create-tally-holder

Run a Tally DHT holder node in one command.

Tally is a public QIS Protocol network where anyone can define a problem, deposit structured observations, and query tight similarity-cohort tallies. Holders store and serve the data that makes it work.

Quickstart

npx create-tally-holder my-holder
cd my-holder
npm install
npm start

That's it. You're a Tally holder.

What it does

• Generates a fresh Ed25519 identity (your node's permanent keypair)
• Registers with the Tally relay via a signed request (no API key needed)
• Gets assigned a slice of the bucket space via the partition table
• Keeps a local SQLite copy of your slice, syncs every 15 minutes
• Heartbeats the relay every 2 minutes
• (Optional) Listens for direct client queries so the PWA can read from you when the relay is slow

Modes

| Mode | What you provide | What you get | |------|------------------|--------------| | Outbound-only (default) | Nothing — just a running node | Data persistence, network count, partition assignment, archival | | Inbound (full) | A public URL (e.g. https://holder.example.com) | Everything above + real-time push from relay + clients can query you directly |

You pick the mode during npx create-tally-holder setup. Outbound works behind NAT, in a closet, on a Pi Zero. Inbound needs a publicly reachable URL.

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 18
• ~100 MB disk for the local SQLite DB (grows with network size)
• Stable internet connection

Deploy targets

Pre-built deploy artifacts in deploy/ of your scaffolded directory:

• deploy/tally-holder.service — systemd unit (Raspberry Pi, Debian, Ubuntu)
• deploy/pm2.config.cjs — PM2 process manager
• Dockerfile — containerized (at scaffold root)

See my-holder/README.md (generated) for step-by-step guides.

License

MIT © Yonder Zenith LLC