Run the App Node

Programmatic path

Most teams embed startAppNode() in their own Node.js application rather than running the App Node as a separate process. This is the standard production path.

1.1 Development (no auth)

Use noAuth: true during local development to skip the JWT requirement:

const { getOrk, startAppNode } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

const ork = await getOrk()
const server = await startAppNode({ ork, port: 3000, noAuth: true })
// HTTP server is up at http://localhost:3000

1.2 Production (OAuth2)

Pass an auth block to enable OAuth2. Google and Microsoft providers are built in:

const { getOrk, startAppNode } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

const ork = await getOrk()
const server = await startAppNode({
  ork,
  port: 3000,
  auth: {
    h0: {
      method: 'google',
      credentials: { client: { id: 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID', secret: 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' } },
      users: ['admin@example.com']
    }
  }
})

Replace the users array with the email addresses that should have access. A copy of the full OAuth2 config format ships in backend/core/app-node/config/facs/httpd-oauth2.config.json.example. The generated httpd-oauth2.config.json (written to opts.root/config/facs/ on first start) persists your settings across restarts — edit that file rather than the code.

The full configuration reference, including all startAppNode() options, is in the App Node API reference.

Cross-host path (HRPC)

Use this path when ORK runs on a separate host. Pass the ORK HRPC gateway public key to startAppNode() instead of an ORK instance. The HRPC transport is selected automatically and IPC is disabled.

2.1 Obtain the ORK gateway key

On the host running ORK, start ORK and print its public key:

const { getOrk } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

const ork = await getOrk()
console.log('ORK gateway key:', ork.getPublicKey().toString('hex'))

Share that hex string with the App Node host.

2.2 Start the App Node with orkKey

const { startAppNode } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

const server = await startAppNode({
  orkKey: '<ork-gateway-pubkey-hex>',
  port: 3000,
  noAuth: true   // replace with auth config for production
})

Standalone path

To run the App Node directly from the source tree without embedding it:

cd backend/core/app-node
npm install
npm run dev

For production mode:

npm start