// generate key
  var secretKey
  if (!key) {
    var keyPair = signatures.keyPair()
    key = keyPair.publicKey
    secretKey = keyPair.secretKey
  }

  // create the archive instance
  var archive = drive.createArchive({
    key,
    secretKey,
    live: true,
    sparse: true,
    metadata: drive.core.createFeed({
      key,
      secretKey,
      live: true,
      sparse: true,
      verifyReplicationReads: true,
      storage: raf(archivesDb.getArchiveFilesPath(key, 'meta'))
    }),
    content: drive.core.createFeed({
      sparse: true,
      verifyReplicationReads: true,
      storage: raf(archivesDb.getArchiveFilesPath(key, 'data'))
    }),
  })