Configuration
+The daemon can be configured via a TOML file. Pass the path with --config:
tesseras-daemon --config /etc/tesseras/config.toml
+If no config file is given, the daemon uses sensible defaults. CLI options (--listen, --bootstrap, --data-dir) override the corresponding config values.
Full example
+[node]
+data_dir = "~/.local/share/tesseras"
+listen_addr = "0.0.0.0:4433"
+
+[dht]
+k = 20
+alpha = 3
+bucket_refresh_interval_secs = 3600
+republish_interval_secs = 3600
+pointer_ttl_secs = 86400
+max_stored_pointers = 100000
+ping_failure_threshold = 3
+
+[bootstrap]
+dns_domain = "_tesseras._udp.tesseras.net"
+hardcoded = [
+ "boot1.tesseras.net:4433",
+ "boot2.tesseras.net:4433",
+]
+
+[network]
+enable_mdns = true
+
+[observability]
+metrics_addr = "127.0.0.1:9190"
+log_format = "json"
+Sections
+[node]
+Basic node settings.
+| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
data_dir | path | Platform-specific | Where to store identity, database, and blobs |
listen_addr | address | 0.0.0.0:4433 | QUIC listener address |
The default data_dir is ~/.local/share/tesseras on Linux and ~/Library/Application Support/tesseras on macOS.
[dht]
+Kademlia DHT tuning parameters. The defaults work well for most deployments.
+| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
k | integer | 20 | Maximum entries per routing table bucket |
alpha | integer | 3 | Parallelism for iterative lookups |
bucket_refresh_interval_secs | integer | 3600 | How often to refresh routing table buckets (seconds) |
republish_interval_secs | integer | 3600 | How often to republish stored pointers (seconds) |
pointer_ttl_secs | integer | 86400 | How long to keep a pointer before it expires (seconds) |
max_stored_pointers | integer | 100000 | Maximum number of pointers to store locally |
ping_failure_threshold | integer | 3 | How many consecutive ping failures before removing a peer |
[bootstrap]
+How the node discovers its first peers when joining the network.
+| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
dns_domain | string | _tesseras._udp.tesseras.net | DNS domain for TXT-record-based peer discovery |
hardcoded | list of strings | ["boot1.tesseras.net:4433", "boot2.tesseras.net:4433"] | Fallback bootstrap addresses |
[network]
+Network-level features.
+| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
enable_mdns | boolean | true | Enable local network discovery via mDNS |
[observability]
+Monitoring and logging.
+| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
metrics_addr | address | 127.0.0.1:9190 | Address for the Prometheus metrics endpoint |
log_format | string | json | Log output format (json or text) |
IPv6 Support
+Tesseras supports IPv6 natively. The listen_addr and listen_addrs fields accept both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
Listening on IPv6
+To listen on all IPv6 interfaces:
+[node]
+listen_addr = "[::]:4433"
+On Linux and most BSDs, binding to [::] also accepts IPv4 connections (dual-stack) by default. On some systems (notably OpenBSD), [::] is IPv6-only due to IPV6_V6ONLY being enabled by default. To guarantee both IPv4 and IPv6 on all platforms, use listen_addrs with explicit addresses:
[node]
+listen_addrs = ["0.0.0.0:4433", "[::]:4433"]
+For IPv6 loopback only (testing):
+[node]
+listen_addr = "[::1]:4433"
+Bootstrap with IPv6
+Bootstrap addresses can be IPv6:
+[bootstrap]
+hardcoded = [
+ "boot1.tesseras.net:4433",
+ "[2001:db8::1]:4433",
+]
+DNS hostnames with both A and AAAA records are resolved to all addresses, so the daemon will connect over whichever protocol is reachable.
+IPV6_V6ONLY behavior by OS
+| OS | [::] accepts IPv4? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Yes (dual-stack) | IPV6_V6ONLY defaults to 0 |
| macOS | Yes (dual-stack) | IPV6_V6ONLY defaults to 0 |
| FreeBSD | Yes (dual-stack) | IPV6_V6ONLY defaults to 0 |
| OpenBSD | No (IPv6-only) | IPV6_V6ONLY always 1 |
| Windows | Yes (dual-stack) | IPV6_V6ONLY defaults to 0 |
If you need explicit control, use listen_addrs with both an IPv4 and IPv6 address.
Minimal config
+Most users don’t need a config file at all. If you do, a minimal config overriding only what you need is enough:
+[node]
+listen_addr = "0.0.0.0:5000"
+
+[bootstrap]
+hardcoded = ["192.168.1.10:4433"]
+All other values use their defaults.
+ +