---
title: Commands
description: The binaries go-iroh ships — iroh, iroh-relay, iroh-dns-server, wasmrelaytest — with their real flags and output.
icon: terminal
---

The core module ships four commands. Install one with `go install`, or run it
from a checkout with `go run`:

```sh
go install github.com/tmc/go-iroh/cmd/iroh@latest
```

| Command | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `cmd/iroh` | keys, endpoint IDs, addresses, signatures |
| `cmd/iroh-relay` | a self-hostable relay server |
| `cmd/iroh-dns-server` | the pkarr HTTP and DNS surfaces used by discovery |
| `cmd/wasmrelaytest` | browser smoke test for the js/wasm relay-only transport |

## iroh

A key and address utility. It takes arguments, not stdin, and has no flag
package — the only option is `--seed=` on `key gen`.

```text
usage: iroh <command> [args]

commands:
  key gen [--seed=<hex32>]   generate a secret key (prints secret hex)
  key public <secret-hex>    print the public key (endpoint id) for a secret
  key z32 <key>              print the z-base-32 form of a public key
  id parse <key>             parse and re-print a public key (hex)
  addr parse <addr>          parse a transport address and re-print it
  sign <secret-hex> <msg>    sign msg, print signature hex
  verify <pub> <sig-hex> <msg>  verify a signature (exit 0 ok, 1 fail)
```

A worked session (values differ per run):

```sh
$ iroh key gen
13903a6d9ea9da31…                       # 64 hex characters
$ iroh key public 13903a6d9ea9da31…
70a5eaa72e54b657c4fd753ffd32f7a8b34594cfbb9d52ef423e0b2ec46fb998
$ iroh key z32 70a5eaa72e54b657c4fd753ffd32f7a8b34594cfbb9d52ef423e0b2ec46fb998
qn16ij3qk15fxt87qw994czzin3wmfgxzqqif54n8af17tdxzgcy
$ iroh sign 13903a6d9ea9da31… hello
…                                       # 128 hex characters
$ iroh verify 70a5eaa72e… <sig> hello
ok
```

`key gen --seed=<hex32>` is deterministic: the seed is exactly
`key.SeedSize` bytes in hex.

`addr parse` expects a transport address in `kind:value` form — the same form
`netaddr.ParseTransportAddr` accepts — and re-prints it:

```sh
$ iroh addr parse ip:127.0.0.1:4433
ip:127.0.0.1:4433
$ iroh addr parse relay:https://use1-1.relay.iroh.network./
relay:https://use1-1.relay.iroh.network./
```

A bare `127.0.0.1:4433` fails with `unknown kind "127.0.0.1"`; the `ip:` prefix
is required.

## iroh-relay

Runs a self-hostable relay server: the relay endpoint at `/relay` and a
liveness endpoint at `/healthz`.

```text
Usage of iroh-relay:
  -addr string
    	listen address (default ":3340")
  -shutdown-timeout duration
    	grace period for in-flight connections on shutdown (default 5s)
```

```sh
$ iroh-relay -addr=127.0.0.1:34331
iroh-relay listening on 127.0.0.1:34331 (relay: /relay, health: /healthz)
```

`GET /healthz` returns 200. `GET /relay` with a plain HTTP client returns 426
(Upgrade Required) — it is a WebSocket endpoint, so that response means the
relay is up, not that something is broken.

Point endpoints at it with `relay.ModeCustomURLs(...)`. To embed it in your own
server instead, use the `relayserver` package.

## iroh-dns-server

Runs the pkarr HTTP and DNS surfaces used by iroh discovery.

```text
Usage of iroh-dns-server:
  -addr string
    	listen address (default ":3350")
  -dns-addr string
    	UDP DNS listen address
```

`-dns-addr` is empty by default, which serves the HTTP (pkarr) surface only;
set it to also serve UDP DNS. The embeddable form is the `dnsserver` package.

Clients reach it with `iroh.NewPkarrPublisher` / `iroh.NewPkarrResolver`
pointed at your relay URL, and `iroh.NewDNSAddressLookup` pointed at your
origin — see [Relays and discovery](relays-and-discovery).

## wasmrelaytest

A browser smoke test for the js/wasm relay-only transport path. It builds only
under `GOOS=js GOARCH=wasm` and takes no flags; see its README in the go-iroh
repository for how it is driven.

## Commands in the experiment modules

Each `go-iroh-experiments` module ships its own binaries (`content-tracker`,
`grpc-iroh-demo`, `tlog-iroh`, `x402-iroh`, and others). The generated
[module index](repo-index) lists them per module.

## Next steps

- [Relays and discovery](relays-and-discovery) — pointing endpoints at the
  servers above.
- [Testing and interop](testing-and-interop) — verifying a change.