> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.hunt.town/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.hunt.town/h402/providers.md).

# Providers & Verification

A **capability** is a task. A **provider** is one concrete implementation of it. Before you pay, the catalog shows each provider's price, its input schema and a sample of a real paid response. That is enough to predict the cost and the shape of the result.

<figure><img src="https://2486355854-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F4NxrAAvYUdbFb8acggEf%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-83ab608080d4e31c185b3761e0c1cde5b3a546cc%2Fh402-providers.jpg?alt=media" alt="Providers of the web search capability"><figcaption><p>Providers of one capability, compared side by side</p></figcaption></figure>

## Selection is explicit

**Every executable call is pinned to one provider.** The caller (a human, an agent, or the CLI on the agent's behalf) chooses the provider before the call. There is no request-time routing and no automatic failover to a different provider mid-call.

Every successful response records which provider served it, how that provider was chosen, and how payment was handled, so each call can be audited afterwards.

### The recommended default

The catalog recommends a default provider for each capability, ranked by live success rate, latency and price: a recommendation a client may pin, not a router.

## Verification is binary, and it is earned by paying

There is no verification score. A provider is either **enabled** or it is not, and *enabled is the verification signal*:

* A provider becomes enabled only after a **real, paid probe** against its live endpoint, never from documentation, a mock, or an assumed response shape.
* The **exact response body** from that paid call is stored as the provider's **sample**. This is what the catalog shows you as a "real sample".
* A failed probe disables the provider.

## Quality score is a different thing

Separately from verification, each enabled provider carries a continuous **quality score** derived from live call success rate and latency. It is used for **one purpose**: ranking enabled providers so the catalog can recommend a default.