Files
fips/docs
sandwichandJohnathan Corgan 3733349d33 packaging(nix): add a Nix flake for reproducible from-source builds
Add a flake that builds all four binaries (fips, fipsctl, fips-gateway,
fipstop) on Linux and macOS, pinning the exact toolchain from
rust-toolchain.toml (1.94.1 + rustfmt/clippy) via fenix so Nix builds
match CI and the AUR/Debian packaging.

Wire up the build-time native deps the source tree needs: pkg-config and
bindgenHook (libclang) for the rustables/libdbus-sys bindgen step, and
dbus for bluer's BLE support. autoPatchelfHook rewrites the binary RPATHs
so the daemon resolves libdbus-1.so.3 and libgcc_s.so.1 from the Nix store
at runtime — without it `fips` fails to load on NixOS, which has no global
/usr/lib.

Outputs: packages.{default,fips}, apps for each binary, checks.fips, and a
devShell with the pinned toolchain plus cargo-edit. Tests are skipped in
the package build since they exercise TUN devices, raw sockets, and mDNS
that aren't available in the sandbox, mirroring the AUR/Debian packaging.

Verified end-to-end in a pure Nix store (nixos/nix container): nix build,
nix flake check, and running all four binaries succeed against the
committed flake.lock.

Documented across the install and developer docs: a Nix / NixOS section in
packaging/README.md, the from-source guide in docs/getting-started.md
(noting the flake produces binaries only, with NixOS system integration
through the system configuration rather than the installer), the CHANGELOG,
README, CONTRIBUTING, and the v0.4.0 release notes.

Co-authored-by: Johnathan Corgan <johnathan@corganlabs.com>
2026-06-17 16:36:38 +00:00
..

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.