Check yourself: Autonomi storage

Questions and answers, readable without JavaScript.

1. Where does Autonomi's self-encryption happen?

   • On a close-group node after you upload plaintext
   • Inside the wallet key
   • On the client: chunk, compress, self-encrypt, then content-address, before the network stores the chunks
   • Only if you choose the public address mode
   Answer 1

   On the client: chunk, compress, self-encrypt, then content-address, before the network stores the chunks

   The docs described on the site are a client-side pipeline. The self-encryption crate produces a DataMap plus encrypted chunks and does not itself store them on the network.

   Read the note → · Autonomi Without the Data Map Is Just Scattered Ciphertext

2. What is the DataMap?

   • A second network that stores plaintext
   • The recipe: chunk index to address, plus the hash material needed to decrypt and rebuild the file
   • The payment key
   • A mutable folder you can overwrite
   Answer 2

   The recipe: chunk index to address, plus the hash material needed to decrypt and rebuild the file

   Self-encryption builds a DataMap. Without it the network holds ciphertext you cannot reassemble. The note calls that map the key to your content.

   Read the note → · Autonomi Without the Data Map Is Just Scattered Ciphertext

3. What happens to a chunk's address if you change its bytes?

   • Nothing. The path stays the same
   • Only the DataMap name changes
   • The close group edits the old chunk in place
   • The address changes. Chunks are immutable and content-addressed, so an update is a new upload
   Answer 3

   The address changes. Chunks are immutable and content-addressed, so an update is a new upload

   The storage primitive is an immutable content-addressed chunk. Change the bytes and you change the address. There is no honest overwrite at the same path.

   Read the note → · Autonomi Stores Immutable Chunks — Public Address vs Private DataMap

4. What mostly decides whether stored data is public or private?

   • Where the DataMap lives — published for public retrieval, or held by the client for private retrieval
   • Two different networks
   • Whether you paid with ANT
   • The XOR distance from your city
   Answer 4

   Where the DataMap lives — published for public retrieval, or held by the client for private retrieval

   Public and private are not two DHTs. Public workflows publish the DataMap so anyone with the address can reassemble. Private workflows keep that recipe with you.

   Read the note → · Autonomi Stores Immutable Chunks — Public Address vs Private DataMap

5. When do you pay, in the pay-once model described on this site?

   • Every month, and again per download
   • Once, when uploading new data. Retrieval is not a separate ongoing storage lease or download fee
   • Only when you read
   • Never. Payment is optional
   Answer 5

   Once, when uploading new data. Retrieval is not a separate ongoing storage lease or download fee

   The payment-model docs say you pay in ANT when you upload, then retrieve later without ongoing storage charges or download fees. An update is a new write, not a lease renewal.

   Read the note → · Pay-Once Is Not a Subscription: Autonomi Upload Payment vs Retrieval

6. Does that upload payment buy access to private content?

   • Yes. Paying decrypts every chunk
   • Yes, if the wallet key is backed up
   • No. Private content still needs the DataMap. Lose it and the chunks you paid for stay unreadable fragments
   • Only for the first download
   Answer 6

   No. Private content still needs the DataMap. Lose it and the chunks you paid for stay unreadable fragments

   Reads need no ANT, gas, or wallet. Access is a different job. The read-only guide says private content still requires the DataMap even after storage was paid.

   Read the note → · Pay-Once Is Not a Subscription: Autonomi Upload Payment vs Retrieval

7. What is the wallet private key for, on Autonomi?

   • Paying for uploads. It is payment material, not the private-data decryption key
   • Decrypting private chunks
   • Publishing your legal name
   • Choosing the chunk size
   Answer 7

   Paying for uploads. It is payment material, not the private-data decryption key

   The keys note separates three jobs. The wallet key pays for uploads. A public address retrieves published content. The DataMap is what ties private content back to encrypted chunks.

   Read the note → · Autonomi Stores Immutable Chunks — Public Address vs Private DataMap

8. If a chunk is already stored, what does a later prepare step do?

   • Charges you again for the same bytes
   • Deletes the old chunk
   • Converts it into a mutable file
   • It can return already_stored with the existing address and no payment to make
   Answer 8

   It can return already_stored with the existing address and no payment to make

   Identical encrypted content is the same chunk. The external-signer guide says prepare can return already_stored true and no payment. You pay for new bytes, not for asking.

   Read the note → · Pay-Once Is Not a Subscription: Autonomi Upload Payment vs Retrieval