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The Livepeer protocol node is go-livepeer. It is the entry point for all protocol contributions: video transcoding, AI pipeline integration, payment mechanics, and on-chain interactions. The local testnet simulates the full network on your machine.

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Prerequisites

  • Go 1.21 or later — go version
  • Docker — required for AI worker development
  • ffmpeg — for generating test video streams
  • git
Optional: NVIDIA GPU with CUDA 12+ for AI pipeline testing. Install ffmpeg: 
# macOS
brew install ffmpeg

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

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Get the codebase running

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Next steps

With a running local testnet, three productive paths exist: Fix a bug — Browse good first issues in go-livepeer. The local testnet lets you reproduce issues and verify fixes without mainnet funds. Add an AI pipeline — The ai-runner repository (Python) handles AI inference. Clone it separately, test a new pipeline locally, and integrate it with go-livepeer via the AI worker interface. Contribute to ComfyStream or PyTrickle — Python repositories with lower Go prerequisite. Good entry points for AI pipeline contributors.

Contribution Guide

PR process, coding standards, and how to contribute by repo.

Local Testnet Deployment

Full testnet setup with AI worker and advanced configuration.

OSS Contributions

Open issues, bounties, and contribution paths by repository.
Last modified on April 7, 2026