xmr-btc-swap/docs/pages/becoming_a_maker/overview.mdx

import { Callout } from 'nextra/components'

## An Overview of Becoming a Maker

Makers run an automated swap backend (`asb`), which users can connect to and swap with.
The `asb` accepts Bitcoin and sells Monero, for a fee.

The `asb` needs to communicate with the Bitcoin and Monero blockchains.
For this, it uses direct FFI wallet access via `monero-sys` for Monero and `electrs` for Bitcoin.

It's also strongly recommended to run your own Monero and Bitcoin nodes.

## Orchestrator setup

We ship an `orchestrator` binary that builds a production ready Docker Compose environment for the ASB.
The orchestrator walks you through a wizard, creates the ASB configuration and pins a Docker Compose file with all required services:

- `asb` (the maker service, with built-in wallet functionality connecting directly to `monerod` and `electrs`)
- `asb-controller` (a REPL for issuing JSON-RPC commands to the ASB)
- `asb-tracing-logger` (high verbosity ASB logs)
- `electrs` (Bitcoin blockchain indexer, connecting to `bitcoind`)
- `monerod` (Monero node)
- `bitcoind` (Bitcoin node)

To run this setup you'll need Docker and Docker Compose installed.

### Getting started

Download the latest [orchestrator release](https://github.com/eigenwallet/core/releases) for your platform (or build it from source) and make it executable.
If you're on Linux x86_64 you can use the quick install snippet documented in the [orchestrator README](https://github.com/eigenwallet/core/blob/main/swap-orchestrator/README.md#quick-install) to fetch the newest binary.

Place the binary in an empty directory and run the wizard:

```bash
./orchestrator
```

Answer the prompts to configure the Bitcoin/Monero networks, exposed ports and ASB options.
When the wizard finishes you'll have a `docker-compose.yml`, a matching `config.toml`, and Docker volumes ready to store blockchain data and ASB state.
The README also covers the generated directory layout and additional management commands if you want to dive deeper into the tool's capabilities.

### Usage and commands

All Docker commands below are executed from the directory that contains the generated `docker-compose.yml` file:

```bash copy
cd /path/to/orchestrator-output
```

If you aren't familiar with docker compose, here are the most important commands:

| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `docker compose up -d --build` | Build images (if requested) and start all services. |
| `docker compose up -d` | Start all services using the existing images. |
| `docker compose down` | Stop all services. |
| `docker compose ps` | List all currently running services. |
| `docker compose pull` | Pull the latest images for all services. You need to run `docker compose up -d` after this to actually update the services. |
| `docker compose logs -f --tail 100` | Follow logs for all services. Append a service name (for example `asb` or `asb-tracing-logger`) to scope the output. |

Once `docker compose up` reports the containers as healthy you can attach to the ASB controller shell:

```bash copy
docker compose attach asb-controller
```

The controller exposes commands such as `bitcoin-balance`, `monero-balance`, `monero-address`, `multiaddresses`, and `get-swaps`.
Type `help` inside the shell to see the full list. Use `quit` to exit the REPL when you're done.

For more verbose ASB logs, stream the `asb-tracing-logger` output:

```bash copy
docker compose logs -f --tail 100 asb-tracing-logger
```

### Running `asb` commands directly

Some maintenance tasks still require invoking the `asb` binary instead of going through the JSON-RPC controller. The orchestrator mounts your configuration file at `/asb-data/config.toml` inside the container, so you can execute commands like `history` or `export-bitcoin-wallet` straight from the host:

```bash copy
docker compose exec asb asb --config=/asb-data/config.toml history
```

If you generated a testnet/stagenet environment, include the `--testnet` flag right after the binary name:

```bash copy
docker compose exec asb asb --testnet --config=/asb-data/config.toml history
```

Commands that modify internal wallets (for example `withdraw-btc` or `export-bitcoin-wallet`) work the same way—just replace `history` with the subcommand you need.

If you need to stop the environment temporarily:

```bash copy
docker compose down
docker compose up -d
```

The ASB configuration lives in `config.toml` next to the compose file. You can edit it between runs and reapply the changes by restarting the ASB container (`docker compose restart asb`).

### Asb Configuration

Let's have a look at the asb configuration file.
It is used to configure the behaviour of the asb.
It uses the TOML language ([docs](https://toml.io/)).

