Run a Node
One binary, any device — spare disk becomes part of the network
A node is one binary, zeph, running today on macOS and Linux. It stores coded pieces for the network, serves them to peers, heals data as churn happens, and gives you a private dashboard of everything it's doing. Public builds land with the open-source release; the network itself is live now.
The shape of it
$ zeph # start a node — it finds the network
→ joined · storing pieces · providing to peers
$ zeph publish ./photos.zip
→ published · spreading across the grid · fetchable by CID, anywhere
$ zeph publish --private ./diary.txt # encrypted — only your key reads it
$ zeph get <cid> # fetch anything by content ID
$ zeph pin <cid> # guarantee content you care about
$ zeph deploy app.wasm --name myapp # put a program on the grid
$ zeph sql-exec myns "CREATE TABLE ..." # your own durable SQL database
$ zeph status # live view of your nodeConfiguration
~/.zeph/config.toml is written with defaults on first run. The fields that matter:
| field | default | meaning |
|---|---|---|
reach | local | relayed for real-world use (NAT traversal + relays) |
listen_port | 0 | fix a UDP port on servers and open it in the firewall |
storage_quota_gib | 10 | disk you contribute |
dht_seeds | — | bootstrap entries <node_id>@<ip:port> |
relay_urls | relay1.zeph.craft.ec | the network's relay mesh, public relays as fallback |
dashboard_port | 9945 | your private dashboard on 127.0.0.1 |
What your node does for the network
- Holds erasure-coded pieces of other people's content (never whole readable files unless you pin them; private content is ciphertext).
- Verifies every piece before storing it — polluted data can't enter.
- Repairs: when a piece-holder vanishes, your node may be elected to mint a replacement piece from what it holds. No coordinator involved.
- Serves the DHT records that let anyone find content.
What it costs you
Disk you chose to give, and modest bandwidth. Repair work is deterministic-elected (one node per object per epoch), announces are trickled, and hot loops back off — the node is engineered to sit quietly on a laptop.
Privacy
Your dashboard is local-only (a token-protected page on 127.0.0.1). Your file index is an encrypted private database. Contributing a node reveals your node ID and address to peers — like any P2P system — but not what you store privately.