Johnathan Corgan
146d19a8d8
Back-fill the changelog for the six user-facing changes on this line since v0.4.0: the antipoison FPR cap default, the bloom probe and secp256k1 context performance work, the coordinate-cache and path-MTU fixes, and the removed parent_switched counter. The Unreleased section was empty, so all six entries are new. Write the v0.4.1 release notes and mirror them to the root copy. The notes lead with the FPR cap change and state plainly that this is the second raise of that default in two releases, that it buys headroom rather than fixing the underlying fixed-filter constraint, and that the structural remedy is the v2 filter work. They also flag the rolling upgrade window, where an upgraded and a not-yet-upgraded node can disagree about mesh size, and point consumers of parent_switched at parent_switches. Bump the README status badge and the roadmap prose together so the two agree.
FIPS Documentation
FIPS (Free Internetworking Peering System) is a self-organizing encrypted mesh network built on Nostr identities, capable of operating over arbitrary transports — local networks, the public internet, Tor, Bluetooth, or point-to-point links — without central infrastructure.
With FIPS, your machine becomes a node in the mesh with a self-generated cryptographic identity. There are two ways to deploy it.
As an overlay on top of existing IP networks, FIPS lets your node reach any other FIPS node wherever it sits — behind a NAT, on a different ISP, on a phone over cellular, on a laptop with only Bluetooth in range, or behind a Tor onion. The mesh forwards IPv6 traffic transparently and end-to-end encrypted, with no central VPN concentrator or coordinating server.
From the ground up over raw Ethernet, WiFi, or Bluetooth, FIPS provides a complete permissionless network without any pre-existing IP infrastructure, ISP, or DNS. Any node that joins the link gets routable IPv6 addresses, peer discovery, and a path to every other node automatically.
Either way, existing networking software runs over it unchanged: SSH, HTTP servers, file transfer, anything IPv6-native works the same way it would on a local network.
New to FIPS? Start with the Getting Started guide.
Documentation Sections
Tutorials
If you are starting from scratch and want a guided path to a working mesh, go here.
How-To Guides
If you have a specific task in mind — enabling a feature, deploying a component, diagnosing a problem — go here.
Reference
If you need to look up wire formats, configuration keys, command flags, or counter inventories, go here.
Design
If you want to understand how the mesh self-organizes, why FIPS makes the choices it does, or how the pieces fit together, go here.