Files
fips/docs/how-to
Johnathan Corgan 77fdd52fe0 docs: reviewer feedback pass on Nostr-discovery surface
Walk through reviewer feedback on the Nostr-discovery docs and
land 18 items.

Bulk patterns:

- `external_addr` / `public: true` semantics consistently
  misdescribed. The advert path is gated on `cfg.is_public()`;
  inside that branch the daemon picks an address by precedence
  (`external_addr`, non-wildcard `bind_addr`, STUN). The docs
  treated `public: true` and `external_addr` as alternatives when
  they are stacked: `public: true` is the master switch and
  `external_addr` populates the address inside it. Reconciled
  across `enable-nostr-discovery.md` and `advertise-your-node.md`:
  add `public: true` to the `external_addr` examples; replace
  "STUN as a logging cross-check" with "STUN is skipped entirely";
  fix "neither flag is needed" for direct public bind (both flags
  still required); make the publish-tutorial Step 3 conditional
  on the chosen Step 2 path (STUN runs only on the `public: true`
  path); rewrite the troubleshooting "wrong public IP advertised"
  bullet with two coherent fixes.

- `udp:nat` overpromised as a symmetric-NAT solution. Symmetric
  NAT on either side typically defeats the punch. Reframe
  `udp:nat` as best-effort hole-punching for nodes without a
  directly reachable UDP endpoint in the how-to, the publish
  tutorial (intro, callout, section heading rewrite from "If
  you're behind symmetric NAT" to "If your direct UDP advert
  isn't reachable"), the consume tutorial's "What's next"
  pointer, and `tutorials/README.md`. Promote reachability over
  named NAT classes: STUN can confirm the public IP but not that
  the listener-port mapping is open.

- YAML "silently ignores unknown keys" is wrong. Config parser
  rejects unknown fields via `serde(deny_unknown_fields)` on the
  per-section structs; misspelled fields refuse the daemon's
  start with a parse-error line in the journal. Fixed in the
  publish tutorial's troubleshooting and the open-discovery
  tutorial's `policy` typo bullet.

Mechanical fixes:

- Repoint stale anchors. `getting-started.md` and
  `configuration.md` linked to `#installation` / `#inspect` on
  the README; the README has no such headings. Repoint to
  `#quick-start` and `cli-fipsctl.md`. Two stale anchors in the
  publish tutorial pointing at non-existent sub-scenarios in the
  how-to (`#sub-scenario-2c-...`,
  `#sub-scenario-2b-tor-onion-node`) repointed to the correct
  anchors.

- Drop the `fipsctl show status` claim from the open-discovery
  troubleshooting bullet (`show_status` doesn't include
  `discovery.nostr.policy`). Replace with daemon startup logs.

- Fix the `advertise: false` parenthetical in the consume-only
  tutorial (`default_advertise()` returns `true`; we set `false`
  explicitly for the consume-only path).

- Drop the "supplies a relay list" overstatement in two
  activation paragraphs (the how-to and the design doc). Default
  relay / STUN-server lists ship in the config; both are
  optional overrides.

- Add the missing `transports.udp.public` entry to the
  open-discovery tutorial's prerequisites checklist. Tutorial
  users coming out of advertise-your-node could be on either the
  direct-UDP (`public: true`) or `udp:nat` (`public: false`)
  path; list both.

Files: docs/getting-started.md, docs/reference/configuration.md,
docs/how-to/enable-nostr-discovery.md, docs/tutorials/README.md,
docs/tutorials/advertise-your-node.md,
docs/tutorials/resolve-peers-via-nostr.md,
docs/tutorials/open-discovery.md,
docs/design/fips-nostr-discovery.md.
2026-05-10 21:56:09 +00:00
..

How-To Guides

Task-oriented, step-by-step recipes for operators with a specific goal in mind. Each guide assumes the reader already knows what FIPS is and wants to get a particular thing done — enable a feature, deploy a component, troubleshoot a class of problem.

How-to guides do not teach concepts (that is the role of design/) and do not enumerate options (that is the role of reference/). They take the reader along the shortest correct path from "I want to do X" to "X is done".

Available Guides

Guide Goal
enable-mesh-firewall.md Activate the default-deny nftables baseline on fips0
enable-nostr-discovery.md Turn on Nostr-mediated discovery (3 capabilities — resolve, advertise, open — across 5 scenarios)
deploy-tor-onion.md Run a Tor onion service for inbound FIPS connections
tune-udp-buffers.md Set host sysctls so FIPS UDP sockets don't get clamped
run-as-unprivileged-user.md Run the daemon under a dedicated unprivileged service account (drops the default-root posture)
deploy-gateway.md Manually deploy fips-gateway on a non-OpenWrt Linux host (LAN-to-mesh outbound + mesh-to-LAN inbound port-forwards). For the OpenWrt path, see the gateway tutorial.
troubleshoot-gateway.md Diagnostic recipes for the gateway, organised by half (outbound, inbound, common)
persistent-identity.md Provision a stable Nostr keypair so the node keeps the same npub across restarts
host-aliases.md Use shortnames (test-us01.fips, my-laptop.fips) instead of full npubs by editing /etc/fips/hosts or setting peer aliases
set-up-bluetooth-peer.md Configure a Bluetooth Low Energy peer link
diagnose-mtu-issues.md Triage MTU-shaped failures and rule out their imposters (bufferbloat, transport saturation)