Skip to main content

Node

The Mintlayer node (node-daemon) is the backbone of the network: it connects to peers over the P2P network, synchronizes and validates the full blockchain, and exposes an RPC interface used by wallets, the blockchain scanner, and your own tooling.

A node never holds keys or balances, so it is safe (and normal) to run one on a public server. See Node vs. wallet for how it differs from the wallet software.

Running a node​

  1. Install the node daemon using any installation method, including the one-command Docker installer.
  2. Start it on your chosen network: node-daemon mainnet (or testnet, regtest). The full set of command-line options is in the node-daemon CLI reference.
  3. Wait for sync: the node downloads and validates the chain automatically. Progress is visible in the logs or via the chainstate_info RPC method.
  4. Connect clients: wallets and the blockchain scanner talk to the node over RPC (default port 3030 mainnet, 13030 testnet). See Node RPC and Developer Setup.

For a development setup with Docker Compose (including a full indexing stack), see Install from Docker.

Operator basics​

  • Data directory: everything lives under ~/.mintlayer/<network>/ (e.g. ~/.mintlayer/mainnet/), including the chainstate, logs, and the RPC .cookie file.
  • Networks: mainnet, testnet, regtest (local development, dev-only RPC), and signet. Each has its own data directory and default ports.
  • Logs: console output is controlled by RUST_LOG (e.g. RUST_LOG=info); --log-to-file additionally stores info-level logs in the data directory.
  • Cleaning up: the top-level --clean-data option (e.g. node-daemon --clean-data testnet) wipes the network data directory before starting.

Node RPC​

The Node RPC page documents the JSON-RPC interface: modules (chainstate, mempool, p2p, blockprod), authentication, HTTP and WebSocket access, and event subscriptions.

To inspect a node from the terminal, the Wallet CLI ships a group of node commands (node-chainstate-info, node-best-block-id, node-peer-count, ...). See the Wallet CLI command reference, Node Control section.

Securing and upgrading​

  • Firewall configuration: open P2P and RPC ports safely
  • Upgrading: general upgrade flow (binaries, source, Docker Compose) plus version-specific guides from v1.0.0 through v1.4.0