Get your first YAKMESH node running in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ (22 LTS recommended)
• npm package manager

Installation

Install YAKMESH from npm:

npm install yakmesh

Initialize a Node

Generate your node identity and configuration:

npx yakmesh init

This creates a yakmesh.config.js file and a data/ directory.

Start the Node

npx yakmesh start

You should see output like:

 Starting Yakmesh Node...

 Securing codebase...
 Codebase locked: 65 files protected
 Initializing Oracle System...
 Annex channel initialized
 Yakmesh Node is running!
   Network: example-network-name
   Network ID: pq-XXXX
   Dashboard: http://localhost:3000/dashboard

* Network name and ID are derived from your codebase hash and will vary by version.

Connecting to Peers

YAKMESH uses DOKO peer discovery — fully decentralized with no central bootstrap servers.

Option 1: Direct Connection

Connect to a peer you know about via the REST API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/connect \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"address": "wss://peer-node.example.com:9001"}'

Option 2: SHERPA Beacon Discovery

Nodes can publish their presence via public web beacons. Other nodes discover them through SHERPA discovery.

Option 3: LAN Discovery

Nodes on the same local network discover each other automatically through gossip once any two are connected.

Verify Your Node

Check your node's status:

curl http://localhost:3000/health

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "network": "factor-primitive-bose",
  "networkId": "pq-XXXX",
  "algorithm": "ML-DSA-65",
  "peers": 2,
  "version": "2.6.x"
}

* Values shown are examples; actual output reflects your installed version.