Self Hosting Corkboard

Self-Hosting a Corkboard

Corkboard is the self-hostable alternative to Nostr (see Transports): a single axum + SQLite binary that stores signed offers and blind-relays encrypted blobs. No accounts, no fees, no custody, and it never matches trades. Communities run one when they want their own noticeboard.

For the full chapter see the Pact handbook "Corkboard" chapter: https://github.com/PoC-Consortium/satchel/tree/master/docs/handbook-pact.

Build and run

cd corkboard
cargo run -- --listen 127.0.0.1:9780 --db corkboard.sqlite

--listen defaults to 127.0.0.1:9780 and --db to corkboard.sqlite. Bind a public address and put it behind TLS to let others reach it.

HTTP endpoints at a glance

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/health	Liveness — returns "ok".
POST	/v1/offers	Submit a signed offer envelope → { "offer_id": … }.
GET	/v1/offers	List unexpired, unrevoked offers (filter by give/get/network).
POST	/v1/offers/revoke	Revoke your own offer (signed).
POST	/v1/relay	Deposit a sealed blob for a recipient (blind store-and-forward).
POST	/v1/relay/poll	Fetch sealed blobs addressed to you (signed).

Writes to /v1/offers and the poll endpoint require a valid BIP340 envelope signature; /v1/relay deposit is unauthenticated by design (the blob is already sealed). Max blob size 64 KiB; offers default to a 24h TTL, capped at 7 days.

What it stores — and never sees

• Stores: signed public offers (id, identity, envelope, expiry) and blind relay blobs (recipient + ciphertext).
• Never sees: your keys, your funds, or any plaintext coordination. Relay blobs are sealed client-side (PACTSEALED1); the operator only ever sees the recipient pubkey and ciphertext.

A malicious or flaky board can withhold or drop messages, but cannot steal — funds are protected by on-chain timelocks, not by trusting the board.

Pointing clients at it

• pactd: --board-url http://your-host:9780 (comma-separate multiple boards).
• Satchel: Settings → Network → add the URL under Corkboards, then Save & reconnect.

See also

• Transports · Running pactd · Building from Source