The file has different sections, each with different configuration options:

- `maker`: specifies the core behaviour of the asb
- `bitcoin`: specifies the Bitcoin configuration
- `monero`: specifies the Monero configuration
- `tor`: specifies the Tor configuration
- `data`: specifies the data directory
- `network`: specifies the networking configuration


#### Maker Section

The most important section is the `[maker]` section, which specifies the core behaviour of the asb.
This is what a standard maker section looks like:

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml"
[maker]
min_buy_btc = 0.001
max_buy_btc = 0.1
ask_spread = 0.02
price_ticker_ws_url = "wss://ws.kraken.com/"
external_bitcoin_address = "bc1..."
developer_tip = 0.02

# ...
```

Below an explanation of what each option does:

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `min_buy_btc` | The minimum amount of Bitcoin the asb will buy from takers, in BTC. |
| `max_buy_btc` | The maximum amount of Bitcoin the asb will buy from takers, in BTC. |
| `ask_spread` | The markup the asb will charge compared to the market price, as a factor. The market price is fetched via the `price_ticker_ws_url`. A value of `0.02` means the asb will charge 2% more than the market price. |
| `price_ticker_ws_url` | The URL of a websocket that provides the market price. The default is the Kraken API, but you can build your own websocket server which mimics the Kraken API. |
| `external_bitcoin_address` | Bitcoin address used by the asb when redeeming or punishing swaps. If omitted, a new internal address is generated for each swap. |
| `developer_tip` | Optional donation as a fraction between 0 and 1 (e.g. `0.02` = 2%). Disabled by default. Sent in Monero by adding an extra output to the Monero lock transaction, so no extra transaction and no impact on unlocked UTXOs; privacy preserved. |

### Bitcoin Section

The `bitcoin` section specifies a few details about the asb's interaction with the Bitcoin blockchain.
We do not recommend changing these settings, however we document them for completeness sake.

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml"
# ...

[bitcoin]
target_block = 1
electrum_rpc_urls = ["tcp://mainnet_electrs:50001"]
use_mempool_space_fee_estimation = true
network = "Mainnet"

# ...
```

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `target_block` | This determines the block height that the asb will try to get it's Bitcoin transactions confirmed at. The default value of `1` means the asb will try to get it's transactions confirmed in the next block. |
| `electrum_rpc_urls` | A list of Electrum servers used to interact with the Bitcoin blockchain. If multiple servers are specified they are tried in order. The default contains the docker-hosted _electrs_ server. |
| `use_mempool_space_fee_estimation` | Whether the asb should fall back to the mempool.space API when fee estimation from Electrum fails. Defaults to `true`. |
| `network` | The Bitcoin network the asb will connect to. |

### Monero Section

The `monero` section specifies a few details about the asb's interaction with the Monero blockchain.
The asb uses direct FFI wallet access via `monero-sys`, eliminating the need for `monero-wallet-rpc`.
We do not recommend changing these settings, however we document them for completeness sake.

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml"
# ...

[monero]
daemon_url = "http://your.monero-daemon.org:18081"
network = "Mainnet"

# ...
```

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `daemon_url` | The URL of the Monero daemon (monerod) that the asb will connect to directly. The asb manages wallets internally using FFI bindings. Optional: if not specified, the asb will connect to a known public Monero node at random. |
| `network` | The Monero network the asb will connect to. Either "Mainnet" or "Stagenet". |

### Tor Section

The `tor` section specifies the asb's onion service (hidden service) configuration.
An onion service can be used to make the asb publicly accessible without exposing the server's IP address or requiring an opened port ([further reading](https://community.torproject.org/onion-services/overview/)).

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml"
# ...

[tor]
register_hidden_service = true
hidden_service_num_intro_points = 5

# ...
```

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `register_hidden_service` | Whether the asb should register an onion service.  |
| `hidden_service_num_intro_points` | If the asb registers an onion service, this specifies the number of introduction points the asb will use. |


### Network Section

The `network` section specifies the asb's networking configuration.
This includes:
 - which rendezvous points the asb will connect to,
 - on which port, and
 - external addresses the asb will advertise to the rendezvous points.

<Callout type="info">
These addresses are specified using the multiaddr format ([link](https://multiformats.io/multiaddr)).
A multiaddr combines all necessary information into a single string.

