Requirements

Each subnet has logical requirements that are verified by Overwatch Nodes:

• PoS (proof-of-stake)

• Signature Authorizers

• "node" key used with the public key subkey of the node stored in the database

PoS

Each subnet must utilize a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to ensure every node that joins and communicates in the network is always staked on-chain.

The proof-of-stake mechanism is accomplished through an Authorizer and has a built in signature authorizer.

Learn how to implement PoS

Signature Authorizers

In the built-in PoS authorizer, it comes with signature authorization natively; however, all other Protocols must also implement signature authorization between all nodes. Integrating signature authorization between all node communications allows each peer-to-peer request and response, for example, for inference or training, to know who is requesting and responding to whom. By knowing each peer ID, protocols can integrate fully customizable logic like rate limiting, role access, etc.

Signature Authorizers are accomplished through an Authorizer.

Learn how to integrate signature authorizers into protocols

Learn more about protocols

"node" key: public key subkey

Each node that joins the sub-network must be stored in the DHT records under the "node" key, with the public key of the node, so its peer ID can be derived from the subkey's public key.

See the heartbeat to learn how nodes should be stored in the subnet.

If a subnet wants to store nodes in another fashion, the subnet must maintain the above requirements in addition to its storage architecture.

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Overwatch Validation

Each Overwatch Node will utilize the above requirements to verify and score each subnet.