Getting Started

Set up and run an Airnode in under 5 minutes.

Who should run an Airnode

Airnode is designed for API providers to serve their own data on-chain. You should be the API provider or an authorized representative of the API provider. This is what makes Airnode a first-party oracle — the entity that controls the data source also controls the signing key.

If you are not the API provider, the trust properties change fundamentally. Consumers cannot verify that you are honestly relaying data from the upstream API, and DNS identity verification will only prove your domain — not the API provider's. See the Trust Model for details.

1. Generate a key

airnode generate-mnemonic

This outputs a BIP-39 mnemonic and its corresponding Ethereum address. The address is your Airnode's on-chain identity. (airnode address re-derives it later from AIRNODE_MNEMONIC or AIRNODE_PRIVATE_KEY.)

2. Create config.yaml

version: '1.0'

server:
  port: 3000
  host: '0.0.0.0'
  rateLimit:
    trustForwardedFor: false
    window: 60000
    max: 100
    x402:
      window: 60000
      max: 30

settings:
  maxConcurrentApiCalls: 50
  proof: none

apis:
  - name: MyAPI
    url: https://api.example.com
    endpoints:
      - name: getPrice
        path: /price
        method: GET
        parameters:
          - name: symbol
            in: query
            required: true
        encoding:
          type: int256
          path: $.price
          times: '1e18'

See the Config Reference for all available fields.

3. Create .env

AIRNODE_MNEMONIC=your twelve word mnemonic ...  # from step 1 (or AIRNODE_PRIVATE_KEY=0x...)

Add any environment variables referenced in your config (e.g., ${COINGECKO_API_KEY}).

4. Validate

airnode config validate -c config.yaml

Fix any schema errors before starting.

5. Start

airnode start

The server starts and logs the airnode address, port, and number of endpoints.

6. Test

curl http://localhost:3000/health

Expected response:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "airnode": "0x..."
}

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Description
AIRNODE_MNEMONIC	Yes*	BIP-39 mnemonic. Signs all responses. Takes precedence over AIRNODE_PRIVATE_KEY.
AIRNODE_PRIVATE_KEY	Yes*	Hex-encoded private key (with 0x prefix). Signs all responses.
LOG_FORMAT	No	text (default) or json.
LOG_LEVEL	No	debug, info (default), warn, or error.

* At least one of AIRNODE_MNEMONIC or AIRNODE_PRIVATE_KEY is required. If both are set, the mnemonic takes precedence.

Bun automatically loads .env files from the working directory.

CLI flags

Flag	Default	Description
-c, --config <path>	config.yaml	Path to the config file.
-e, --env <path>	.env	Path to the .env file.

Next steps

• Publishing Endpoints — what to share with consumers so they can call your airnode
• Deployment — run in production with systemd, Docker, or Docker Compose
• Config Reference — full configuration documentation
• Plugins — extend Airnode with custom hooks