# Quickstart The Grid is a real-time spot market for AI inference. It standardizes inference into tradeable Instruments defined by objective quality benchmarks, and lets developers buy capacity from competing suppliers through a single OpenAI-compatible API - no vendor lock-in, no model-specific integrations. Pick your path below to get started. * If you are interested in consuming inference, continue to [**Sending Your First Request**](https://thegrid.ai/docs/introduction/quickstart/sending-your-first-request) * If you are interested in becoming a Supplier, continue to [**Supplying to The Grid**](https://thegrid.ai/docs/introduction/quickstart/getting-started-as-a-supplier) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://thegrid.ai/docs/introduction/quickstart.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.