# rnns: friendly name to rnid tool

_Showcase · started by qbit on Tue, May 12, 2026 8:45 PM_

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## Original post

**qbit** · Tue, May 12, 2026 8:45 PM

`rnns` is an extremely simple script that helps one locally resolve names to
RNIDs.

``` sh
#!/bin/sh

RN_NAME_FILE=${RN_NAME_FILE:-~/.rnns}

function usage() {
    echo "rnns [-h] friendly_identifier"
}

while getopts h name; do
    case $name in
h)
    usage
    exit 0
    ;;
*)
    usage
    exit 1
    esac
done

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    usage
    exit 1
fi

awk -v entry="$1" '{ for (i=NF; i>1; i--) { if ($i == entry) { print $1} } }' $RN_NAME_FILE
```

For example usage, one can add an entry for the official Reticulum signing key:

```
bc7291552be7a58f361522990465165crns-sig
```

Now you can use it by calling `rnns` with the string `rns-sig`:

``` sh
% rnid -i $(rnns rns-sig) -V nomadnet-1.0.4.tar.gz
Recalled Identity <bc7291552be7a58f361522990465165c>
Signature is valid, the file nomadnet-1.0.4.tar.gz was signed by <bc7291552be7a58f361522990465165c>
%
```

You can even add multiple aliases for a single entry:

```
0cc65124b72a5fdec6dcc14241bb8108openbsd.app openbsd app
```

All three of the above "resolve" to `0cc6...`!

Hope someone finds it useful!

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## Reply 1

**qbit** · Tue, May 12, 2026 8:48 PM

alternative link to the script: 3b5bc6888356193f1ac1bfb716c1beef:/file/rnns

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## Reply 2

**sprell** · Tue, May 12, 2026 10:51 PM

3b5bc6888356193f1ac1bfb716c1beef... beef...

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## Reply 3

**Mark** · Wed, May 13, 2026 8:41 AM

That's nice! Thanks qbit!

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## Reply 4

**joakim** · Wed, May 13, 2026 10:48 AM

Nice one!

Follow-up idea: Have all CLI tools of RNS support a `.reticulum/aliases` file, similar to SSH aliases.

Or maybe an `rnalias` tool for managing `.reticulum/storage/aliases`, if not a part of `rnid` itself?

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