<titledata-rh="true">Run a Waku Node | Waku Documentation</title><metadata-rh="true"name="viewport"content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"><metadata-rh="true"name="twitter:card"content="summary_large_image"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:url"content="https://docs.waku.org/run-node/"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:locale"content="en_GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_locale"content="en-GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:language"content="en-GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="keywords"content="waku, web3"><metadata-rh="true"name="image"content="https://docs.waku.org/_og/41cc5074a455937223433752a44ceb9849cedbb8.png"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_version"content="current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_tag"content="docs-default-current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:version"content="current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:docusaurus_tag"content="docs-default-current"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:title"content="Run a Waku Node | Waku Documentation"><metadata-rh="true"name="description"content="Nwaku is a lightweight and robust Nim client for running a Waku node, equipped with tools to monitor and maintain a running node. Nwaku is highly configurable, enabling operators to select the protocols they want to support based on their needs, motivations, and available resources."><metadata-rh="true"property="og:description"content="Nwaku is a lightweight and robust Nim client for running a Waku node, equipped with tools to monitor and maintain a running node. Nwaku is highly configurable, enabling operators to select the protocols they want to support based on their needs, motivations, and available resources."><linkdata-rh="true"rel="icon"href="/theme/image/favicon.ico"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="canonical"href="https://docs.waku.org/run-node/"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="alternate"href="https://docs.waku.org/run-node/"hreflang="en-GB"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="alternate"href="https://docs.waku.org/run-node/"hreflang="x-default"><linkrel="alternate icon"type="image/png"href="/theme/image/favicon.png">
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="video-tutorial">Video Tutorial<ahref="#video-tutorial"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Video Tutorial"title="Direct link to Video Tutorial"></a></h2>
<divclass="video-container"><iframeclass="yt-video"src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fs0ynLk4z0I"title="How to run a Waku node using Nwaku Compose"frameborder="0"allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="quick-start-with-docker-compose-recommended">Quick Start with Docker Compose (Recommended)<ahref="#quick-start-with-docker-compose-recommended"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Quick Start with Docker Compose (Recommended)"title="Direct link to Quick Start with Docker Compose (Recommended)"></a></h2>
<p>The easiest way to run a Waku node is using <ahref="/run-node/run-docker-compose">Docker Compose</a>. This setup automatically configures:</p>
<ul>
<li>A <code>nwaku</code> node with <ahref="/learn/concepts/protocols#relay">Relay</a>, <ahref="/learn/concepts/protocols#store">Store</a>, and <ahref="/learn/concepts/protocols#rln-relay">RLN</a> protocols</li>
<li>A simple web interface to send and receive messages</li>
<li>Grafana dashboard for monitoring your node</li>
</ul>
<h3class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="prerequisites">Prerequisites<ahref="#prerequisites"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Prerequisites"title="Direct link to Prerequisites"></a></h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Git</strong></li>
<li><ahref="https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Docker</a> and <ahref="https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Docker Compose</a></li>
<li><strong>Linea Sepolia RPC endpoint</strong>: You can get a free endpoint from <ahref="https://www.infura.io/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Infura</a> or any other Linea Sepolia RPC provider.</li>
<h3class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="get-started">Get Started<ahref="#get-started"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Get Started"title="Direct link to Get Started"></a></h3>
<divclass="language-shell codeBlockContainer_EB2s codeBlockContainer_Ckt0 theme-code-block"style="--prism-color:#F8F8F2;--prism-background-color:rgba(var(--lsd-surface-secondary), 0.08)"><divclass="codeBlockContent_QJqH"><pretabindex="0"class="prism-code language-shell codeBlock_bY9V thin-scrollbar"style="color:#F8F8F2;background-color:rgba(var(--lsd-surface-secondary), 0.08)"><codeclass="codeBlockLines_e6Vv"><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"># Clone the repository</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain">git clone https://github.com/waku-org/nwaku-compose</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain">cd nwaku-compose</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"style="display:inline-block"></span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"># Configure your node</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain">cp .env.example .env</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"># Edit .env with your settings</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"style="display:inline-block"></span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain"># Start your node</span><br></span><spanclass="token-line"style="color:#F8F8F2"><spanclass="token plain">docker-compose up -d</span><br></span></code></pre></div></div>
<p>For detailed setup instructions, see <ahref="/run-node/run-docker-compose">Run Nwaku with Docker Compose</a>.</p>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="alternative-installation-methods">Alternative Installation Methods<ahref="#alternative-installation-methods"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Alternative Installation Methods"title="Direct link to Alternative Installation Methods"></a></h2>
<p>While Docker Compose is recommended, you can also:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong><ahref="/run-node/run-docker">Run in Docker Container</a></strong> - For custom Docker deployments</li>
<li><strong><ahref="/run-node/build-source">Build from Source</a></strong> - Compile the latest nwaku code</li>
<li><strong><ahref="https://github.com/waku-org/nwaku/tags"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Download Binary</a></strong> - Use precompiled releases</li>
</ul>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="node-configuration">Node Configuration<ahref="#node-configuration"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Node Configuration"title="Direct link to Node Configuration"></a></h2>
<p>Once your node is running, you can:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong><ahref="/run-node/configure-discovery">Configure Discovery</a></strong> - Set up peer discovery mechanisms</li>
<li><strong><ahref="/run-node/configure-nwaku">Configure Your Node</a></strong> - Customize protocols and settings</li>
<li><strong><ahref="/run-node/find-node-address">Find Node Addresses</a></strong> - Locate your node's network addresses</li>
</ul>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="monitoring-and-maintenance">Monitoring and Maintenance<ahref="#monitoring-and-maintenance"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Monitoring and Maintenance"title="Direct link to Monitoring and Maintenance"></a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Access the Grafana dashboard at <code>http://localhost:3000</code> (if using Docker Compose)</li>
<li>Use the <ahref="https://waku-org.github.io/waku-rest-api/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">REST API</a> to interact with your node</li>
<li>Check node health at <code>http://localhost:8645/health</code></li>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="get-help">Get Help<ahref="#get-help"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Get Help"title="Direct link to Get Help"></a></h2>
<p>If you encounter issues or need assistance:</p>
<ul>
<li>Visit the #help-desk channel on <ahref="https://discord.waku.org/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Discord</a></li>
<li>Check the <ahref="/run-node/faq">FAQ</a> for common questions</li>
<li>Review the <ahref="/run-node/upgrade-instructions">upgrade instructions</a> when updating your node</li>