archipelagoandClaude Opus 5
b6010af10d
Reproduced live: the operator pressed install on ElectrumX shortly after
Bitcoin Knots started and got
Bitcoin RPC returned 500 Internal Server Error while checking pruning
status: {"error":{"code":-28,"message":"Verifying blocks…"}}
-28 is RPC_IN_WARMUP — bitcoind's normal path on every start, lasting
minutes on a large chainstate. check_bitcoin_pruning_compatibility retried
`for _ in 0..3` with a 2s sleep, so it gave the node about six seconds and
then reported warm-up as a hard failure. Any app requiring unpruned Bitcoin
was therefore uninstallable in the ordinary window after Bitcoin starts.
This is the likely mechanism behind the operator's "fedimint gateway
disappeared at 88% install": both fedimint apps declare a bitcoin-core
dependency and sit in exactly that window.
The same install path already knew better. wait_for_bitcoin_rpc_gate waits
180s precisely because getblockchaininfo answers during sync. This check
runs earlier and disagreed — one concern, two contradictory answers, in one
install. It now shares the budget, and a test asserts the two stay equal.
Only NOT-READY is waited out: -28 by code, plus the "loading block index" /
"verifying blocks" / "rewinding blocks" message shapes for a proxy that
rewrites the envelope. A genuine fault — bad auth, method not found,
unparseable body — still ends the loop on the first response, so a broken
RPC fails fast instead of burning 180s. Both directions are pinned by tests,
because being too loose here is as bad as being too strict.
Warm-up is announced ONCE to the install log, so a slow install reads as
"waiting for Bitcoin" rather than a stall. And the failure message now says
what to do — "Bitcoin is still starting up… wait until it reports it's
synced, then try again" — instead of pasting the raw JSON-RPC envelope,
which was accurate and useless.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Archipelago
Self-sovereign Bitcoin node OS and manifest-driven app platform.
Archipelago is a bootable personal server OS for Bitcoin infrastructure,
self-hosted apps, mesh communication, decentralized identity, and federation.
Apps are packaged as declarative manifest.yml files and run as rootless
Podman containers managed by the Rust backend.
What is here
core/- Rust workspace: backend API, container runtime, security, OpenWrt helpers, and performance/resource management.neode-ui/- Vue 3 + TypeScript frontend.apps/- app manifests and custom app container sources.docker/- supporting container build contexts for UI companion surfaces.image-recipe/- bootable image/ISO build inputs.Android/- Android companion app.scripts/- development, release, deployment, and validation tooling.docs/- architecture, app packaging, operations, API, and roadmap docs.
Platform model
Archipelago is built as a developer-ready app platform, not a fixed appliance:
- Apps are declared in
apps/<app-id>/manifest.yml. - The Rust parser in
core/container/src/manifest.rsis the canonical schema. - The orchestrator compiles manifests to rootless Podman/Quadlet runtime state.
- App data lives under
/var/lib/archipelago/<app-id>/. - Secrets are generated or read from
/var/lib/archipelago/secrets/and injected through Podman secrets rather than static environment values. - Release and app catalogs are signed and verified against a pinned trust anchor.
Start with:
- Architecture
- Developer Guide
- App Developer Guide
- App Manifest Spec
- Nostr Git Source Hosting Plan
- Troubleshooting
Quick start
Frontend
cd neode-ui
npm install
npm start
The dev UI runs at http://localhost:8100 with a mock backend on :5959.
Backend
cd core
cargo build
cargo test --all-features
Linux is the supported backend runtime and release-build target. macOS is fine for frontend work and many Rust compile/test loops, but host integration tests that touch Podman, systemd, networking, or image build paths require Linux.
App manifests
./scripts/validate-app-manifest.sh apps/filebrowser/manifest.yml
python3 scripts/generate-app-catalog.py
python3 scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py --release --strict
scripts/generate-app-catalog.py requires Python with PyYAML installed.
Documentation map
The full, grouped index lives at docs/README.md. The most common entry points:
| Doc | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Architecture | System layers, crates, data paths, security model |
| Developer Guide | Local setup, code workflow, testing |
| API Reference | JSON-RPC API overview |
| App Developer Guide | How to package and test apps |
| App Manifest Spec | Manifest schema and validation rules |
| Nostr Git Source Hosting Plan | ngit/NIP-34 contribution workflow and maintainer model |
| Apps README | Packaged app catalog overview |
| Image Recipe | Bootable image build flow |
| Roadmap | Shipped, in-progress, and planned work |
| Archive | Historical plans, audits, and handoffs |
Contributing
Read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request. For security issues, follow SECURITY.md and do not open a public issue.
License
Archipelago is licensed under the MIT License. Third-party notices are listed in NOTICE and generated license inventories in component release artifacts.