> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.blindference.xyz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Running a Node > Start the daemon and manage your node lifecycle # Running a Node ## Prerequisites Before starting the daemon, you must have: 1. **Initialized your node** — `blindference-node init` completed 2. **Attested with the ICL** — `blindference-node attest --mock` (or interactive flow) Without attestation, the daemon will exit with: ``` Error: No attestation found. Run `blindference-node attest` first. ``` ## Start the Daemon ```bash theme={null} # Interactive — prompts for keystore password blindference-node run # Non-interactive — uses environment variable export BLF_KEY_PASSWORD=secure_password blindference-node run ``` 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 | ## Daemon Lifecycle ```mermaid theme={null} sequenceDiagram participant Node as blindference-node participant ICL participant Chain as Arbitrum Sepolia participant COFHE as CoFHE Network participant LLM as Groq/Gemini Note over Node: Startup Node->>Node: check attestation expiry alt expired or missing Node->>ICL: re-attest (auto) end par Heartbeat Loop loop Every 60s Node->>ICL: POST /internal/heartbeat end loop Every 10 days Node->>Chain: NodeRegistry.heartbeat() end and Watchdog loop Every 10min Node->>Node: check cert expiry < 6h alt needs re-attest Node->>ICL: re-attest end end and Assignment Poller loop Every 5s Node->>ICL: GET /internal/assignments/{addr} alt assignments found Node->>Node: spawn job worker (max 2 concurrent) end end end ``` ## Job Execution Flow When an assignment is received, the worker executes: ```mermaid theme={null} sequenceDiagram participant Worker as Job Worker participant ICL participant COFHE as CoFHE Network participant IPFS participant LLM as Groq/Gemini Worker->>ICL: POST /internal/task/claim ICL-->>Worker: kpHighHandle + kpLowHandle + claimDeadline alt leader role Worker->>COFHE: decryptForView(kpHighHandle).withPermit() Worker->>COFHE: decryptForView(kpLowHandle).withPermit() Worker->>Worker: reconstruct AES key Worker->>IPFS: download encrypted prompt blob Worker->>Worker: AES decrypt prompt Worker->>LLM: run inference Worker->>Worker: AES encrypt output Worker->>Worker: split output key into halves Worker->>COFHE: encrypt output key halves Worker->>Chain: storeKey(output key) in PromptKeyStore Worker->>IPFS: upload encrypted output blob Worker->>ICL: POST /internal/task/result else verifier role Worker->>COFHE: decryptForView(kpHighHandle).withPermit() Worker->>COFHE: decryptForView(kpLowHandle).withPermit() Worker->>Worker: reconstruct AES key Worker->>IPFS: download encrypted prompt blob Worker->>Worker: AES decrypt prompt Worker->>LLM: run inference Worker->>Worker: hash result Worker->>ICL: POST /internal/task/verify (verdict: match/no-match) end ``` ## Monitoring the Daemon ### Console Output The daemon logs to stdout with structured log lines: ``` [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Daemon starting ... [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Address : 0xdDef3Cf5A4d0A6404Bc084D74de3E2c0d6147dA5 [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Tier : 0 [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Models : qwen2.5-7b [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Cert : expires in 604663s [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Heartbeat sent to ICL [2026-05-18T10:25:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] No assignments for last 60s [2026-05-18T10:35:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Received 1 assignment(s) [2026-05-18T10:35:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Spawning leader job 0xabc123... [2026-05-18T10:35:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Job 0xabc123: starting as leader [2026-05-18T10:35:00] [INFO ] [0xdDef3Cf5] Job 0xabc123: claimed ``` ### Log Levels | Level | Use | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | `DEBUG` | Full request/response bodies, CoFHE operations, model prompts | | `INFO` | Heartbeats, job starts/completions, attestation events | | `WARNING` | Claim failures, heartbeat failures, CoFHE errors (non-fatal) | | `ERROR` | Job aborts, attestation failures, IPFS failures | Set log level via environment: ```bash theme={null} BLF_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG blindference-node run ``` ## Stopping the Daemon Press `Ctrl+C` (SIGINT) or send SIGTERM: ```bash theme={null} kill -SIGTERM ``` The daemon handles shutdown gracefully: 1. Stops accepting new assignments 2. Waits for running jobs to complete (or timeout) 3. Sends final heartbeat 4. Exits ## Running Multiple Nodes You can run multiple nodes on the same machine (for testing) by using different config directories: ```bash theme={null} # Node 1 export BLF_CONFIG_PATH=/tmp/node1/config.json blindference-node init blindference-node run # Node 2 (in another terminal) export BLF_CONFIG_PATH=/tmp/node2/config.json blindference-node init blindference-node run ``` Each node needs a unique wallet and should use a unique ICL operator key. ## Background Operation ### Using systemd (Linux) Create `/etc/systemd/system/blindference-node.service`: ```ini theme={null} [Unit] Description=Blindference Node Daemon After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=blindference Environment=BLF_KEY_PASSWORD=secure_password Environment=BLF_LOG_LEVEL=INFO WorkingDirectory=/home/blindference ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/blindference-node run Restart=on-failure RestartSec=10 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl enable blindference-node sudo systemctl start blindference-node sudo systemctl status blindference-node ``` ### Using Docker ```bash theme={null} docker run -d \ --name blindference-node \ -e BLF_KEY_PASSWORD=secure_password \ -e BLF_ICL_ENDPOINT=https://icl.blindference.xyz \ -v /host/config:/root/.blindference \ blindference-node ``` ### Using nohup / screen / tmux ```bash theme={null} # Simple background nohup blindference-node run > node.log 2>&1 & # Or with screen screen -S blindference blindference-node run # Detach: Ctrl+A, D # Reattach: screen -r blindference ```