In the 19th Starknet community call, the discussion focused on the role and development of full nodes in Starknet, with special guest Mirko from Equilibrium, the team behind Pathfinder, Starknet’s first full-state node.
Key Points:
1. Introduction to Pathfinder:
– Pathfinder is the first full-state node for Starknet, launched in March 2022. It stores all data, including transactions and events, functioning similarly to an archive node.
– There’s potential for more granular data storage in the future, such as filtering specific events or transactions.
2. Differences Between Full Nodes on Ethereum and Starknet:
– Unlike Ethereum, Starknet full nodes (or full-state nodes) don’t handle consensus or validate proofs, as this is managed by Ethereum.
– Full-state nodes in Starknet focus on tracking the state and verifying data against Layer 1 (L1), making them different from traditional full nodes.
3. Challenges and Development:
– Developing Pathfinder has been challenging due to Starknet’s rapid evolution and the need to stay updated with frequent changes.
– Initial challenges included slow sync times, especially on Testnet, due to the fast block times. This was mitigated by releasing snapshots and improving gateway performance.
– The team is also excited about future developments like the Cairo Rust VM, which will replace the current Python VM embedded in Pathfinder.
4. Features and Upcoming Improvements:
– Pathfinder now supports pending block queries, allowing for faster transaction verification by pre-validating pending blocks locally.
– The next major focus is implementing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, which will improve scalability and reduce reliance on the centralized sequencer gateway.
5. Roadmap and Future Directions:
– In the short term, the team will release support for pending blocks, making queries faster and more reliable.
– The long-term focus is on implementing P2P support and continuing to keep up with Starknet’s updates, such as the upcoming 0.10 release, which includes breaking changes.
6. Community Involvement:
– The community has been actively using and testing Pathfinder, providing valuable feedback that has helped improve the node.
– The team encourages continued community engagement to help refine and develop the software further.
The call concludes with an invitation for further questions and a reminder of the upcoming community calls, highlighting the ongoing development and the community’s role in shaping the future of Starknet’s infrastructure.
