Cortex

Install ctx CLI tool (Cortex command-line interface)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CortexLM/cortex/main/scripts/install-ctx.sh | sh

Check if Proof challenge is ready to score (can_score, eval_image_digest, open topics)

ctx proof status

List all open Proof topics and their signed documents

ctx proof topics

Pair Bittensor hotkey to Cortex Chat account for Bounty (creates dedicated mining account)(optional)

ctx bounty pair --hotkey <ss58-hotkey> --account-id <chat-account> --wallet-name <wallet> --accept-terms

File a bug report for Bounty challenge (requires prior pairing)(optional)

ctx bounty report --title '...' --body-file report.md --repro-file repro.md

Create uncompressed artifact tar for Proof submission(optional)

tar -cf recipe.tar recipe/ && sha256sum recipe.tar

Submit Proof experiment claim with code artifact and model API key (for tbench topic)(optional)

ctx proof submit --secret-file /path/to/hotkey.sk --topic-id <topic_id> --artifact recipe.tar --claim '...' --env OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Clone the Cortex monorepo

git clone https://github.com/CortexLM/cortex.git && cd cortex

Set validator environment variables (mainnet; use testnet endpoints for staging)

export BASE_ROLE=validator && export BASE_NETUID=100 && export BASE_CHAIN_ENDPOINT=wss://mainnet-finality.subtensor.network:443 && export BASE_GATEWAY_ENDPOINT=https://gateway.cortex.foundation

Configure validator Bittensor wallet for on-chain weight submission

export BASE_VALIDATOR_WALLET=<wallet-name> && export BASE_VALIDATOR_HOTKEY=<hotkey-name>

Materialize environment configuration from templates

./deploy/scripts/materialize-env.sh

Start validator services (fetches bundles, verifies, submits weights, handles dissent)

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f deploy/compose/role-validator.yml up -d

Monitor validator logs for bundle verification and submission progress(optional)

docker logs -f validator