The radicle node is our daemon friend that is running as a background
process. It allows us to interact with the network as well as storing
some key data that we may be interested in.

<details>
<summary>🚧 `rad node start` is under construction 🚧</summary>
If the node is not running we can start it by using the `rad node
start` command:

<!-- ``` -->
<!-- $ rad node start -->
<!-- ``` -->
</details>

We can confirm the status of the node at any time by using the `rad
node status` command (or just `rad node` for short):

```
$ rad node status
✓ Node is running
```

The node also allows us to connect with other nodes in the
network. For example, let's connect to a known peer using their Node
ID and their network address:

```
$ rad node connect z6Mkt67GdsW7715MEfRuP4pSZxJRJh6kj6Y48WRqVv4N1tRk@0.0.0.0:3679
✓ Connecting to z6Mkt67…v4N1tRk@0.0.0.0:3679...
```

The node also allows us to query data that it has access too such as
the tracking relationships and the routing table. Before we explore
those commands we'll first track a peer so that we have something to
see.

```
$ rad track did:key:z6Mkt67GdsW7715MEfRuP4pSZxJRJh6kj6Y48WRqVv4N1tRk --alias Bob
✓ Tracking policy updated for z6Mkt67GdsW7715MEfRuP4pSZxJRJh6kj6Y48WRqVv4N1tRk (Bob)
```

Now, when we use the `rad node tracking` command we will see
information for repositories that we track -- in this case a
repository that was already created:

```
$ rad node tracking
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ RID                                 Scope     Policy │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ rad:z42hL2jL4XNk6K8oHQaSWfMgCL7ji   trusted   track  │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
```

This is the same as using the `--repos` flag, but if we wish to see
which nodes we are specifically tracking, then we use the `--nodes`
flag:

```
$ rad node tracking --nodes
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ DID                                                        Alias   Policy │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ did:key:z6Mkt67GdsW7715MEfRuP4pSZxJRJh6kj6Y48WRqVv4N1tRk   Bob     track  │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
```

To see the routing table we can use the `rad node routing` command and
see what Repository IDs match up with the interests of which Node
IDs. In this case, it is just our own Node ID for the project we
created.

```
$ rad node routing
╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ RID                                 NID             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ rad:z42hL2jL4XNk6K8oHQaSWfMgCL7ji   z6MknSL…StBU8Vi │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
```

<details>
<summary>🚧 `rad node stop` is under construction 🚧</summary>
Finally, if we want to stop the daemon process from running we can
issue the `rad node stop` command:

<!-- ``` -->
<!-- $ rad node stop -->
<!-- Stopping the node... -->
<!-- ``` -->
</details>