diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 74b3cd4..6a4f932 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "httpx>=0.27",
     "typer>=0.12",
     "pynacl>=1.5",
+    "cryptography>=42.0",
     "structlog>=24.1",
     "sqlalchemy>=2.0",
     "python-dotenv>=1.0",
diff --git a/src/psyc/lines/federation.py b/src/psyc/lines/federation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28c6d9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/psyc/lines/federation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+"""Federation — node identity, signed feeds, peer registry.
+
+Identity layer for internet-wide federation of psyc nodes. Each node owns
+an Ed25519 keypair persisted under DATA_DIR/federation/. The public key
+fingerprint (first 16 bytes of SHA256(raw_pubkey) hex-encoded) goes into a
+DNS TXT record so peers can discover and authenticate the node, and the
+private key signs the outbound feed at /federation/feed.
+
+This module is the *identity* primitives only — discovery walkers,
+vouching/quorum, transparency log and auto-pull live in later stages.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import hashlib
+import os
+from typing import Tuple
+
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import ed25519
+
+from psyc import DATA_DIR, log
+
+
+_log = log.get(__name__)
+
+FED_DIR = DATA_DIR / "federation"
+PRIVATE_KEY_PATH = FED_DIR / "node.key"
+PUBLIC_KEY_PATH = FED_DIR / "node.pub"
+
+
+# ---------- keypair persistence -----------------------------------------
+
+def _ensure_dir() -> None:
+    FED_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+
+def node_keypair() -> Tuple[ed25519.Ed25519PrivateKey, ed25519.Ed25519PublicKey]:
+    """Return the node's Ed25519 keypair, generating + persisting it on first call.
+
+    Private key lands at data/federation/node.key (PEM, chmod 0600); public
+    at data/federation/node.pub (PEM). Idempotent — subsequent calls load
+    the existing files instead of generating new ones.
+    """
+    _ensure_dir()
+    if PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.exists() and PUBLIC_KEY_PATH.exists():
+        priv_pem = PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.read_bytes()
+        priv = serialization.load_pem_private_key(priv_pem, password=None)
+        if not isinstance(priv, ed25519.Ed25519PrivateKey):
+            raise RuntimeError(f"federation key at {PRIVATE_KEY_PATH} is not Ed25519")
+        return priv, priv.public_key()
+
+    priv = ed25519.Ed25519PrivateKey.generate()
+    priv_pem = priv.private_bytes(
+        encoding=serialization.Encoding.PEM,
+        format=serialization.PrivateFormat.PKCS8,
+        encryption_algorithm=serialization.NoEncryption(),
+    )
+    pub = priv.public_key()
+    pub_pem = pub.public_bytes(
+        encoding=serialization.Encoding.PEM,
+        format=serialization.PublicFormat.SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
+    )
+    PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.write_bytes(priv_pem)
+    os.chmod(PRIVATE_KEY_PATH, 0o600)
+    PUBLIC_KEY_PATH.write_bytes(pub_pem)
+    _log.info("federation.keypair.generated", path=str(PRIVATE_KEY_PATH))
+    return priv, pub
+
+
+def public_key_pem() -> str:
+    """PEM-encoded public key as text — what peers store + verify against."""
+    _, pub = node_keypair()
+    return pub.public_bytes(
+        encoding=serialization.Encoding.PEM,
+        format=serialization.PublicFormat.SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
+    ).decode("ascii")
+
+
+def _raw_pubkey_bytes(pub: ed25519.Ed25519PublicKey) -> bytes:
+    return pub.public_bytes(
+        encoding=serialization.Encoding.Raw,
+        format=serialization.PublicFormat.Raw,
+    )
+
+
+def node_fingerprint() -> str:
+    """Short stable id for the node — first 16 bytes of SHA256(raw_pubkey), hex.
+
+    Lives in DNS TXT records; 32 hex chars is short enough to fit but long
+    enough to be collision-safe for any plausible peer population.
+    """
+    _, pub = node_keypair()
+    digest = hashlib.sha256(_raw_pubkey_bytes(pub)).digest()
+    return digest[:16].hex()