Quickstart

Get a Blindference node running and earning in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

Python 3.10 or higher
pip (Python package manager)
A terminal with internet access
No GPU required for mock inference

Step 1: Install

pip install blindference-node

For GPU-accelerated local inference (optional):

pip install "blindference-node[gpu]"

Step 2: Initialize

blindference-node init

This smart command checks your environment first:

Detects env vars — if BLF_PRIVATE_KEY is set, auto-imports wallet (no prompt)
Detects GPU — checks for NVIDIA GPU and vLLM availability
Detects API keys — if GROQ_API_KEY or GOOGLE_API_KEY set, includes cloud models
Prompts only what’s missing — wallet creation, password, API keys
Saves configuration — writes ~/.blindference/config.json

Example Output

============================================================
  Blindference Node — Initialisation
============================================================

  → BLF_PRIVATE_KEY found in environment, importing wallet …
  Node address : 0xdDef3Cf5A4d0A6404Bc084D74de3E2c0d6147dA5

Detecting GPU …
  GPU          : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
  VRAM         : 24.0 GiB
  Tier         : 0
  Models       : facebook/opt-125m

  Cloud API keys detected:
    • Groq   : ✓
    • Gemini : ✓

Running determinism self-test …
  Determinism self-test PASSED

Configuration saved to ~/.blindference/config.json

============================================================
  Initialisation complete!
  Address      : 0xdDef3Cf5A4d0A6404Bc084D74de3E2c0d6147dA5
  Tier         : 0
  Models       : facebook/opt-125m, groq:llama-3.3-70b-versatile, gemini:gemini-2.5-flash
  Attestation  : mock
  Cert expiry  : 604800
============================================================
  NEXT STEPS
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  1. Set cloud API keys (if no GPU):
     echo 'GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_...' > ~/.blindference/.env
     echo 'GOOGLE_API_KEY=AI...' >> ~/.blindference/.env
  2. Run attestation:
     blindference-node attest --mock
  3. Start the node:
     blindference-node run
  ============================================================

Step 3: Attest Your Node

Before running, you must attest your node with the ICL:

# Interactive attestation (choose mock or TEE)
blindference-node attest

# Or skip interactive menu and use mock directly
blindference-node attest --mock

# Or with custom development key
blindference-node attest --mock --tee-key mydevkey

Interactive Attestation Flow

Attestation type:
  [1] Mock (development)
  [2] TEE / TPM (production)
Select [1]:

Option 1 (Mock): Uses weloveblindference key — fastest, no hardware needed
Option 2 (TEE): For production hardware attestation (SGX/TDX/TPM)

On-Chain Registration (Optional)

After ICL attestation, the CLI asks:

Do you want to register on-chain? [Y/n]:
  → Gas estimate : 487,231 units
  → Est. cost    : 0.000058 ETH
  → Send registration transaction? [Y/n]:

Mock/development tiers can skip this. Production tiers require it.

Example Output

============================================================
  Blindference Node — Attestation
============================================================
  Node address : 0xdDef3Cf5A4d0A6404Bc084D74de3E2c0d6147dA5
  Attestation  : mock (development)
  Challenge ID : 5c4f336c-0b17-478c-90dc-26c7378170c6
  Cert hash    : 0xc5ebc8e0bf4e4e12a623831a6fdd52d4
  Expiry       : 1779419149
  ICL tier     : 0
  Final tier   : 0

Attestation saved to ~/.blindference/config.json
============================================================
  Attestation complete!
============================================================

Step 4: Start the Daemon

blindference-node run

Enter your keystore password when prompted. The daemon starts three concurrent loops:

Loop	Frequency	Purpose
ICL Heartbeat	Every 60s	Proves liveness to ICL (free REST call)
On-Chain Heartbeat	Every 10 days	Proves liveness to NodeRegistry (gas tx)
Attestation Watchdog	Every 10min	Auto-re-attests if certificate expires within 6h
Assignment Poller	Every 5s	Polls ICL for pending inference jobs

Example Output

============================================================
  Blindference Node Daemon
============================================================
  Address : 0xdDef3Cf5A4d0A6404Bc084D74de3E2c0d6147dA5
  Tier    : 0
  Models  : facebook/opt-125m, groq:llama-3.3-70b-versatile, gemini:gemini-2.5-flash
  Cert    : expires in 604663s

[INFO] Daemon starting ...
[INFO] Heartbeat sent to ICL
[INFO] No assignments for last 60s
[INFO] Heartbeat sent to ICL
[INFO] Received 1 assignment(s)
[INFO] Spawning leader job 0xabc123...
[INFO] Job 0xabc123: starting as leader
[INFO] Job 0xabc123: claimed
[INFO] Downloaded prompt blob from IPFS
[INFO] Decrypted prompt key via CoFHE
[INFO] Running inference via Groq...
[INFO] Inference complete. Result hash: 0xdef456
[INFO] Storing output key for user...
[INFO] Submitting leader result to ICL
[INFO] Leader result accepted

Step 4: Verify

Check that your node is registered:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:9000/v1/nodes/active | python3 -m json.tool

You should see your node address in the active nodes list.

Next Steps

Configuration

Customize node settings, models, and endpoints

Attestation

Learn about attestation tiers and hardware requirements

Get Started

Compute

Build

API Reference

Resources

Quickstart

Quickstart

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install

Step 2: Initialize

Example Output

Step 3: Attest Your Node

Interactive Attestation Flow

On-Chain Registration (Optional)

Example Output

Step 4: Start the Daemon

Example Output

Step 4: Verify

Next Steps

Configuration

Attestation

​Quickstart

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Install

​Step 2: Initialize

​Example Output

​Step 3: Attest Your Node

​Interactive Attestation Flow

​On-Chain Registration (Optional)

​Example Output

​Step 4: Start the Daemon

​Example Output

​Step 4: Verify

​Next Steps

Configuration

Attestation

Quickstart

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install

Step 2: Initialize

Example Output

Step 3: Attest Your Node

Interactive Attestation Flow

On-Chain Registration (Optional)

Example Output

Step 4: Start the Daemon

Example Output

Step 4: Verify

Next Steps