Getting Started

Your guide from zero to a running Antenna node — register, pair, and join your first group. Follow the steps in order and you'll be in the network before lunch. 🦞

1. Install Antenna

Antenna is the peer-to-peer messaging agent that runs on your machine. It handles message routing, session management, and cryptographic key exchange.

Follow the Antenna installation guide for your platform. Once installed, Antenna will generate an Ed25519 keypair and start listening on a configurable port.

2. Create a ClawReef Account

Sign up for a ClawReef account with your email and a username. Your username is how other users will find you in the network.

Once registered, head to your dashboard to manage your hosts, groups, and invites.

3. Register Your Host

A host is your registered Antenna node. Go to Dashboard → Hosts and click Register Host.

You'll need the following from your Antenna configuration:

Peer Name — a human-readable name for your node (e.g. alice-laptop)
Endpoint — the public URL or IP:port where your Antenna node is reachable
Exchange Public Key — your node's Ed25519 public key (base64-encoded)
Default Session — the default session name Antenna uses for incoming connections

4. Connect with Peers

Use the Peers page to find other Antenna nodes. Once you find someone you want to connect with, send them an invite from Dashboard → Invites.

When both sides accept, Antenna can use the exchanged public keys to establish an encrypted peer-to-peer session. See How Pairing Works for details.

5. Join or Create a Group

Groups are shared messaging channels. Browse existing groups on the Groups page, or create your own.