This is the operator handbook for running a Sigil validator on mainnet or the Evolve canary. For a quick walk-through, see the cookbook recipe.

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Validator program

The Sigil mainnet active set is capped at 100 validators in v1. Slots are allocated through:
  • Founding validators (bootstrap subsidy): the first 13 slots reserved for the genesis cohort.
  • Open slots: filled by self-bonded candidates in stake order.
Apply at validator.sigil.ml/apply. The application includes operator identity, hardware capabilities, region, and references.

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Hardware

ResourceMinimumRecommended
CPU16 cores32 cores AMD EPYC or Intel Xeon
RAM64 GiB128 GiB
Storage1 TiB NVMe2 TiB NVMe RAID-1
Network1 Gbps symmetric10 Gbps symmetric
KeystoreHSM or KMS-backed signerAWS Nitro Enclave + KMS
BackupHourly state snapshotReplicated WAL to a second host
Cloud and bare-metal both work. Recommended providers: AWS (Nitro Enclaves), GCP (Confidential Computing), Hetzner (dedicated EX/AX series), Latitude.

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Network posture

SurfaceListenReachable from
Consensus p2p0.0.0.0:30303Open Internet (libp2p).
Validator RPC127.0.0.1:7777Operator’s bastion only.
Metrics127.0.0.1:7778In-cluster scrape only.
Keystore signerInternalValidator process only.
The validator does not expose public JSON-RPC. Public RPC runs on a separate pool of read-only nodes; see run an RPC node.

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Key custody

Validator signing material must be in a hardware-isolated keystore. Supported:
  • AWS Nitro Enclave + KMS.
  • GCP Confidential Space + Cloud HSM.
  • YubiHSM 2.
  • Sealed enclave (Intel SGX or AMD SEV-SNP) for TEE-backed setups.
Raw key material never enters the validator process. The validator calls a local signing API; the response is the Ed25519 signature. The detailed handoff lives in the operator handoff runbook; see launch handoff for the deployment-day checklist.

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Sync and bond

Snapshot-restore the data directory, register the validator, and bond the self-stake. Walkthrough in the cookbook recipe. For mainnet:
  • Minimum self-bond: 100,000 MINT.
  • Bootstrap subsidy (first 6 months, first 13 validators): 4,000 MINT per epoch from the validator bootstrap reserve.
  • Commission cap: 20%.

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Operations cadence

TaskFrequency
Snapshot publication checkDaily
WAL replication healthHourly
Disk space alarm at 70%Continuous
Rotate session keysEvery 90 days
Validator key auditEvery 180 days
Disaster-recovery drillAnnually

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Slashing-avoidance checklist

  • Run exactly one validator process per signing key. Never run two.
  • Never copy the keystore between hosts.
  • Test failover by stopping the primary and confirming the secondary takes over.
  • Subscribe to security advisories at security.sigil.ml.
  • Apply emergency patches within the disclosed window.

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See also