Which one should I use?

Delegate to root if you want to keep your principal in TAO and earn yield. This is the right default for most people.

Allocate only if you actively want exposure to a basket of subnet alpha, managed by that validator, and accept that the whole amount can fall.

First: you need the right btcli

The root command group ships only with the v461 runtime. The current stable release does not have it, and btcli root ... fails with No such command 'root'. Check with btcli --version, then:

pip install "bittensor==11.3.0rc61"

Verified against mainnet on 2026-09-25. Once a stable 11.3.0 or later is published, use that instead. btcli --commands lists what your build actually has.

Delegate to root

btcli stake add --hotkey <VALIDATOR_HOTKEY> --netuid 0 --amount-tao <TAO>

Works on any recent btcli. Your principal stays TAO-denominated on netuid 0.

Allocate into a basket

btcli root allocate --hotkey <VALIDATOR_HOTKEY> --amount <TAO>

Buys basket shares (β) with free TAO. Needs the v461 btcli above.

Check your position

btcli root list --mine

Your root positions per validator: staked principal, accrued yield, and return since your last claim. Plain btcli root list is the full fund leaderboard.

btcli root list <VALIDATOR_HOTKEY>

One fund in detail: its holdings, its performance, and your position on it. The validator is a positional argument, not a flag, and also accepts a root UID or a name.

Claim yield

btcli root claim --hotkey <VALIDATOR_HOTKEY>

Sells your accrued β back to the fund and folds the TAO into your root stake on that validator. Principal is never touched. Add --dry-run first: on a small position the inclusion fee can exceed the yield, and the dry run says so.

Switch validator

btcli root move --from <HOTKEY> --to <HOTKEY>

Claims accrued yield on the source, then moves the whole root position to the destination. It never passes through your free balance, so this is the cheap way to act on anything you see in the table above.

Exit

btcli stake remove --hotkey <VALIDATOR_HOTKEY> --netuid 0 --amount all --claim

On root, a plain unstake returns principal only and leaves accrued yield owed. --claim redeems the whole basket entitlement first, then unstakes, in one batch. Note it is not proportional: unstaking 40% still claims 100% of the basket. Commands move real funds: check the hotkey before you run them.