Running peer

Running trac-peer Nodes

This page documents the node runners, CLI flags/env, and how “bootstrapping vs joining” works.

Two layers run together

trac-peer currently runs on top of an in-process MSB client node (from trac-msb).

That MSB client node is required to:

• broadcast subnet deployments + contract tx payloads to MSB, and

• observe MSB “confirmed” state to decide which MSB txs can be executed locally in the subnet.

You still run your own MSB network separately; trac-peer just joins it via this embedded client node.

Runners

Node runner (recommended to start)

npm run peer:run -- --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> --msb-channel=<string>

Pear runner

npm run peer:pear -- --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> --msb-channel=<string>

Pear is useful when you want parity with Pear-based MSB runs. If Pear warns about PATH, follow its message once so pear resolves directly.

Required MSB params

You must provide:

• --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> (64 hex chars)

• --msb-channel=<string>

Or env vars:

• MSB_BOOTSTRAP

• MSB_CHANNEL

Stores (running multiple nodes on one machine)

Each node has:

• a peer store (subnet state/logs)

• an msb store (embedded MSB client state/logs)

Use distinct names when running multiple nodes locally:

npm run peer:run -- \
  --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> \
  --msb-channel=<string> \
  --msb-store-name=peer-msb-1 \
  --peer-store-name=peer1

Defaults:

• --peer-stores-directory defaults to stores/

• --msb-stores-directory defaults to stores/

• --msb-store-name defaults to <peer-store-name>-msb

Keypairs are stored at:

• stores/<msb-store>/db/keypair.json

• stores/<peer-store>/db/keypair.json

Subnet identity: channel + bootstrap

All nodes in the same subnet must share:

• --subnet-channel=<string>

• --subnet-bootstrap=<hex32>

Creating a new subnet (bootstrap node)

If you omit --subnet-bootstrap, trac-peer will generate one and persist it to:

• stores/<peer-store-name>/subnet-bootstrap.hex

That file is the join-code for other peers.

Joining an existing subnet (joiners)

Pass the bootstrap hex and the same channel:

npm run peer:run -- \
  --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> \
  --msb-channel=<string> \
  --msb-store-name=peer-msb-2 \
  --peer-store-name=peer2 \
  --subnet-channel=tuxedex-v1 \
  --subnet-bootstrap=<SUBNET_BOOTSTRAP_HEX32>

RPC mode vs interactive CLI

scripts/run-peer.mjs disables the interactive terminal when RPC is enabled.

Enable RPC:

npm run peer:run -- \
  --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> \
  --msb-channel=<string> \
  --rpc \
  --rpc-host=127.0.0.1 \
  --rpc-port=5001

If you also want dApps/wallets to submit txs over HTTP, add:

--api-tx-exposed

If you start without --rpc, --api-tx-exposed is ignored (operator safety).

Env equivalents:

• PEER_RPC=1

• PEER_RPC_HOST=127.0.0.1

• PEER_RPC_PORT=5001

• PEER_API_TX_EXPOSED=1

Flag format (important for shells)

Both are accepted:

• --subnet-bootstrap=<hex32>

• --subnet-bootstrap <hex32>

When using npm run ..., remember the double-dash:

npm run peer:run -- --msb-bootstrap=<hex32> --msb-channel=<string>

Without the second --, npm will swallow flags.