Preserve CLI

Deploy HTML pages, static assets and entire websites to the Bitcoin blockchain.

Getting started

The Preserve CLI can be used to deploy files from any folder on your computer, and works great with any static site generator.

1. Install Preserve CLI

Install the Preserve CLI on your machine.

npm install -g preserve-cli

2. Add Preserve to your project

From the root directory of your web project, initialise Preserve.

preserve init

A new Bitcoin address and private key are generated and saved to a hidden .bit file in your working directory. Remember to add it to your .gitignore file.

You'll need to send a small amount of Bitcoin (SV) to deploy files. Display your wallet information to see your address and balance.

preserve wallet

3. View your sitemap

Before deploying any files, view the sitemap to see an overview of the files Preserve will deploy.

preserve status [path]
# eg: get status of assets in the 'public' folder
preserve status public

The displayed sitemap shows a list of all the files in your project, along with file size, sha256 hash, and whether the file has already been deployed or not.

4. Deploy your files

When ready to deploy the files, and assuming your Bitcoin address has enough funds, Preserve will create and send transactions for every file to the Bitcoin (SV) network.

preserve deploy [path]
# eg: deploy assets in the 'public' folder
preserve deploy public

Network rules currently limit a chain of more than 25 unconfirmed transactions. Preserve will fail if it hits this limit. If this happens, with for a confirmation, then try again.

5. Configure DNS

The final step is to configure the DNS for your domain. Preserve will generate two DNS records for you to configure with your DNS provider.

preserve dns [hostname]
# eg: generate DNS records for 'www.example.com'
preserve dns www.example.com

The generated DNS records will look like this.

Host:  www.example.com
Type:  CNAME
Data:  dns.preserve.bitpaste.app

Host:  id._bsv.www.example.com
Type:  TXT
Data:  a=138A7KoTj1hbWEfBRYQQAujRk2EV3cLoRh; s=IC5+Ldu3i0Q6KHItq316ez9Bs5a4dmjtGJUWUrPVBn50SzLWx1jm0I+CCwFvm/3lUFcRHELr6eREDHfJWUHCnRA=

The first CNAME record points requests to your domain to a Preserve Agent node to handle the request. dns.preserve.bitpaste.app is a public Preserve Agent node. Alternatively you can run the Agent on your own server.

The second TXT record contains your Bitcoin address and signature, and is used by the Agent to identify the latest router transaction associated with your domain.