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Getting started

Carmentis lets you anchor data on a blockchain so that anyone can later verify it is authentic and unaltered. Three kinds of people use it, and each starts differently: users approve and verify actions with their wallets, managed in Carmentis Desk, developers publish data through an operator they run, and node runners secure the network.

Pick the path that sounds like you.

As a user​

All you need is Carmentis Desk. It manages your wallets, which hold your tokens and your credentials and let you sign in to applications that use Carmentis.

  1. Download and install Carmentis Desk from the download page. It is available on Linux, Windows and macOS.
  2. Create a wallet. Set a vault password at first launch, then create a wallet on the network you want to use. Back up your key (seed, passphrase or JWK) somewhere safe: it is the only way to get your wallet back.
  3. Try an application. The File Sign demo lets you send a file for signature and watch it being recorded on the blockchain.

You are done when you have signed a file in File Sign and downloaded a proof for it.

As an application developer​

Your application never talks to the blockchain directly. It calls an operator: a server you run on your own infrastructure, which builds, signs and publishes your data on-chain and pays the fees. You set this up once.

Your application  ──HTTP + API key──►  Operator  ──►  Carmentis blockchain
                                          ▲
                                          └── administration: log in with Carmentis Desk
  1. Install Carmentis Desk and create a wallet. The operator's admin interface has no password: you log in by signing a challenge with a wallet from Desk.
  2. Fund the wallet. The operator pays a fee for every publication, and a publication from an unfunded wallet is rejected. On the testnet, get tokens from the exchange.
  3. Deploy an operator. Follow the operator guide: run it with Docker, then create the first administrator with the setup token printed at first start.
  4. Configure it from its admin UI. Add your wallet, then create and publish your organization and your application.
  5. Create an API key. It is displayed only once: store it as a secret of your backend, never in client-side code.
  6. Anchor your first data. Send a POST /api/v1/wallet/anchor request with your key in the x-api-key header, then poll its status until it is anchored. The developer quickstart walks through it, and Anchor data on-chain describes the request body.

You are done when an anchor request reaches the anchored status.

Where to go next:

Approval from the user's wallet

Publishing data after an end user approves it from their own wallet is currently unavailable and being reworked. Do not build new integrations on it. See the operator guide.

As a node runner​

Carmentis is secured by the people who run its nodes. You start with a replicator node, and can then stake tokens on it to become a validator.

  1. Deploy a replicator node. The replicator guide installs the CLI, generates the configuration and starts the node with Docker.
  2. Wait for it to synchronize. Open your node's status endpoint: when is_catching_up is false and latest_block_height is set, the node is up to date.
  3. Prepare your identity on-chain. Install Carmentis Desk, create a wallet, and publish an organization. A node belongs to an organization.
  4. Hold enough tokens. Claiming a node requires at least 1M tokens. On the testnet, get them from the exchange.
  5. Claim and stake your node. Link the node to your organization, then stake your tokens on it. The validator guide details these steps.
  6. Wait for governance approval. The chain is currently permissioned: your node becomes a validator, and starts earning rewards, once the governance approves it. This can take a few days.

You are done when your node shows as claimed and staked, and the governance has approved it.

Unstaking takes 30 days

Only one unstaking operation can run at a time per node, and it completes 30 days after your request. Check the amount before you stake.

Where next​