A page-by-page walkthrough of the COTI Nodes web app (see Networks for the testnet and mainnet URLs). Read features.md first for the product-level overview; this page describes what each screen shows and how to use it.
The top-level navigation exposes three tabs: Overview, My Node, and Eligibility. The spin-up and edit flows are reachable from links inside those pages rather than from the top nav.
| Route | Tab / Surface | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
/ |
Overview | Public dashboard: live heartbeats, ecosystem stats, nodes table |
/join |
(from "Spin up a Node") | Choose between local install and hosted provider |
/setup |
(from Join) | 7-step guided installation wizard |
/my-nodes |
My Node | Per-operator dashboard (wallet-gated) |
/edit-node |
(from My Node) | Rename your node (stored on the NFT) |
/eligibility |
Eligibility | Explainer of reward eligibility rules |
/terms |
(footer) | Terms of service |
The landing page has several sections.
Overview hero, Live Node Heartbeats, and ecosystem stats.
A "Spin up a Node" CTA sits alongside the Live Node Heartbeats panel. The panel shows:
- The current count of nodes observed by the peer-discovery service.
- How many seconds have passed since the last refresh.
- A purely decorative pulse visualization.
Three cards summarize the most recent closed epoch and all-time totals:
- Reward-eligible nodes (last epoch) — how many nodes met the rules last epoch.
- COTI dropped (last epoch) — total rewards distributed last epoch.
- Total COTI earned — cumulative rewards paid across all epochs.
Clicking the clock icons on the first two cards opens an Epoch Status modal with the current epoch number and time remaining.
Every node the ecosystem knows about, sortable and searchable.
Columns:
- Node operator — NFT avatar, node name, and the truncated node address. Nodes without a minted NFT show "NFT Not Found".
- Total rewards — cumulative COTI earned.
- Status — Active / Syncing / Offline (see Glossary → Node status).
- Uptime — all-time percentage and a proportional bar.
- Latency — most-recent RPC latency with a color-coded rank (Fast / Good / Slow).
The search box filters on node name, node address, and status. Clicking a row opens a Node Details modal with the node's NFT metadata, rewards breakdown, and a link to the operator's recent activity.
Entry point for new operators.
Two cards:
- Local node (Vibe Coding) — routes to
/setup, the guided installer. This is the primary, fully-supported path. - Hosted node provider — currently labeled Coming Soon. Reserved for a future marketplace of third-party providers and not usable yet.
The installation wizard is a 7-step flow. The top of the page shows a SetupBar with step labels; the main panel swaps content per step. The primary Next button advances; Back goes to the previous step.
Step 1: short video walkthrough.
A short video plus a bulleted summary: what the command does, what happens after, and that there is no configuration required.
Step 2: terms of use for node operators.
The Terms of Use must be checked before the wizard advances. A Download Full Terms of Use (PDF) link exposes the complete document. Trying to continue without checking the box surfaces an inline error.
Step 3: locally-generated node keys with an option to bring your own.
Two paths:
- Generate node keys locally — the wizard generates a fresh private key in the browser, derives the node address, and offers a Download Key Backup button. You must tick "I've saved my keys in a secure location" to proceed.
- Bring your own key — paste an existing 64-hex private key. The wizard derives the address and confirms it. If that address already owns a node NFT, a modal offers to clear the field so you don't accidentally re-run setup for an existing node.
If the just-generated address differs from the currently connected wallet, a yellow notice explains that you will need to connect the new wallet later to see the node's warm-up state, NFT, and rewards.
{% hint style="warning" %} The private key is the identity of your node and the wallet that will receive the Soulbound NFT and rewards. It is generated locally and never transmitted. Back it up before continuing. {% endhint %}
Step 4: the FQDN that will front your node's RPC.
Enter the public hostname that will point to your node (for example node1.example.com). The checkbox "I have completed my FQDN settings" triggers a live DNS lookup via dns.google.com/resolve:
- Success — the box is checked and you can proceed.
- Failure — an inline error explains that the domain did not resolve; fix the A/CNAME record at your DNS provider and retry.
{% hint style="warning" %} This FQDN is the address the ecosystem will use to reach your node's JSON-RPC for uptime monitoring. It must be live, its A record must point to your server, and ports 80/443 must be reachable from the public internet. Without a valid FQDN your node cannot earn rewards — see installation.md. {% endhint %}
Step 5: the installer command tailored to your key and FQDN.
