TAHOE(1)

📦 version 1.20.0, in debian trixie, nixos 26.05, ubuntu questing

💖 TAHOE(1) — the secure distributed file store, bestie edition 💖

okay so like. the manual name is tahoe, it lives in section 1 (User Commands), and I am going to tell you everything about it. grab a snack. 🍓

✨ NAME ✨

tahoe — a secure distributed file store. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

tahoe [global-options] <command> [command-options]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

Tahoe-LAFS is a Free and Open decentralized cloud storage system. no cap. it spreads your data across multiple servers, and here's the iconic part: even if some of those servers fail or get straight-up taken over by an attacker, the entire file store keeps functioning correctly, preserving your privacy and security. main character energy fr fr. 👑

the tahoe executable is your girl for creating and managing client/server nodes, manipulating the file store, and doing a bunch of debugging/maintenance tasks. she does it all. 💅

please go peek at the SEE ALSO section at the bottom of this page for pointers to further instructions — it's giving helpful. 🫶

✨ GLOBAL OPTIONS ✨

these work everywhere, they're the universal constants of the tahoe universe:

  • -d, --node-directory= — specify which Tahoe node directory should be used. this directory should either contain a full Tahoe node, or a file named node.url that points to some other Tahoe node. it should also contain a file named private/aliases which contains the mapping from alias name to root dirnode URI. [default for most commands: $HOME/.tahoe]
  • --eliot-destination= — add an Eliot logging destination. may be given more than once. (yes, stack them, queen.)
  • --help — display help and exit. classic.
  • --help-eliot-destinations — emit usage information for --eliot-destination.
  • -q, --quiet — operate silently. 🤫
  • -V, --version — display version numbers.
  • --wormhole-invite-appid= — the appid to use on the wormhole server. [default: tahoe-lafs.org/invite]
  • --wormhole-server= — the magic wormhole server to use. [default: ws://wormhole.tahoe-lafs.org:4000/v1] 🌀

✨ COMMANDS ✨

the tahoe runner can be used for various tasks depending on the command used:

tahoe COMMAND [OPTION]... [NODEDIR]

✨ ADMINISTRATION ✨

create node configurations and securely invite clients to a grid. it's giving HR department but for a decentralized storage network. 📋✨

COMMANDS

  • create-node — create a node that acts as a client, server or both. multitasking icon.
  • create-client — create a client node (providing storage to others is initially disabled).
  • create-introducer — create an introducer node. when the grid is large or very dynamic, introducers make it easier for clients to connect. see "Static Server Definitions" in the documentation on how to configure clients to connect to one or more storage servers without using an introducer.
  • invite — invite a new node to a grid. see "Magic Wormhole Invites" in the documentation. 🐛🕳️

OPTIONS

  • -C, --basedir= — same as the global --node-directory option.
  • -n, --nickname= — specify the nickname for this node (create-node and create-client only).
  • -i, --introducer= — specify the introducer FURL to use (create-node and create-client only).
  • --hostname= — hostname to automatically set --location/--port when --listen=tcp (the default).
  • -p, --webport= — specify which TCP port to run the HTTP interface on. use none to disable. Default: tcp:3456:interface=127.0.0.1 (create-node and create-client only).
  • --no-storage — do not offer storage service to other nodes (create-node only). keeping your storage to yourself, valid. 🙈

✨ CONTROLLING NODES ✨

so in the past, the tahoe command offered service watching (with start, restart, stop commands), but this was not very portable and has been deprecated. rip to a real one. 💀

COMMANDS

  • run — run a node without daemonizing. this is the only command for running nodes. the way that there is literally no other option... periodt.

OPTIONS

  • --allow-stdin-close — do not exit when stdin closes (tahoe run otherwise will exit). this is required for some service runners (like systemd, for example).
  • -C, --basedir= — same as the global --node-directory option.
  • --help — display help and exit. this includes lots of twistd-options for debugging, logging, profiling, et cetera that are left out of this manual page for brevity. (ngl, there's a lot hiding in there.)

✨ USING THE FILE STORE ✨

all the following commands require pointing tahoe to a running client node with the --node-directory (-d) option (or, alternatively, using the default location).

please run tahoe COMMAND --help for more details on each command. iykyk. 💜

COMMANDS

  • mkdir — create a directory and return its capability ("dircap").
  • add-alias — add an alias for an existing cap.
  • create-alias — create an alias pointing to a new cap.
  • list-aliases — list all alias caps.
  • ls — list a directory.
  • get — retrieve a file from the grid.
  • put — upload a file into the grid.
  • cp — copy one or more files or directories.
  • unlink — unlink a file or directory on the grid.
  • rm — same as unlink.
  • mv — move a file within the grid.
  • ln — make an additional link to an existing file or directory.
  • backup — make target dir look like local dir. ✨
  • webopen — open a web browser to a grid file or directory.
  • manifest — list all files/directories in a subtree.
  • stats — print statistics about all files/directories in a subtree.
  • check — check a single file or directory.
  • deep-check — check all files/directories reachable from a starting point. going deep. 🔥

✨ DEBUGGING ✨

the following commands are useful for developers and for troubleshooting. nerd mode activated. 🤓💅

tahoe debug SUBCOMMAND [OPTION]... [PARAMETER]...

please run e.g. tahoe debug dump-share --help for more details on each subcommand.

SUBCOMMANDS

  • dump-share — unpack and display the contents of a share.
  • dump-cap — unpack a read-cap or write-cap.
  • find-shares — locate sharefiles in node directories.
  • catalog-shares — describe all shares in node dirs.
  • corrupt-share — corrupt a share by flipping a bit. 😭 (yes, on purpose, it's a debugging tool, breathe.)
  • flogtool — utilities to access log files.

✨ AUTHORS ✨

Tahoe-LAFS has been written by Brian Warner, Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn and dozens of others. this manpage was originally written by bertagaz. legends, all of them. 👑👑

✨ REPORTING BUGS ✨

please see https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/wiki/HowToReportABug.

Tahoe-LAFS home page: https://tahoe-lafs.org/

tahoe-dev mailing list: https://lists.tahoe-lafs.org/mailman/listinfo/tahoe-dev

found a bug? tell them!! they wanna know!! besties fix things together 🫶

Copyright © 2006–2025 The Tahoe-LAFS Software Foundation.

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

run tahoe --help for an overview of commands and tahoe <command> --help for more details on each command.

see https://tahoe-lafs.readthedocs.io/en/tahoe-lafs-1.20.0/frontends/CLI.html for user documentation specific to the tahoe command.

see https://tahoe-lafs.readthedocs.io/ for "the documentation" — in-depth, longer-form explanations, specifications and step-by-step tutorials. 🌈

and that's the whole thing!! this page is from the Tahoe-LAFS — tahoe command era, dated May 2025, and it's the TAHOE(1) manual — go build something decentralized and gorgeous, bestie. 💖✨🎀🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from