For example, the first rendezvous point's multiaddr specifies the rendezvous point at the DNS address `discover.unstoppableswap.net`, on port `8888` with the peer ID `12D3KooWA6cnqJpVnreBVnoro8midDL9Lpzmg8oJPoAGi7YYaamE`.
</Callout>

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml"
# ...

[network]
# the ip and port the asb will listen on
listen = ["/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/9939"] 

# the rendezvous points the asb will connect to (address, port and peer id)
rendezvous_point = [
    "/dns4/discover.unstoppableswap.net/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWA6cnqJpVnreBVnoro8midDL9Lpzmg8oJPoAGi7YYaamE",
    "/dns4/discover2.unstoppableswap.net/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWGRvf7qVQDrNR5nfYD6rKrbgeTi9x8RrbdxbmsPvxL4mw",
    "/dns4/darkness.su/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWFQAgVVS9t9UgL6v1sLprJVM7am5hFK7vy9iBCCoCBYmU",
    "/dns4/eigen.center/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWS5RaYJt4ANKMH4zczGVhNcw5W214e2DDYXnjs5Mx5zAT",
    "/dns4/swapanarchy.cfd/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWRtyVpmyvwzPYXuWyakFbRKhyXGrjhq6tP7RrBofpgQGp",
    "/dns4/rendezvous.observer/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWMjceGXrYuGuDMGrfmJxALnSDbK4km6s1i1sJEgDTgGQa"
]

# the external addresses the asb will advertise to the rendezvous points (only address)
external_addresses = [
    # e.g. "/dns4/your.domain.com/tcp/9939/p2p/your1peer2id"
]
```

| Option | Description | Format |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `listen` | The ip and port the asb will listen on. The IP address `0.0.0.0` means the asb will listen on all IP addresses. Remember that the asb service is running in a docker container. Make sure the port is the same as in the `.env` file. | This multiaddr should only include an IP address and a port number. |
| `rendezvous_point` | A list of rendezvous points the asb will connect to. | These multiaddrs should include an address (e.g. IPv4, IPv6, DNS), a port number and a peer ID. |
| `external_addresses` | A list of external addresses the asb will advertise to the rendezvous points. If you registered a domain, you can add it here. If you enabled the onion service, it will be included automatically, so you don't need to specify the onion address. | These multiaddrs should only include an address (e.g. IPv4, IPv6, DNS). |


Et, voilà! 
You've successfully configured your asb.

### Default Configuration

This is what the default configuration might look like.

```toml filename="config_mainnet.toml" copy
[maker]
min_buy_btc = 0.001
max_buy_btc = 0.1
ask_spread = 0.02
price_ticker_ws_url = "wss://ws.kraken.com/"
external_bitcoin_address = "bc1..."

[bitcoin]
electrum_rpc_urls = ["tcp://mainnet_electrs:50001"]
target_block = 1
use_mempool_space_fee_estimation = true
network = "Mainnet"

[monero]
daemon_url = "http://mainnet_monerod:18081"
network = "Mainnet"

[tor]
register_hidden_service = true
hidden_service_num_intro_points = 5

[data]
dir = "/asb-data/" 

[network]
listen = ["/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/9939"]
rendezvous_point = [
    "/dns4/discover.unstoppableswap.net/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWA6cnqJpVnreBVnoro8midDL9Lpzmg8oJPoAGi7YYaamE",
    "/dns4/discover2.unstoppableswap.net/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWGRvf7qVQDrNR5nfYD6rKrbgeTi9x8RrbdxbmsPvxL4mw",
    "/dns4/darkness.su/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWFQAgVVS9t9UgL6v1sLprJVM7am5hFK7vy9iBCCoCBYmU",
    "/dns4/eigen.center/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWS5RaYJt4ANKMH4zczGVhNcw5W214e2DDYXnjs5Mx5zAT",
    "/dns4/swapanarchy.cfd/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWRtyVpmyvwzPYXuWyakFbRKhyXGrjhq6tP7RrBofpgQGp",
    "/dns4/rendezvous.observer/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWMjceGXrYuGuDMGrfmJxALnSDbK4km6s1i1sJEgDTgGQa",
    "/dns4/aswap.click/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWQzW52mdsLHTMu1EPiz3APumG6vGwpCuyy494MAQoEa5X",
    "/dns4/getxmr.st/tcp/8888/p2p/12D3KooWHHwiz6WDThPT8cEurstomg3kDSxzL2L8pwxfyX2fpxVk"
]
external_addresses = []
```