The wizard displays the one-liner tailored to the key and FQDN from the previous steps:
curl -sL https://fullnode.<network>.coti.io | sudo bash -s -- "<PRIVATE_KEY>" "<FQDN>"Copy and run it as root on your server. A "Learn more about installation" link opens installation.md (this documentation). Tick "I've run this command" to advance.
Step 6: the wizard polls peer discovery every ~60 seconds and advances automatically once your node is seen.
The wizard polls the peer-discovery service every ~60 seconds and waits for your node address to show up in the peer set. Three states:
- Searching — spinner + "Listening for node heartbeat". You can safely close the tab and return later.
- Detected — green check + "Heartbeat Detected!". The wizard auto-advances in a few seconds.
- Timeout — after the initial grace period, a retry countdown appears and the wizard retries automatically.
{% hint style="info" %} This step only confirms that peers can see your node. It does not mean your node is hot or that an NFT has been minted. That is the warm-up period (see Glossary → Warming up), tracked on the My Node tab. {% endhint %}
Step 7: node is on the network and uptime tracking has started.
A success card with a Go to Dashboard button that routes to My Node. It also confirms that uptime tracking has started — the node has been registered with the monitoring stack via its FQDN.
If the connected wallet differs from the node address, the wizard shows a warning explaining that the dashboard only lists nodes owned by the connected wallet — connect the node wallet (or import its private key into MetaMask) to see the node on the dashboard.
The per-operator dashboard. It requires a connected wallet; the wallet must own a Soulbound Node NFT to show full content.
The warm-up card near the end of the warm-up period, with the progress bar full. The NFT is about to be minted.
While the node is warming up, the page shows a Warmup In Progress card with an elapsed / required progress bar (for example 18h 30m / 72h (26%)) and copy explaining that the operator should keep the node online to complete the warm-up.
When the threshold is reached (progress reaches 100%, as in the screenshot above), the card flips to Warmup Complete. The Soulbound NFT is minted shortly thereafter and the full dashboard replaces the warm-up card automatically.
Empty state for wallets that do not own a node NFT.
If the connected wallet has not started setup and does not own a node NFT, the page shows a "No Node Detected" card with a link back to the overview. Operators who just finished /setup but see this screen are likely connected with the wrong wallet — the NFT is minted to the node address, not the wallet used to navigate the site.
Full operator dashboard once the NFT has been minted.
Once the NFT exists, the dashboard shows:
- Node identity card — NFT image, node name,
LIVEbadge, node ID (address), Edit button →/edit-node, and the headline Total Earned in COTI with a Claim Now button that withdraws the accrued balance from the rewards smart contract into the connected wallet. Operators who prefer to claim from outside the UI can also call the rewards contract directly. - At-a-glance stats — All-Time Uptime with a performance badge (for example Excellent), Eligibility Streak (Days), and COTI Claimed.
- Eligibility panel — your current USDC holdings, COTI holdings, and node uptime for the current epoch, each compared to its threshold with a progress bar. Uptime is always required; for the holdings requirement, meeting either the USDC threshold or the COTI threshold is enough. A row that fails shows a warning and the shortfall.
- Past Epochs table — paginated per-epoch history with columns:
- Epoch — epoch number.
- USDC — USDC balance at the epoch snapshot.
- COTI — COTI balance at the epoch snapshot.
- Earned — COTI credited for the epoch (zero if ineligible).
- Uptime — uptime percentage for the epoch.
- Status — Eligible / Ineligible.
A focused flow that renames the node. Because the name is stored on the Soulbound NFT, saving triggers a wallet signature / on-chain transaction. Changes propagate to the public nodes table the next time the UI refreshes NFT metadata.
The three reward requirements, with current thresholds.
A static explainer that lists the reward requirements — USDC Holdings, COTI Holdings, and Operate a Node (minimum uptime) — with each threshold. A Check My Eligibility button opens a modal that compares the connected wallet's current values against the rules.
The rule combining those requirements is: uptime is always required, and the wallet qualifies on holdings by meeting either the USDC threshold or the COTI threshold (see Features → Eligibility checks).