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Enable a Prover

info

Keep in mind that running a prover is a very competitive space, and those who generate proofs will have very powerful machines and optimized clients. It's unlikely to prove a block and gain rewards with the default client and minimum hardware requirements.

This guide will help you enable your Taiko node as a prover. Read more about prover dynamics here (especially to set your expectations about running a prover).

Prerequisites​

  • You have already setup a node (see: Run a node)
  • Must have some ETH on Sepolia (see: Receive tokens).
  • Should have at least 8/16 core CPU and 32GB of RAM.

Steps​

Open .env file in simple-taiko-node​

Open the .env file in the simple-taiko-node directory.

Set environment variables to enable prover​

caution

Do not use a private key that is valuable to you. The private key will be stored in plain text in the .env file, and this is not secure. There is a real risk of losing your assets. You should only use a test account.

Set the following environment variables to enable your node as a prover:

  • Set ENABLE_PROVER to true (replacing the default false with true).
  • Set L1_PROVER_PRIVATE_KEY to that of your wallet's private key; it will need some ETH on Sepolia to prove blocks (if using MetaMask, follow these directions to retrieve the private key).

Stake your TTKOe (Eldfell L3 provers only)​

If you are trying to run a prover for Eldfell L3 first keep in mind, the competition for getting into the prover pool will be high. But don't worry! Even if you get slashed, there's nothing wrong with that. TTKOe is a worthless testnet token, and even getting slashed really helps us to test the network.

To stake your TTKOe try using the staking dashboard or the base layer contract manually (see TaikoL1).

Verify prover logs​

Verify you have some prover logs:

  • 💰 Your block proof was accepted means you are the first prover and receive the reward.
  • ✅ Block proven just means a proposed block was successfully proved on TaikoL1 (by anyone). If you are running a node in the background, you can view the logs with docker compose logs -f.

Troubleshooting​

Consult Run a node Troubleshooting for common issues.