Validator Cheat Sheet (~15 min)

• Lots of scripting and some details are abstracted away.

• For more details, see the Validator Walkthrough.

Prerequisites

• Install the pocketd CLI

• Set up and run a Full Node first

If you followed the Full Node Cheat Sheet, switch to the user running the full node (with pocketd installed):

su - pocket # or use your chosen username

Account Setup

1

Create Validator Account

Generate a new validator key pair:

pocketd keys add validator

2

Set Up Environment

Set environment variables:

cat << 'EOT' > ~/.pocketrc
export QUERY_FLAGS="--network=<NETWORK>" # local, alpha, beta, main
export TX_PARAM_FLAGS="--fees 200000upokt --network=<NETWORK>" # local, alpha, beta, main
export ADDR=$(pocketd keys show validator -a)
export VALIDATOR_ADDR=$(pocketd keys show validator -a --bech val)
EOT

echo "source ~/.pocketrc" >> ~/.bashrc

3

Fund Validator Account

Show your validator address:

echo "Validator address: $ADDR"

• Beta Testnet: Use the Shannon Beta TestNet faucet to fund your account.

• Mainnet: Transfer funds:

pocketd tx bank send <SOURCE ADDRESS> $ADDR <AMOUNT_TO_STAKE>upokt $TX_PARAM_FLAGS

Check your balance:

pocketd query bank balances $ADDR

Know someone at Grove on Beta TestNet? Ask them to run:

pocketd tx --network=beta tx bank send faucet_beta $ADDR 6900000000042upokt

4

Back up Keys 🔑

Before you proceed ensure you have securely backed up your keys!!! Losing validator keys will result in SLASHING!

• Back up your validator address key.

• Back up your priv_validator_key.json — used to sign blocks. Found in /pocketd/config/.

• Back up your node_key.json — used for P2P. Found in /pocketd/config/.

Configure Validator

1

Get Validator PubKey

Get your validator's pubkey:

pocketd comet show-validator

Example output:

{ "@type": "/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey", "key": "YourPublicKeyHere" }

2

Create Validator JSON

Create validator.json and update the fields:

• "pubkey": Use your pubkey from above.

• "amount": Amount to stake (e.g., "1000000upokt").

• "moniker": Your validator's name (default: validator).

• Optionally fill in "identity", "website", "security", "details".

Example:

cat << 'EOF' > validator.json
{
  "pubkey": {
    "@type": "/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey",
    "key": "YdlQyhjtrq9pk7afmz6oQ275L4FElzjzEJvB1fj3e1w="
  },
  "amount": "1000000upokt",
  "moniker": "validator",
  "identity": "",
  "website": "",
  "security": "",
  "details": "",
  "commission-rate": "0.100000000000000000",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.200000000000000000",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.010000000000000000",
  "min-self-delegation": "1"
}
EOF

3

Create Validator

Register your validator:

pocketd tx staking create-validator ./validator.json --from=validator $TX_PARAM_FLAGS

4

Check Validator Status

Check your validator status:

pocketd query staking validator $VALIDATOR_ADDR $QUERY_FLAGS