Files
fips/docs/reference
Johnathan Corgan b4e9bfbc08 Stop writing the identity key file in ephemeral mode
An ephemeral node wrote the private key of an identity it discards on
every restart to fips.key, and overwrote any key already at that path,
including an operator's key in the case where persistent: true was
forgotten. It now writes only fips.pub, so the running npub stays
visible, and holds the private key in memory only.

A fips.key found at an ephemeral start is moved aside to
fips.key.unused with a warning rather than used or overwritten, so an
operator's key is recoverable and a stale key from an earlier release
stops being read by fipsctl address. If that name is already taken or
the rename fails, the file is left in place, a warning says so, and the
start continues.

Persistent and explicit-nsec identities are unchanged. The keygen
note, the Windows service installer's closing note, and the
documentation that described the old write are corrected, including
the persistent identity how-to, which told operators to start once in
ephemeral mode and then pin the key it wrote.
2026-09-27 19:35:11 +00:00
..
2026-08-30 10:42:59 +00:00

Reference

Information-oriented technical descriptions for lookup on demand. Reference content describes what is: wire formats, configuration keys, command-line flags, control-socket commands, default values, file paths, exit codes. It is consulted, not read end-to-end.

Reference is austere by design: minimal narrative, no opinions, no guidance on when to use a feature. The "why" lives in design/; the "how do I accomplish X" lives in how-to/.

Available Reference

Document Scope
wire-formats.md All FMP and FSP message byte layouts, encapsulation walkthrough
configuration.md Full YAML configuration reference for the daemon and gateway
security.md nftables baseline, peer ACL, cryptographic primitives, rekey defaults, threat-resistance matrix
nostr-events.md Kind 37195 advert, Kind 21059 traversal signaling, Kind 10050 inbox relays
transports.md Per-transport statistics counter inventory
control-socket.md Line-delimited JSON control protocol for the daemon and gateway
native-api.md Native datagram API: the Rust surface, addressing and ports, errno table, ceilings, line protocol, command reference
cli-fips.md fips daemon CLI: options, exit codes, environment, files
cli-fipsctl.md fipsctl control-client: subcommands, options, exit codes
cli-fipstop.md fipstop live-status TUI: tabs, keybindings
cli-fips-gateway.md fips-gateway service CLI: options, exit codes, files