nxdns/docs

nxdns documentation

The pages are split by what you are trying to do, following Diátaxis. Each page serves one of four purposes, and knowing which one you want is the fastest way to the right page.

Mode	For	Read it when
Tutorial	Someone who has never run nxdns	You want to learn what it does by making it work once
How-to guides	An operator with a job to do	You know what you want and need the steps
Reference	Anyone who needs an exact answer	You want a field, a flag, a route or an exit code
Explanation	Anyone deciding or debugging	You want to know why it works the way it does

Tutorial

A lesson, not a procedure: one path with one outcome, on a scratch directory you can delete afterwards.

• tutorial/first-run.md — build nxdns, resolve a name, block a domain from a real blocklist, open the web interface, stop cleanly.

How-to guides

Steps for a goal you already have. They assume you know what nxdns is.

• how-to/verify-a-release.md — check the signature and the checksums before you run anything, and what they prove.
• how-to/install-with-systemd.md — a real install as a system service, including the Raspberry Pi 5 aarch64 binary.
• how-to/install-with-docker.md — the published container image and the compose file.
• how-to/install-with-nix.md — the flake input pinned to a release tag, and Renovate for tag bumps.
• how-to/upgrade.md — move to a new release without losing state.
• how-to/troubleshoot.md — what to do when it does not answer, does not block, or will not start.
• how-to/enable-doh-and-dot.md — serve encrypted DNS with certificates.
• how-to/set-up-admin-authentication.md — put a password on the web interface and the API.
• how-to/back-up-and-restore.md — export and import the configuration, and what to copy.
• how-to/measure-performance.md — run the benchmark harness on your own hardware.

Reference

Descriptions of what is there. No procedures, no advice.

• reference/configuration.md — every configuration section, field, default and range.
• reference/api.md — every REST route, authentication and the event stream.
• reference/cli.md — the six subcommands, every flag, every exit code.
• reference/files-and-directories.md — the data directory layout and file modes.
• reference/query-log-lifecycle.md — how querylog.db is versioned, migrated, backed up and, rarely, recreated.
• reference/performance.md — the targets and the measured numbers.

Explanation

Background. Nothing here is needed to operate nxdns; it is here so the decisions are inspectable.

• explanation/architecture.md — the module map and the design it comes from.
• explanation/configuration-model.md — why there are two authority modes, how each one is selected, and what each is for.
• explanation/performance-and-testing.md — why the targets exist, why CI does not gate on them, and what the hermetic tests do and do not prove.

Scope and per-milestone contracts live outside this directory, in ../PLAN.md and ../specs/.