# Introduction

The Subnet Template comes with everything required to run a successful subnet on the Hypertensor platform.

#### Each subnet must be/have:

* **Decentralized**
  * Has bootnode
  * Has a DHT
* **Proof-of-stake**
  * Each node that enters a subnet must be verified to have a proof-of-stake on the Hypertensor blockchain
* **Signature Authenticated**
  * All communication must utilize a [Signature Authorizer](/subnet-template/authorizers/signature-authorizer.md) of the available key types.

*The above is verified by* [*Overwatch Nodes*](/overwatch-nodes/introduction.md)*.*

***

## What’s Included in the Subnet Template?

The **Hypertensor Subnet Template** includes all the core components required to launch a decentralized AI application, including:

* **Kademlia DHT (KAD-DHT)** – for scalable, decentralized storage and routing
* **Asyncio-based DHT Node** – designed for fast, concurrent communications
* **DHT Protocol** – allows DHT nodes to request keys/neighbors from other DHT nodes, and manages routing tables
* **DHT Record Storage** – with support for versioned and validated records with customizable predicate extensions
* **Record Validators** – attach custom validation logic to any stored record, such as key authentication and Pydantic schemas
* **DHT Traversal Tools** – Traverse the DHT graph
* **Routing Tables** – manage network topology and neighbor nodes. A data structure that contains DHT peers bucketed according to their distance to node\_id. Follows Kademlia routing table
* **P2P Servicer Base** – register RPC methods to the DHT for nodes to call on one another
* **Proof-of-Stake Integration** – incentivize and secure participation
* **Hypertensor Consensus** – Ready to run in parallel to the Hypertensor consensus mechanism
* **Substrate Integration** – Connect to Hypertensor with an RPC endpoint
* **Secure Communication** – support for Ed25519 and RSA authentication for communication

> 💡 **Focus on Logic, Not Plumbing**\
> The networking, cryptography, consensus, and storage layers are already handled. As a subnet builder, your only responsibility is to implement the **application logic** — the custom AI protocols and behaviors that live on top of the DHT.


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