How to Run a Validator on Starknet
Starknet is a decentralized validity rollup that relies on its community of full nodes and validators to maintain network security and transparency. This guide walks you through the process of setting up your own Starknet full node and then upgrading it to act as a validator, enabling you to participate in network consensus and earn staking rewards.
Pathfinder is a Rust-based implementation of a Starknet full node. It provides a complete, verifiable view of the Starknet blockchain, allowing you to query contract states, storage, and transactions in real time. As a full node, Pathfinder maintains the entire Starknet state history locally, ensuring fast and trustless access to network data.
Once your full node is up and running, you can take the next step — becoming a validator. While simply operating a node contributes to decentralization and network robustness, running a validator also lets you secure the network and earn rewards for doing so.
Note: Running a Starknet full node requires access to an Ethereum WebSocket RPC endpoint, which is used to synchronize Layer 1 (Ethereum) data with Layer 2 (Starknet).
Before You Begin
Before diving into the setup process, it’s important to understand how the overall Starknet validator workflow fits together.
This guide is structured as a series of step-by-step tutorials, each building upon the previous one — from running a full node to participating in network consensus.
Unlike many quick-start guides that use Docker, this setup focuses on compiling binaries from source.
Building from source provides better control over optimizations and ensures the highest possible performance — essential for maintaining a reliable and efficient validator node.
Guide Structure
This guide is organized as a series of interconnected tutorials that build upon each other.
Each section focuses on a specific stage in setting up and operating a Starknet validator:
- Running a Full Node — Learn how to set up and maintain your Starknet node using Pathfinder, built from source for optimal performance.
- Becoming a Validator — Stake your tokens and register to participate in validation.
- Attesting to Blocks — Configure your validator to take part in block attestation and secure the network.
- Recommended Next Steps — Explore advanced topics, maintenance procedures, and best practices.