Problems addressed (all observed on .198):
* fips_key was written as raw 32 bytes; upstream fips daemon reads it
with read_to_string() and bailed with "stream did not contain valid
UTF-8", crashlooping indefinitely.
* Activate button racy: user had to hit it, and it would keep failing
silently because the daemon couldn't parse its own config.
* FIPS schema drift (already fixed in 7d8a5864) put the config write
path behind the same broken "Activate" flow, so the fix alone
didn't help existing nodes.
* Journal was on tmpfs — every reboot wiped install/onboarding history,
making post-hoc debugging impossible.
Changes:
* identity.rs: write fips_key as bech32 nsec + newline. load_fips_keys
now auto-migrates legacy 32-byte files to bech32 the first time it
reads them, so OTA updates from v1.5.0-alpha self-heal without user
action.
* server.rs: post-onboarding auto-activate task runs on every
archipelago startup. If fips_key exists it ensures /etc/fips/fips.yaml
is schema-current and starts archipelago-fips.service. Pre-onboarding
nodes stay quiet (guarded on fips_key_exists).
* ISO build: un-mask archipelago-fips + archipelago-wg + wg-address —
all use ConditionPathExists on their key files, so systemd silently
skips them pre-onboarding (no MOTD [FAILED]). Only nostr-vpn stays
masked (legacy service, superseded by upstream fips).
* Journald made persistent via /var/log/journal + 500M cap, so
install and first-boot logs survive reboots for diagnosis.
After this, a fresh install + onboarding should bring FIPS up automatically
with no user interaction. The UI "Activate" button can stay as an escape
hatch (the RPC is still there) but is no longer on the critical path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Archipelago
Self-Sovereign Bitcoin Node OS
Archipelago is a bootable personal server OS. Flash it to a USB drive, install on any x86_64 or ARM64 machine, and manage Bitcoin infrastructure, self-hosted apps, and decentralized identity through a glassmorphism web UI.
Features
Bitcoin Infrastructure
- Bitcoin Knots full node with pruning support
- LND Lightning Network daemon with channel management
- ElectrumX Electrum server for wallet connectivity
- BTCPay Server for accepting Bitcoin payments
- Mempool block explorer and fee estimator
- Fedimint federation guardian and gateway
Self-Hosted Apps (30)
Bitcoin (ThunderHub), Storage (FileBrowser, Immich, Nextcloud), Productivity (Penpot, OnlyOffice, Vaultwarden), Media (Jellyfin, PhotoPrism), Search (SearXNG), AI (Ollama), Network (Tailscale, Nginx Proxy Manager), Home (Home Assistant), Nostr (nostr-rs-relay, Nostrudel), Dev (Grafana, Portainer), and more.
Decentralized Identity
- Ed25519 node identity with DID Documents (did:key)
- Multi-identity management (Personal/Business/Anonymous)
- W3C Verifiable Credentials issuance and verification
- Decentralized Web Node (DWN) with bidirectional sync over Tor
- Nostr relay integration and NIP-07 signing for iframe apps
Multi-Node Federation
- Invite-based node joining over Tor hidden services
- Trust levels (Trusted/Verified/Untrusted) with DID-based auth
- Bidirectional DWN state sync between federated nodes
- File sharing with access controls (free/peers-only/paid)
Mesh Networking
- LoRa radio communication via Meshcore protocol
- Device discovery and mesh routing
- Off-grid Bitcoin balance checks (planned)
System Updates
- OTA updates from self-hosted Gitea (git.tx1138.com) with SHA256 verification
- Three update modes: Manual, Daily Check, Auto Apply (3 AM window)
- Rollback support with automatic backup before applying
- Full UI for update management in Settings
Security
- ChaCha20-Poly1305 encrypted secrets at rest, Argon2id password hashing
- Rootless Podman: read-only root, cap-drop ALL, non-root user, no-new-privileges
- TOTP two-factor authentication
- Per-endpoint rate limiting, CSRF protection, input validation
- AppArmor profiles for container confinement
- Tor hidden services for all inter-node communication
- All crypto and container dependencies pinned to exact versions
- Full penetration test completed (33 findings, all remediated)
Quick Start
Install from ISO
- Download the ISO for your architecture (x86_64 or ARM64)
- Flash to USB drive with Balena Etcher or
dd - Boot from USB on target hardware
- Follow the automated installer
- Access the web UI at
http://<device-ip> - Set your password and start the onboarding wizard
Supported Hardware
| Platform | Examples | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| x86_64 | Intel NUC, mini PCs, any 64-bit PC | 4GB RAM, 32GB storage |
| ARM64 | Raspberry Pi 5, ARM64 SBCs | 4GB RAM, 32GB storage |
Recommended: 8GB+ RAM, 1TB+ NVMe SSD (for full Bitcoin node)
Development
Prerequisites
- macOS or Linux for frontend development
- Linux dev server (Debian 13) for backend builds — never build Rust on macOS for Linux
- Node.js 20+, Rust stable toolchain
Frontend Development
cd neode-ui
npm install
npm start # Dev server on http://localhost:8100 (mock backend on :5959)
npm run type-check # TypeScript validation
npm run build # Production build → web/dist/neode-ui/
Deploy to Server
./scripts/deploy-to-target.sh --live # Deploy to primary dev server
./scripts/deploy-to-target.sh --both # Deploy to both LAN servers
Build ISO
ssh archipelago@<server>
cd ~/archy/image-recipe
sudo ./build-auto-installer-iso.sh
Architecture
Debian 13 (Trixie)
├── Rootless Podman (30 containers, archy-net DNS)
├── Nginx (reverse proxy, security headers, rate limiting)
├── Rust Backend (JSON-RPC API on 127.0.0.1:5678)
│ ├── core/archipelago/ — RPC endpoints, auth, identity, federation, mesh
│ ├── core/container/ — PodmanClient (REST API socket), manifests, health
│ ├── core/security/ — AppArmor, secrets, Cosign image verification
│ └── 6 more crates — models, helpers, js-engine, performance, etc.
├── Vue 3 Frontend (Composition API + TypeScript strict + Pinia + Tailwind)
└── System Tor (hidden services, SOCKS5 proxy)
~49,000 lines of Rust | ~47,000 lines of TypeScript/Vue | 78 shell scripts | 30 container apps
Documentation
| Doc | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Architecture | System design, codebase stats, data paths |
| Architecture Review (HTML) | Interactive guide with diagrams and learning path |
| Developer Guide | Dev setup, workflow, code conventions |
| API Reference | Complete RPC endpoint reference |
| App Developer Guide | Building and publishing apps |
| User Walkthrough | End-user installation and usage guide |
| Troubleshooting | Diagnostic scenarios and solutions |
| Operations Runbook | Ops commands and emergency recovery |
| Security Audit | Penetration test findings |
| Master Plan | Phased roadmap and task tracking |
Contributing
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (
feature/description) - Follow the coding standards in CLAUDE.md
- Submit a pull request
License
Acknowledgments
Description
Languages
Rust
45.6%
Vue
20.1%
Shell
12.3%
TypeScript
9.4%
JavaScript
5.4%
Other
7.2%