Contributing to WarpNet

We welcome contributions from developers, researchers, and network engineers who want to improve WarpNet as a decentralized, self-hosted social protocol.

1. Cloning the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Warp-net/warpnet.git

2. Building from Source

WarpNet is written in Go. To build it, you’ll need Go 1.24+ and Wails v2.10.2 installed.

Bootstrap node

go build -ldflags "-s -w" -gcflags=all=-l -mod=vendor -v -o warpnet cmd/node/bootstrap/main.go

Member node

cd cmd/node/member && CGO_ENABLED=1 wails build -devtools -tags webkit2_41

3. Run the binary

Bootstrap node

./warpnet -h

Member node

./build/bin/warpnet -h

Full list of available flags

• --database.dir string Database directory name (default "storage")

• --logging.level string Logging level (default "info")

• --node.bootstrap string Bootstrap nodes multiaddr list, comma separated

• --node.host string Node host (default "0.0.0.0")

• --node.inmemory Bootstrap node runs without persistent storage

• --node.metrics.server string Metrics push server address

• --node.network string Private network. Use 'testnet' for testing env. (default "testnet")

• --node.port string Node port (default "4001")

• --node.seed string Bootstrap node seed for deterministic ID generation (random string)

• --server.host string Server host (default "localhost")

• --server.port string Server port (default "4002")

The above parameters also could be set as environment variables:

• NODE_PORT=4001

• NODE_SEED=warpnet1

• NODE_HOST=207.154.221.44

• LOGGING_LEVEL=debug

• ... (etc.)

4. HOW TO RUN LOCALLY IN ISOLATED NETWORK

How to run single node (dev mode, isolated network)

• bootstrap node

./warpnet --node.network myownnetwork

• member node

./build/bin/warpnet --node.network myownnetwork

5. How to run multiple nodes (dev mode, isolated network)

Change database directory name and ports. Run every node as an independent OS process.

Bootstrap node example

./warpnet --database.dir storage2 --node.port 4021 --server.port 4022 --node.network myownnetwork

6. How to update node frontend

Frontend dist is embedded in the binary using Golang embed library. You can find dist directory in the vendored files.

go get github.com/Warp-net/warpnet-frontend && go mod vendor

7. Development Tips

• To enable debug logging, use environment variable: LOGGING_LEVEL=debug ./warpnet

• WarpNet is modular: each subsystem (auth, chat, discovery, consensus) lives in its own package under /core/

• WarpNet is modular: API handlers live in its own package under /core/handlers and /core/middleware

• Check Makefile for handy commands

• Use Docker to run local bootstrap nodes. It's impossible to run a member node in Docker.

8. Issues and Pull Requests

If you’ve found a bug or want to implement a feature:

• Open an issue first if it’s not already reported.

• Fork the repo and create a feature branch.

• Follow Go formatting conventions (gofmt, go vet)

• Submit a pull request with a clear description.

All code must be tested and documented.

9. Contributor Scope

Here are areas where contributions are welcome:

• Security protocols improvement

• Improved NAT traversal, NAT hole punching, and related.

• UI integrations or mobile clients

• Protocol improvements (compression, versioning)

• Documentation and developer tooling

• Unit testing etc.

10. Contact and Discussion

Join us on:

• GitHub Discussions: https://github.com/warp-net/warpnet/discussions

• Telegram: https://t.me/warpnetdev