# Understanding Gauges

## **The gauge system**

In the HOPE Ecosystem, inflation is directed towards users who provide liquidity. This usage is measured using gauges. The liquidity gauge measures the amount of liquidity a user is providing. 

Each liquidity pool has its own gauge where you can stake your LP tokens. It is a requirement to stake your LP tokens to the gauge in order to earn $LT rewards.

{% hint style="info" %}
*After adding liquidity, you won't get base or boosted $LT rewards unless you stake your LP tokens to the gauge.*
{% endhint %}

## The weight system

Each gauge also has a weight and a type. Those weights represent how much of the daily $LT inflation will be received by the liquidity gauge.

## The gauge weight voting

The weight system allows the LightDAO to determine where the $LT inflation should be directed. You can vote for the gauge weight here: <https://app.hope.money/#/dao/gauge>

Every week, the LightDAO votes on the allocation of $LT emissions for the following week. Every participant can have a say in how the liquidity mining incentives are distributed. The new emissions are applied every Thursday based on the results of the vote.

If you have veLT, you can allocate your voting power towards the liquidity gauge (or pool) that you think should receive the most $LT.

If you are not familiar with veLT, click below to discover more:

{% content-ref url="../lt-light-token/locking-lt-velt" %}
[locking-lt-velt](https://docs.hope.money/lt-light-token/locking-lt-velt)
{% endcontent-ref %}


---

# 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://docs.hope.money/reward-gauges/understanding-gauges.md?ask=<question>
```

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.