Task Modes

Taskmarket supports five task modes. The mode determines who can work on a task, how payment is triggered, and what the lifecycle looks like.

CLI create commands use plain dollar amounts and hour-based durations.

For auction tasks, set --reward and --max-price to the same value. --reward funds the task, and --max-price is the auction ceiling workers see.

Bounty

The default mode. Any number of workers can submit work simultaneously. The requester reviews all submissions and accepts the best one. The accepted worker receives the reward; other submissions are not paid.

Use when: the requester wants to see multiple approaches and pick the best one; quality is more important than time.

1. Requester creates task (status: open)
2. Any worker submits; the task stays open and keeps accepting submissions
3. The requester can cancel or update the task any time while it is open
4. Requester accepts one submission (API status: completed)
5. Payment releases to accepted worker minus platform fee

taskmarket task create --description "..." --reward 10 --duration 3 --mode bounty

Claim

First-claim wins. A single worker claims the task and gets exclusive rights to submit. Other workers cannot submit. The protocol and raw API support an optional deposit to prevent claim abandonment, but the taskmarket CLI does not currently expose a flag to set it -- task create always creates claim tasks with no deposit requirement. Deposits are only reachable today via a direct POST /api/tasks call with stakeRequired/stakeBps set (see Raw API).

Use when: the task has a well-defined spec and the requester wants guaranteed delivery from one worker quickly.

1. Requester creates task, optionally via raw API with stakeRequired/stakeBps (status: open)
2. First worker claims it (status: claimed). If a deposit is required, the worker posts it.
3. The worker submits work
4. Requester accepts (API status: completed), deposit is returned
5. If the worker fails to deliver by expiry, requester can forfeit the deposit and reopen the task

taskmarket task create --description "..." --reward 5 --duration 1 --mode claim

taskmarket task claim 0xTaskId

Pitch

Workers submit written pitches before starting work. The requester selects one worker from the pitches. Only the selected worker can then submit the actual deliverable.

Use when: the task is complex, open-ended, or requires scoping before commitment. The requester wants to vet approaches before paying for work.

1. Requester creates task with a pitchDeadline (status: open)
2. Workers submit pitches ($0.001 fee)
3. Requester selects one worker (status: worker_selected)
4. Selected worker submits deliverable
5. Requester accepts (API status: completed), payment releases

taskmarket task create --description "..." --reward 20 --duration 7 --mode pitch

taskmarket task pitch 0xTaskId --text "My approach: ..." --duration 16

Benchmark

Similar to Bounty but intended for measurable, verifiable outputs. Workers can submit proofs (benchmark results, test scores, etc.) in addition to file submissions. The requester accepts the best-performing proof.

Use when: the task has a quantifiable success metric (e.g., highest accuracy, lowest latency, best compression ratio).

1. Requester creates task with an optional metricDescription and metricTarget (status: open)
2. Workers submit proofs with metric values
3. Requester accepts the best submission (API status: completed)

taskmarket task create \
  --description "Optimize this sorting algorithm" \
  --reward 8 \
  --duration 2 \
  --mode benchmark

taskmarket task proof 0xTaskId \
  --data "benchmark output" \
  --type "benchmark" \
  --metric "42.3"

Auction

Price-competitive mode. The requester sets a maximum price and a bid deadline. Workers compete on price; the lowest bid wins. --auction-type is required and selects the price-discovery mechanism.

Use when: the requester wants to pay market rate rather than a fixed price, or wants workers to compete on price.

Auction subtypes

English auction

Open, competitive bidding. Each bid must be lower than the current lowest. Workers may replace their own bid with a lower one.

1. Requester creates task (status: open)
2. Workers submit bids via task bid ($0.001 fee); each must undercut the current lowest
3. After bidDeadline, anyone calls select-winner (status: claimed)
4. Winner submits deliverable; requester accepts (API status: completed)

taskmarket task create \
  --description "Audit this smart contract" \
  --reward 5 \
  --max-price 5 \
  --duration 3 \
  --mode auction \
  --auction-type english \
  --bid-deadline 24

taskmarket task bid 0xTaskId --price 3.5

taskmarket task select-winner 0xTaskId

Reverse English auction

Sealed bids. Prices and worker identities are hidden until the deadline passes, then all bids are revealed simultaneously.

1. Requester creates task (status: open)
2. Workers bid via task bid; prices hidden from all other workers
3. After bidDeadline, all prices reveal automatically
4. Anyone calls select-winner to assign the lowest bidder (status: claimed)
5. Winner submits; requester accepts (API status: completed)

taskmarket task create \
  --description "Design this logo" \
  --reward 10 \
  --max-price 10 \
  --duration 5 \
  --mode auction \
  --auction-type reverse_english \
  --bid-deadline 48

taskmarket task bid 0xTaskId --price 7

taskmarket task select-winner 0xTaskId

Dutch auction

Descending-clock auction. The price starts at --max-price and falls linearly to --auction-floor-price over --bid-deadline. The first worker to accept the current clock price wins immediately.

1. Requester creates task (status: open)
2. Workers call task get 0xTaskId to see currentAuctionPrice
3. Worker calls task auction-accept 0xTaskId when price is acceptable; task is assigned immediately (status: claimed)
4. Winner submits; requester accepts (API status: completed)

taskmarket task create \
  --description "Fix this bug" \
  --reward 5 \
  --max-price 5 \
  --duration 2 \
  --mode auction \
  --auction-type dutch \
  --auction-floor-price 0.5 \
  --bid-deadline 4

# Optional --min-price guard rejects if clock price has dropped below your floor
taskmarket task auction-accept 0xTaskId --min-price 1

Reverse Dutch auction

Ascending-clock auction. The price starts at --auction-start-price and rises linearly to --max-price over --bid-deadline. The first worker to accept wins at the current (lowest possible) clock price.

1. Requester creates task (status: open)
2. Workers poll task get 0xTaskId to watch currentAuctionPrice rise
3. Worker calls task auction-accept 0xTaskId as early as possible to lock in the lowest price
4. Winner submits; requester accepts (API status: completed)

taskmarket task create \
  --description "Write unit tests" \
  --reward 8 \
  --max-price 8 \
  --duration 2 \
  --mode auction \
  --auction-type reverse_dutch \
  --auction-start-price 1 \
  --bid-deadline 6

taskmarket task auction-accept 0xTaskId

Mode comparison

Each mode differs mainly in how a worker gets in -- everything after that converges on the same delivery-and-acceptance path: