer: 1
+            discovery_url=args.discovery, app=APP_ID
         )
-        log.info("session_id=%s app_url=%s", session.session_id, session.app_url)
+        runner = cursor.candidates[0]
+        log.info("app_url=%s", runner.url)
 
         result = await call_runner(  # Livepeer: 2
-            runner_url=session.app_url.rstrip("/") + "/hello",
+            runner=runner,  # discovery metadata tells call_runner the price unit
+            runner_url=runner.url.rstrip("/") + "/hello",
             payload={"name": args.name},
             signer_url=signer_url,
         )
         print(result.data)
     except LivepeerGatewayError as exc:
         raise SystemExit(f"ERROR: {exc}") from exc
-    finally:
-        if session is not None:
-            with suppress(Exception):
-                await stop_runner_session(session)  # Livepeer: 3
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

diff --git a/hello-world/compose.onchain.yml b/hello-world/compose.onchain.yml
@@ -29,4 +29,5 @@ services:
       - --orchestrator=https://orchestrator:8935
       - --orchSecret=abcdef
       - --runner-url=http://app:8989
+      # Billed once per call (fixed pricing); price cap in .env.example.
       - --price=${PRICE}
diff --git a/hello-world/runner.py b/hello-world/runner.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def _parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
         "--price",
         type=float,
         default=0,
-        help="Runner price in USD per hour (0 = free, the offchain default).",
+        help="Runner price in USD per call (0 = free, the offchain default).",
     )
     return parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ async def _on_startup(app: web.Application) -> None:
             secret=args.orchSecret,
             runner_url=args.runner_url,
             app=APP_ID,
-            # single-shot by nature; stays persistent until single-shot payment lands
-            # (go-livepeer#3955)
-            mode="persistent",
-            price=args.price,  # USD/hour
+            mode="single-shot",
+            price=args.price,  # USD per call
+            # one flat payment per call instead of per-second metering
+            unit="fixed",
         )
         log.info(
             "registered runner_id=%s orchestrator=%s",

diff --git a/tiles/.env.example b/tiles/.env.example
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@ ORCH_ETH_PASSWORD=your-operator-keystore-password
 # Registered orch = ticket recipient (-ethOrchAddr); empty = use the operating key.
 ORCH_ONCHAIN_ADDR=0xYourRegisteredOrchestrator
 
-# Runner price (on-chain): USD billed once per tile session (fixed pricing).
-# Must stay under ~0.00019 so the fee fits 100 tickets at ticketEV=1e9.
+# Runner price (on-chain): USD billed once per tile (fixed pricing).
+# Keep under ~0.00019: the signer signs at most 100 tickets per payment,
+# and the demo orchestrator runs -ticketEV=1e9 (numTickets = fee / ticketEV).
 PRICE=0.0001
 # Signer's max-price cap (payer side), compared per billing unit. With fixed
-# pricing the unit is one tile session, so this must exceed PRICE.
+# pricing the unit is one tile call, so this must exceed PRICE.
 MAX_PRICE_PER_UNIT=0.000111USD