Setting the chapter. One moment.
Skills
Chapter 14 of 20
Operate a Convex peer — create, start, list, back up, or instantiate a network genesis.
1 minute · 268 words · 5 sections
A peer participates in consensus (CPoS), holds state in an Etch store, and optionally serves the REST API.
For local development and testing you almost always want the local-network
skill instead — it starts a throwaway network in one command. Use this skill
when running a peer against a real network, or setting up a new one.
peer accepts -c / --config for a configuration file.
java -jar convex.jar peer create --host <existing-peer>Configures and creates a peer against a running network. Needs an existing peer to bootstrap from and a valid peer controller account; generates a new peer key unless one is supplied.
Then start it:
java -jar convex.jar peer startUseful start options:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
--peer-port N | Port for the peer protocol |
--api-port N | Port for the REST API |
--url / --base-url | Externally visible URL for this peer |
-a, --address | Peer controller account |
--genesis | Start from a genesis state |
--reset | Reset stored state before starting |
--recalc | Recalculate state from a given block position |
--norest | Do not start the REST server |
--no-tray | No system tray icon |
--protocol-version N | Pin the protocol version |
--reset discards local peer state. Confirm before using it on anything that
is not disposable.
java -jar convex.jar peer genesisInstantiates a new Convex network — a genesis state with this peer as the
first participant. --governance-key sets the governance key;
--protocol-version pins the protocol version.
This creates a new network, not a connection to an existing one. Do not run it when the intent was to join Protonet or a testnet.
java -jar convex.jar peer list # peers in the current store
java -jar convex.jar peer backup -o <file> # back up stored peer dataBack up before any operation that resets or migrates peer state. See the etch
skill for working on the underlying store directly.
Peer keys are separate from account keys: --peer-key and --peer-keypass
select the peer’s key from the keystore. The peer controller account is set
with -a / --address.
Install this repository
npx skills add Convex-Dev/convexSkills install per repository, not per chapter — the CLI has no documented per-skill form, so we do not print one.
Operate a Convex peer — create, start, list, back up, or instantiate a network genesis. Use when running a peer against a network or setting up a new network.
The verbatim description from this skill’s front matter — the string an agent matches on to decide whether to load it.
Bash.claude/skills/peer/SKILL.mddevelop, last pushed 8 August 2026.SKILL.md, not by matching a directory convention. One layout observed: .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md.h1 and no skipped levels:/Convex-Dev/convex.md, and each chapter at its own .md URL.