Your first paid job

You need Node 22.18 or later.

$ mkdir lingua && cd lingua
$ npx services.dev
  wrote   package.json · services/translation.ts · services/translation.md · AGENTS.md
lingua · AI delivers every job.
  site    http://localhost:8787/translation
  api     POST http://localhost:8787/jobs {"service":"translation"}
  key     sk_test_7Hq2 · a call with no key uses it, on localhost only
  mcp     http://localhost:8787/mcp · stdio: npx services.dev mcp
  cli     npx services.dev translation k=v …
  sdk     connect({ origin: 'http://localhost:8787' }).translation.order(input)
  docs    http://localhost:8787/llms.txt
  buyers  http://localhost:8787/portal
  you     http://localhost:8787/console
  AI and money are simulated until you wire them. $0.42 a call is an example.

an agent ordered Translation at $49
job_7Hq2 · delivered · document.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  record  draft · ai | review · ai · pass
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $0.84 · you $48.16
  next    npx services.dev accept job_7Hq2

Nobody touched it. An agent ordered a job, AI translated the document, a second AI pass attacked the draft, and the job was charged on delivery. The folder's name, lingua, is the brand on every surface.

Leave it running. It reloads each Service you save.

This is services/translation.ts:

import { Service } from 'services.dev'

export default Service({
  name: 'Translation',
  input: { document: 'file', to: 'language: a BCP 47 tag, such as fr-CA' },
  output: { document: 'file' },
  price: 49,
})

What comes in, what goes out, and the price. With no deliver, AI does the work, briefed by services/translation.md. With no human, AI delivers every job alone.

In a second terminal, order a job the way your buyers and their agents will. Pick a surface; every call answers the same on all four.

$ npx services.dev translation document=https://example.com/lease.pdf to=fr-CA --max 49 --key lease
job_7Hq3 · working · $49.00 held
job_7Hq3 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  record  draft · ai | review · ai · pass
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $0.84 · you $48.16
  next    npx services.dev accept job_7Hq3

$ curl -X POST http://localhost:8787/jobs -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{"service":"translation","document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","max_usd":49,"key":"lease"}'
← 202 · job_7Hq3 · working · $49.00 held
  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

→ tools/call order_translation {"document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","max_usd":49,"key":"lease"}
← job_7Hq3 · working · $49.00 held
  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

await lingua.translation.order({"document":{"url":"https://example.com/lease.pdf","name":"lease.pdf"},"to":"fr-CA","max_usd":49,"key":"lease"})
← job_7Hq3 · working · $49.00 held
  next    get_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

max_usd is the most you'll pay; leave it out and the answer is an offer with the price and the exact call to send. The same key returns the same job, so a retry never buys twice.

Wait for it:

$ npx services.dev jobs wait job_7Hq3
job_7Hq3 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  record  draft · ai | review · ai · pass
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $0.84 · you $48.16
  next    npx services.dev accept job_7Hq3

$ curl http://localhost:8787/jobs/job_7Hq3?wait=50
← 200 · job_7Hq3 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  next    accept_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

→ resources/read job://job_7Hq3?wait=50
← job_7Hq3 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  next    accept_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

await lingua.jobs.wait("job_7Hq3")
← job_7Hq3 · delivered · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 charged
  next    accept_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}

Accept it:

$ npx services.dev jobs accept job_7Hq3
job_7Hq3 · accepted · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 final

$ curl -X POST http://localhost:8787/jobs/job_7Hq3/accept -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{}'
← 200 · job_7Hq3 · accepted · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 final

→ tools/call accept_job {"id":"job_7Hq3"}
← job_7Hq3 · accepted · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 final

await lingua.jobs.accept("job_7Hq3")
← job_7Hq3 · accepted · lease.fr-CA.pdf · $49.00 final

A buyer who wants changes sends the job back with a note instead, and the AI redoes it.

$ npx services.dev check
services/translation.ts · 4 lines · $49 per job, within 48 hours, charged on delivery.
  who     AI delivers every job.
  steps   draft · ai → review · ai · adversarial
  agent   order_translation · 24 of 30 words · bought job_7Hq2 · $49.00 · no person
  ledger  +$49.00 · AI $0.84 (example) · you $48.16
  margin  at least $39.20 a job (80%) · a job that stops costs you at most $9.80
  apps    customer portal · owner console

mcp     13 buyer tools · 4,486 of 8,000 tokens · 9 more with ?toolset=sandbox
✓ ready to sell · 1 Service · AI delivers it alone · it keeps at least 80% of every job

check reads the whole business back: who does the work, what each job earns, and the apps it serves. It exits 1 when something needs fixing, and says what to do.

Run npm install once, then delete the price line. Your editor refuses the Service, because how it earns is never optional:

  ✗ Property 'price' is missing.

Put it back as price: 59 and save. The first terminal reprices, and every surface sells at it. Set it back to 49 before you go on.

reloaded services/translation.ts · $59 per job, within 48 hours, charged on delivery.

$ npx services.dev translation document=lease.pdf to=fr-CA
OFFER · $59 per job, within 48 hours, charged on delivery.
  next    npx services.dev translation document=lease.pdf to=fr-CA --max 59

You wrote four lines, and an agent bought a job AI delivered. The same file grows into the business you know: AI alone like lingua, legal effect like api.lawyer, years like apis.tax, or paid on the close like api.forsale.

The whole system: the objects your file creates, and how it earns. Or choose your shape.

1. StartHow do I sell my first job?Your first paid job18 pages
2. ServiceHow do I describe the work, and who does it?Service()34 pages
3. PeopleWhere does a person come in? Where one must, a key that tries gets needs_a_person.human: the line34 pages
4. MoneyWhat does a buyer pay, and what do I keep?Money11 pages
5. SurfacesWhere do people and their agents order?Every surface, from one contract17 pages
6. AppsWhat do buyers, people and I each see of a job?The customer portal4 pages
7. OperateHow do I run the business day to day?Run your Service12 pages
8. ExamplesWhat does a whole brand look like, file by file?Examples75 pages
9. ReferenceWhat does each error say, and what do I do next?Operations42 pages