Running a Validator

💡Note: failure to set up below configurations on a validator node may compromise chain functionality.

Disabled ETH bridge

For the chain to process bridge transactions from Ethereum, Ethereum testnet, or other chain that supports the eth_getLogs RPC method, the bridge daemon queries an RPC endpoint for logs emitted by the bridge contract. By default, a node will use a public testnet endpoint that may have rate-limiting, low reliability, or other restricted functionality.

As a validator run the flags --bridge-daemon-enabled=false in the command you run when starting the node, since the bridge has been disabled

Slinky

Starting in v5.0.0, running a validating full node requires the Slinky sidecar to be running in order to fetch Oracle prices. Slinky is a sidecar that pulls price data from external sources and caches them for the validator to use.

Running Slinky

First, please ensure you have received your API keys for the relevant decentralized provider nodes. If you have not received API keys, please reach out to the provider team in the relevant communication channels.

Next, place your API keys under their corresponding URLs in the example file below and save it to your system. Keep the file path handy as it needs to be passed into a flag when running Slinky.

The oracle.json file also supplies an edited configuration for the dydx_migration_api which facilitates graceful migration from dydx's x/prices module to x/marketmap module. For the dydx_migration_api provider, make sure to fill in the URL for the REST endpoint and gRPC endpoint of your node (in that order). The migration API will not work unless the REST API endpoint is the first endpoint in the endpoints list.

{
    "providers": {
    "dydx_migration_api": {
    "api": {
    "endpoints": [
{
    "url": "http://<YOUR NODE REST API ENDPOINT>"
},
{
    "url": "<YOUR NODE GRPC ENDPOINT>:<YOUR NODE GRPC PORT>"
}
    ]
}
},
    "raydium_api": {
    "api": {
    "endpoints": [
{
    "url": "https://solana.polkachu.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader":"x-api-key",
    "apiKey":"API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://connect-solana.kingnodes.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader":"x-api-key",
    "apiKey":"API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://dydx.helius-rpc.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
}
    ]
}
},
    "uniswapv3_api-ethereum": {
    "api": {
    "endpoints": [
{
    "url": "https://ethereum.polkachu.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://connect-eth.kingnodes.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://ethereum-rpc.rhino-apis.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
}
    ]
}
},
    "uniswapv3_api-base": {
    "api": {
    "endpoints": [
{
    "url": "https://base-rpc.rhino-apis.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://connect-base.kingnodes.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
},
{
    "url": "https://base.polkachu.com",
    "authentication": {
    "apiKeyHeader": "x-api-key",
    "apiKey": "API KEY"
}
}
    ]
}
}
}
}

With the oracle.json file path, enter the following command to run Slinky.

connect \
--marketmap-provider dydx_migration_api \
--oracle-config path/to/oracle.json

For more information on the available configuration parameters for Slinky, please refer to the Slinky Configuration section.

Verifying Slinky is Running

To verify that Slinky is running, enter the following command.

curl 'http://localhost:8080/slinky/oracle/v1/prices' | jq .

The output of the command should look similar to this:

{
  "prices": {
    "ATOM/USD": "920650000",
    "BITCOIN/USD": "3980283250000",
    "DYDX/USD": "273682500",
    "ETHEREUM/BITCOIN": "5842000",
    "ETHEREUM/USD": "232550500000",
    "POLKADOT/USD": "638800000",
    "SOLANA/USD": "8430350000"
  },
  "timestamp": "2024-01-23T01:15:09.776890Z"
}

Connecting a dYdX Validator node to Slinky

In order for the application to get prices from Slinky, we need to add the following lines under the [oracle] heading in the app.toml. Remember to change the oracle_address value to the address of your Slinky instance.

# ... other sections
 
[oracle]
enabled = "true" # if you are not running a full node, set this to "false"
oracle_address = "<YOUR_SLINKY_SIDECAR_ADDRESS>:8080"
client_timeout = "250ms"
metrics_enabled = "true"
interval = "1500ms"
price_ttl = "10s"

For more information on the available configuration parameters for the oracle, please refer to the Oracle Configuration section.

Advanced Slinky Configuration

In case you are using a remote signer or have another distributed validator setup, you may need to configure Slinky differently.

Using Remote Signers

Remote signers can be used with Connect, however only certain versions are compatible

Horcrux Required Version: v3.3.0+ link

With Horcrux-Proxy Required Version: v1.0.0+ link

TMKMS Required Version: v0.13.1+ link

Using Distributed Validators

Connect can be used within a distributed validator setup. To do so, simply apply the same app.toml changes to each validator node. Head over to configuration to see the necessary application-side configurations.

Upgrading Slinky

The recommended version of Slinky is the latest released version in the GitHub repository link.

Instructions on upgrading sidecar can be found here.

Slinky FAQ