---
sidebar_position: 1
description: Codex is building a decentralised durability storage engine
---
import { Badge } from '../src/components/Badge'
# Guides
> The Codex project aims to create a decentralized durability engine that allows persisting data in p2p networks. In other words, it allows storing files and data with predictable durability guarantees for later retrieval.
> WARNING: This project is under active development and is considered pre-alpha.
## Build and run
For detailed instructions on preparing to build nim-codex see [*Building Codex*](https://github.com/codex-storage/nim-codex/blob/master/BUILDING.md).
To build the project, clone it and run:
```bash
make update && make
```
The executable will be placed under the `build` directory under the project root.
Run the client with:
```bash
build/codex
```
### CLI options
```
build/codex --help
Usage:
codex [OPTIONS]... command
The following options are available:
--config-file Loads the configuration from a TOML file [=none].
--log-level Sets the log level [=info].
--metrics Enable the metrics server [=false].
--metrics-address Listening address of the metrics server [=127.0.0.1].
--metrics-port Listening HTTP port of the metrics server [=8008].
-d, --data-dir The directory where codex will store configuration and data..
-i, --listen-addrs Multi Addresses to listen on [=/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/0].
-a, --nat IP Addresses to announce behind a NAT [=127.0.0.1].
-e, --disc-ip Discovery listen address [=0.0.0.0].
-u, --disc-port Discovery (UDP) port [=8090].
--net-privkey Source of network (secp256k1) private key file path or name [=key].
-b, --bootstrap-node Specifies one or more bootstrap nodes to use when connecting to the network..
--max-peers The maximum number of peers to connect to [=160].
--agent-string Node agent string which is used as identifier in network [=Codex].
--api-bindaddr The REST API bind address [=127.0.0.1].
-p, --api-port The REST Api port [=8080].
--repo-kind backend for main repo store (fs, sqlite) [=fs].
-q, --storage-quota The size of the total storage quota dedicated to the node [=8589934592].
-t, --block-ttl Default block timeout in seconds - 0 disables the ttl [=$DefaultBlockTtl].
--block-mi Time interval in seconds - determines frequency of block maintenance cycle: how
often blocks are checked for expiration and cleanup.
[=$DefaultBlockMaintenanceInterval].
--block-mn Number of blocks to check every maintenance cycle. [=1000].
-c, --cache-size The size in MiB of the block cache, 0 disables the cache - might help on slow
hardrives [=0].
--persistence Enables persistence mechanism, requires an Ethereum node [=false].
--eth-provider The URL of the JSON-RPC API of the Ethereum node [=ws://localhost:8545].
--eth-account The Ethereum account that is used for storage contracts [=EthAddress.none].
--eth-deployment The json file describing the contract deployment [=string.none].
--validator Enables validator, requires an Ethereum node [=false].
--validator-max-slots Maximum number of slots that the validator monitors [=1000].
Available sub-commands:
codex initNode
```
### Example: Running two Codex clients
For more information please see [Codex Two-Client Test](https://github.com/codex-storage/nim-codex/blob/master/docs/TWOCLIENTTEST.md).
### Interacting with the client
The client exposes a REST API that can be used to interact with the clients. These commands could be invoked with any HTTP client, however the following endpoints assume the use of the `curl` command.
For more information about API endpoints please see [api.codex.storage](https://api.codex.storage/).
#### `/api/codex/v1/connect/{peerId}`
Connect to a peer identified by its peer id. Takes an optional `addrs` parameter with a list of valid [multiaddresses](https://multiformats.io/multiaddr/). If `addrs` is absent, the peer will be discovered over the DHT.
Example:
```bash
curl "127.0.0.1:8080/api/codex/v1/connect/?addrs=/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/8071"
```
#### `/api/codex/v1/data/{id}/network`
Download data identified by a `CID`.
Example:
```bash
curl 127.0.0.1:8080/api/codex/v1/data//network -o