# Gondola AI Messages API

> Gondola AI Messages API is a paid API for AI agents from api.gondola-ai.com, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Sends a message to Venice AI models via Gondola's OpenAI-compatible inference marketplace, billed in USDC on Base.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://api.gondola-ai.com/v1/messages
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/gondola-ai-messages-api-785e369f
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_0Zw7FuMdmSc2dpsksH7yd

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability gondola-ai-messages-api-785e369f -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Send this message to a Venice model through Gondola — 'Summarize the key risks of DeFi lending in 3 bullet points' — and pay with USDC on Base.

## When to prefer this

Choose Gondola when you need OpenAI-compatible Venice AI inference at lower cost than going directly, want to pay per call in USDC on Base, or are operating within a crypto-native agent stack. Ideal when minimizing inference cost matters and you are comfortable with x402 micropayment flows.

## Known failure modes

- Insufficient USDC balance on Base causes payment failure and rejected request
- Invalid or unsupported model name returns an error response
- Malformed request body missing required fields triggers a validation error
- Network latency or availability issues with Venice AI backend may cause timeouts
- x402 payment protocol failures if wallet is not configured correctly

## How this service works

Gondola is a marketplace for Venice AI inference: cheap, OpenAI-compatible models paid in USDC on Base, funded by DIEM holders earning on idle compute.

## Output

Returns a structured response containing a unique message ID, the role (typically 'assistant'), the model used, an array of content blocks with the generated text, the stop reason, and a usage object with token counts.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method",
    "bodyType",
    "body"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "body": {
     "type": "object"
    },
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "POST"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "bodyType": {
     "enum": [
      "json"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    }
   }
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "id": "msg_abc123",
  "role": "assistant",
  "type": "message",
  "model": "kimi-k3",
  "usage": {
   "input_tokens": 9,
   "output_tokens": 7
  },
  "content": [
   {
    "text": "Hello. How can I help?",
    "type": "text"
   }
  ],
  "stop_reason": "end_turn"
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/gondola-ai-messages-api-785e369f/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.gondola-ai.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.gondola-ai.com/llms.txt)