Run a FLOP validator, miner, or GPU provider

Run a FLOP validator, miner, or GPU provider

Start with the role you want to operate. These instructions describe the repository's current development workflows, reviewed on 2026-09-29. They do not announce a public network launch or certify a currently running network. The validator rehearsal and the GPU miner deployment require their own matching network configuration; do not combine presets from separate networks.

A GPU provider offering rental capacity is not automatically a FLOP miner. Someone must operate the measured inference stack, own its account, fund the required deposits and complete registration/calibration. Likewise, a healthy validator container is not evidence that the chain admitted its account.

Inputs you need before starting

Obtain a network-specific operator release from the network administrator. Keep the following values together so a setup cannot silently mix incompatible versions:

• Network identity: network name, expected genesis hash, chain spec or supported preset, bootstrap peer multiaddrs and accessible RPC. Check the actual genesis hash before signing.
• Software: source revision, immutable node/worker/backend image digests, supported host architecture, release checksums and upgrade compatibility information.
• Access: how the host reaches the RPC, chain proxy, DA and any approved private network; which services require credentials and who issues them. Never paste secrets into chat.
• Admission: operator public account, current stake requirement, fee funding and any administrator-only funding/promotion or calibration issuer step. Keys stay with their owner.
• Miner model: onboarded modelpack hash, exact checkpoint revision, decode policy, storage requirements and independent calibration-job service.

The guides provide commands, configuration fields and acceptance criteria. Some supporting artifacts and addresses are still private or not released. An empty input is a blocked step, not permission to invent a hostname, image, chain identifier or model hash.

Private URL placeholders

Any hostname ending in .invalid, or value labelled REPLACE_WITH_…, is a placeholder. It will not connect to FLOP. Replace it only with the administrator's verified value. A placeholder table is a handoff contract, not an announcement that the service exists.

Loopback addresses in the guides are actual local service bindings, not public service URLs. Never expose unsafe node RPC, session tokens or a raw inference backend to the Internet merely to make a health check pass.

Let an agent handle the setup

The source release contains two Agent Skills: .agents/skills/setup-validator/SKILL.md and .agents/skills/setup-miner/SKILL.md. With a checkout/release containing these files, ask a compatible coding agent:

> Use setup-validator to set up my FLOP validator on the supplied host. Use the supplied > release and network configuration, gather missing non-secret inputs together, preserve > existing data, complete the authorized setup, and report admission and finality evidence.

Or:

> Use setup-miner to set up my GPU VM as a FLOP SOFT miner. Use the supplied model and network > release, gather missing non-secret inputs together, keep secrets on the host, and report > inference, registration, calibration and accepted-work evidence separately.

Include the host, network, desired role, release location and authorized spending/signing scope. Install or provide the skill file if the agent cannot discover it; a skill name alone does not download instructions. Do not give an agent your wallet seed in a conversation. Existing operator authorization covers routine setup; a new paid rental, account funding or administrator signature needs the corresponding owner's authority.

“One go” means one coordinated setup workflow. Chain session transitions, calibration windows, missing artifacts and external admission can prevent immediate completion. The agent must return the exact remaining gate instead of claiming that the host is earning.

Readiness and maintenance

Keep a receipt with the release/image digests, network/genesis, public account, configuration locations, running service versions, finalized transaction references and role-specific checks. Redact private endpoints when sharing it. Back up local configuration and keystores securely; never run two validators with the same session keys. For miners, preserve model/cache and required evidence data and recheck gateway/session identity after a restart.

Upgrade one host first using a supported pinned release, then repeat the same checks before expanding the rollout. Container uptime alone cannot establish protocol readiness. Follow the role guide's shutdown and recovery steps; deleting a volume is not routine repair.

Known blockers and follow-up work

These issues track release gaps that an operator cannot repair by changing URLs:

• Public operator release bundle #2003: source/image/model/network packaging and a clean-host acceptance drill.
• Independent validator key custody #2002: administrator helper actions currently require the operator's seed even when targeting only their address. Keep the existing combined helper to a disposable single-admin devnet.
• Miner hot-key delegation #913 and session-key persistence #1977: avoid treating a funded account on a rented host as an isolated disposable worker key.
• SOFT model onboarding #2004: the CLI offers flop model onboard --soft without a TEE claim, but a new model still needs its modelpack root, decode policy, and live backend capture validated. A real local/devnet registration and discovery proof remains to close the issue. Follow Run a FLOP miner for the command and the validated devnet model.
• SOFT settlement/disputes #650: the current development workflow is not a complete production earning guarantee. HARD is also not currently deployable from this repository.

Issue URLs may require repository access while the repository is private. The requirements and limitations needed to follow these guides are stated here and in each role guide.