===== Running a Bluebox Timelord=====


==== What is a Bluebox Timelord? ====
The Chia consensus protocol is based on Proof of Space and Time (PoST). Farmers provide Proofs of Space with plots on their drives, and Proofs of Time are provided by Timelords that infuse the chain. The (normal) Timelord focusses on creating the Proof of Time that moves the chain forward as fast as possible, but does not optimize for the smallest possible Proof of Time. Bluebox Timelords fulfill this duty; they ex post scan the blockchain to see if there are any uncompressed proofs out there, which it then compactifies and gossips around the whole network. This helps reduce the size of the db.

==== How to run a Bluebox Timelord ====

  - Setup a completely fresh Chia installation [[https://github.com/Chia-Network/chia-blockchain/wiki/INSTALL#install-from-source|via ''git clone'']]
  - Run ''sh install-timelord.sh'' in that installation
  - ''chia init'' (there's no need to generate any keys)
  - ''%%chia configure --set-log-level INFO%%''
  - (optional) Bootstrap with a blockchain db from another full node. Otherwise, let it sync.
  - Edit ''config.yaml'':
    - Set ''timelord.bluebox_mode'' to ''true''
    - Set ''timelord_launcher.process_count'' to half the number of threads you want to dedicate to the bluebox.
    - Set ''full_node.send_uncompact_interval'' to ''300''
    - Set ''full_node.target_uncompact_proofs'' to ''100'' (if not already)
  - ''chia start timelord''. This should start daemon, timelord-launcher, timelord and node.
==== Is it actually working? ====
You can check if it is actually working by running the following code:
<code>awk '/Replaced compact/ {split($1, ts, /:/); s[ts[1]]++} END {for (h in s) {print h, s[h]}}' ~/.chia/mainnet/log/debug.log | sort</code>
This will output compacted blocks per hour.

Watch your impact at [[https://arewecompactifiedyet.live| arewecompactifiedyet.live]].