zkac-node CLI

Install the zkac wheel from the repo root first (maturin develop or pip install .), then:

pip install -e ./cli
zkac-node --help
zkac-node-i2p-server --help

Quick start

# 1. Create identities (one directory per user under ~/.zkac/<userid>/)
zkac-node user create alice
zkac-node user create bob

# Bob shares one contact string with Alice out-of-band:
#   zkac-node user show bob

# 2. Alice runs a server; pin its public key for clients
zkac-node serve alice --port 9800 &
zkac-node server pin alice localhost:9800 --key <SERVER_PK_HEX>
zkac-node server pin bob localhost:9800 --key <SERVER_PK_HEX>

# 3. Alice creates a registry and grants Bob a role directly (needs Bob's contact string)
zkac-node registry create alice localhost:9800 --roles analyst,operator
zkac-node grant alice --server localhost:9800 \
    --registry <REGISTRY_ID> --role analyst --to-contact "$BOB_CONTACT" \
    --peer 127.0.0.1:9810

# 4. Bob listens for direct p2p delivery
zkac-node p2p-listen bob --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9810

# 5. Bob lists local creds
zkac-node credentials list bob

# 6. Bob authenticates
zkac-node auth bob --registry <REGISTRY_ID> --role analyst --server localhost:9800

Commands

Command	Description
`user create <id>`	Generate issuance keypair under `~/.zkac/<id>/`
`user list`	List all local user ids
`user show <id>`	Show issuance pk + owned registries + credentials
`serve <id> [--data-dir D]`	Run server; default data dir is `~/.zkac/<id>/server/`
`zkac-node-i2p-server <id> [--host H --port P]`	Same as `serve`, for I2P server-tunnel exposure (see below)
`server pin <id> <host:port> --key <hex>`	Pin server public key for that user
`registry create <id> <server> --roles …`	Create registry on server
`registry update <id> <server> --registry R --add-roles …`	Add roles
`registry get <id> <server> --registry R`	Fetch registry state
`registry list <id>`	List registries this user owns locally
`grant <id> --server S --registry R --role X --to-contact <blob> --peer host:port`	Admin direct p2p grant (single-share recipient contact)
`p2p-listen <id> [--host H --port P]`	Receive one direct p2p grant and store credential
`credentials list <id>`	List local credentials
`auth <id> --registry R --role X [--server S]`	Authenticated session

Protocol & threat model

See docs/SECURITY.md in the repo root for the direct p2p grant model.

Admin debug web UI (demo)

For a fully transparent HTTP dashboard (registry rows, live TCP sessions, data-dir listing), run demo/zkac_admin_serve.py from the repo with uv sync --extra demo. See demo/README.md.

Running over I2P

Inbound: `zkac-node-i2p-server`

Run the node on a loopback TCP port and forward it from an I2P server tunnel (I2P or i2pd). Clients use your published *.b32.i2p:port as the server string in all zkac-node commands.

zkac-node-i2p-server alice --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9800

They should pin that same host:port string (the .b32.i2p form), not localhost.

Outbound clients

Outbound client connections can be proxied through an I2P SOCKS tunnel.

Start I2P/i2pd SOCKS proxy (commonly 127.0.0.1:4447).
Export:

export ZKAC_SOCKS5_PROXY=127.0.0.1:4447

Use .b32.i2p:port endpoints with normal commands:

zkac-node registry get alice exampledestination.b32.i2p:9800 --registry <REGISTRY_ID>
zkac-node auth bob --registry <REGISTRY_ID> --role analyst --server exampledestination.b32.i2p:9800

For inbound direct grants, run p2p-listen on a local port and expose it via an I2P inbound tunnel. Peers dial your published I2P destination/port; your tunnel forwards to local host:port.

Connectivity sanity check:

zkac-node net check exampledestination.b32.i2p:9800

With proxy:

export ZKAC_SOCKS5_PROXY=127.0.0.1:4447
zkac-node net check exampledestination.b32.i2p:9800

Storage layout

Per user ~/.zkac/<userid>/:

identity.json                 issuance keypair
                              p2p transport keypair
admin/<registry_id>.json      BBS+ admin material for owned registries
credentials/<rid>_<role>.json received credentials
servers/<host_port>.json      pinned server public keys
server/                       (only if you run `serve <userid>`) server_key.json, registries/

README.md