first pass over the readme (#116)

* first pass over the readme

* wording&typos

* more wording

* add multiaddr link and wording fixes

* add `make update` to instructions

* fix upload command

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Eric Mastro <eric.mastro@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Eric Mastro <eric.mastro@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Eric Mastro <eric.mastro@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Eric Mastro <eric.mastro@gmail.com>

* fix spacing

* adding review suggestion

* more review suggestions

* adding discord badge

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Michael Bradley <michaelsbradleyjr@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Michael Bradley <michaelsbradleyjr@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Michael Bradley <michaelsbradleyjr@gmail.com>

* Update README.md

Co-authored-by: Michael Bradley <michaelsbradleyjr@gmail.com>

* fix levels

Co-authored-by: Eric Mastro <eric.mastro@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Michael Bradley <michaelsbradleyjr@gmail.com>

README.md

@@ -1,7 +1,140 @@
-# nim-codex
+# Codex Decentralized Durability Engine
+
+> 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.
 
 [![License: Apache](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
 [![Stability: experimental](https://img.shields.io/badge/stability-experimental-orange.svg)](#stability)
 [![CI](https://github.com/status-im/nim-codex/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://github.com/status-im/nim-codex/actions?query=workflow%3ACI+branch%3Amain)
 [![Codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/status-im/nim-codex/branch/main/graph/badge.svg?token=XFmCyPSNzW)](https://codecov.io/gh/status-im/nim-codex)
+[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/895609329053474826)](https://discord.gg/CaJTh24ddQ)
+
+
+## Build and Run
+
+To build the project, clone it and run:
+
+```bash
+make update && make exec
+```
+
+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:
+
+     --log-level            Sets the log level [=LogLevel.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..
+ -l, --listen-port          Specifies one or more listening ports for the node to listen on. [=0].
+ -i, --listen-ip            The public IP [=0.0.0.0].
+     --udp-port             Specify the discovery (UDP) port [=8090].
+     --net-privkey          Source of network (secp256k1) private key file (random|<path>) [=random].
+ -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].
+ -p, --api-port             The REST Api port [=8080].
+ -c, --cache-size           The size in MiB of the block cache, 0 disables the cache [=100].
+     --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.default].
+     --eth-deployment       The json file describing the contract deployment [=string.default].
+
+Available sub-commands:
+
+codex initNode
+```
+
+### Example: running two Codex clients
+
+```bash
+./build/codex --data-dir="$(pwd)/Codex1" -i=127.0.0.1
+```
+
+This will start codex with a data directory pointing to `Codex` under the current execution directory and announce itself on the DHT under `127.0.0.1`.
+
+To run a second client that automatically discovers nodes on the network, we need to get the Signed Peer Record (SPR) of first client, Client1. We can do this by querying the `/info` endpoint of the node's REST API.
+
+`curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/codex/v1/info`
+
+This should output information about Client1, including its PeerID, TCP/UDP addresses, data directory, and SPR:
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "16Uiu2HAm92LGXYTuhtLaZzkFnsCx6FFJsNmswK6o9oPXFbSKHQEa",
+  "addrs": [
+    "/ip4/0.0.0.0/udp/8090",
+    "/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/49336"
+  ],
+  "repo": "/repos/status-im/nim-codex/Codex1",
+  "spr": "spr:CiUIAhIhAmqg5fVU2yxPStLdUOWgwrkWZMHW2MHf6i6l8IjA4tssEgIDARpICicAJQgCEiECaqDl9VTbLE9K0t1Q5aDCuRZkwdbYwd_qLqXwiMDi2ywQ5v2VlAYaCwoJBH8AAAGRAh-aGgoKCAR_AAABBts3KkcwRQIhAPOKl38CviplVbMVnA_9q3N1K_nk5oGuNp7DWeOqiJzzAiATQ2acPyQvPxLU9YS-TiVo4RUXndRcwMFMX2Yjhw8k3A"
+}
+```
+
+Now, let's start a second client, Client2. Because we're already using the default ports TCP (:8080) and UDP (:8090) for the first client, we have to specify new ports to avoid a collision. Additionally, we can specify the SPR from Client1 as the bootstrap node for discovery purposes, allowing Client2 to determine where content is located in the network.
+
+```bash
+./build/codex --data-dir="$(pwd)/Codex2" -i=127.0.0.1 --api-port=8081 --udp-port=8091 --bootstrap-node=spr:CiUIAhIhAmqg5fVU2yxPStLdUOWgwrkWZMHW2MHf6i6l8IjA4tssEgIDARpICicAJQgCEiECaqDl9VTbLE9K0t1Q5aDCuRZkwdbYwd_qLqXwiMDi2ywQ5v2VlAYaCwoJBH8AAAGRAh-aGgoKCAR_AAABBts3KkcwRQIhAPOKl38CviplVbMVnA_9q3N1K_nk5oGuNp7DWeOqiJzzAiATQ2acPyQvPxLU9YS-TiVo4RUXndRcwMFMX2Yjhw8k3A
+```
+
+There are now two clients running. We could upload a file to Client1 and download that file (given its CID) using Client2, by using the clients' REST API.
+
+## 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.
+
+### `/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/<peer id>?addrs=<multiaddress>"
+```
+
+### `/api/codex/v1/download/{id}`
+
+Download data identified by a `Cid`.
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+ curl -vvv "127.0.0.1:8080/api/codex/v1/download/<Cid of the content>" --output <name of output file>
+ ```
+
+### `/api/codex/v1/upload`
+
+Upload a file, upon success returns the `Cid` of the uploaded file.
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+curl -vvv -H "Tranfer-Encoding: chunked" "127.0.0.1:8080 api/codex/v1/upload" -X POST --data-binary "@<path to file>"
+```
+
+### `/api/codex/v1/info`
+
+Get useful node info such as its peer id, address and SPR.
+
+Example:
+
+```bash
+curl -vvv "127.0.0.1:8080/api/codex/v1/info"
+```