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Register

To participate in the Shinzo Network, you must register your node. Registration identifies and authenticates your node so it can replicate data for the network.

Prerequisites

Running the Generator client only requires an execution node (see Install). To register a Generator client, however, you must be an active, bonded chain validator. Registration includes an assertion step that ties your generator's operator key to your validator identity. If you are not a validator, you can still run the client, but your node will not be recognized by the network.

Before you start, have the following ready:

  1. An active, bonded chain validator. On the current testnet, the assertion is approved through an admin-key flow rather than an on-chain contract check. The planned outpost contract will verify validator status on-chain once deployed.
  2. Your validator's consensus public key. The key type, format, and lookup tooling are chain-specific. See Consensus public key for how to retrieve it on your chain. It is not your withdrawal address or an EVM address.
  3. Your validator's withdrawal address. This is included in the assertion to identify your validator. On the current testnet you only need the address itself (the assertion is admin-key-approved). The planned contract-based flow will require the withdrawal key to sign the assertion. See Validator assertions for the full flow.
  4. A browser wallet to sign the on-chain registration transaction.

Register your Generator

  1. Start your Generator client with the health/registration port published (-p 8080:8080) and open inbound TCP 8080 in your firewall. The registration app is served on port 8080, and the public Generators dashboard also probes http://<your-server-ip>:8080/health to decide whether your Generator shows as online. If 8080 isn't reachable from the internet, your Generator shows as offline on the dashboard even while it's running fine. The default docker run in Install already publishes 8080.

  2. Add the Shinzo Testnet to your browser wallet with the following values:

    • Network name: Shinzo
    • Default RPC URL: http://testnet.shinzo.network:8545
    • Chain ID: 91273001
    • Currency symbol: SHNZ

    You need a small amount of SHNZ to cover the registration transaction fee. Get testnet SHNZ from the faucet.

  3. Open the Technical Registry and connect your wallet using the button in the top-right corner.

    Info

    The Technical Registry is hosted at registration.shinzo.network. If your node is on a private network or you'd rather use the registration app bundled with the Generator client, it's also served locally at http://localhost:8080/registration-app. For a remote node, use SSH local port forwarding to reach it: run ssh -L 8080:localhost:8080 user@your-node-ip on your local machine, then open http://localhost:8080/registration-app in your browser.

  4. From the Technical Registry homepage, click Register as Generator to start the two-step registration flow.

Assertion

The Assertion step ties your validator identity to your generator's operator key so ShinzoHub knows who you are. You'll need to provide:

  • Consensus public key: The consensus public key of the validator you're registering (see Consensus public key).
  • Withdrawal address: The withdrawal address for your validator on the source chain.
  • Source chain: The blockchain your generator monitors (see shinzo.network/chains for supported chains).

On the current testnet, the assertion goes through an admin-key approval flow rather than a smart contract. Your connected wallet address gets recorded as the generator's operator and payout address. The withdrawal-key signature and on-chain validator-status check described in Validator assertions are part of the planned contract-based flow and aren't live on testnet yet.

Click Sign & Submit to submit the assertion.

Registration (register on-chain)

The Registration step records your generator on-chain. You'll need to provide:

  • Signed message: The signed payload generated during the Assertion step.
  • Public key: The public key that identifies your generator node.
  • Signed public key message: A signature proving ownership of the public key.
  • Connection string: The endpoint operators and hosts will use to connect to your generator node.
  • Source chain: Confirm the chain your generator node is monitoring.

After completing all required fields, click Register and confirm the transaction in your wallet. Once the transaction is confirmed, your generator is registered on-chain.

Confirm your registration

Return to the Registry homepage. Your generator should now appear in the Registered Generators table, along with its address, DID, chain, connection string and status. Your Generator is now registered and authorized to participate in the Shinzo Network.

Back up your node identity key

This key defines your node's identity on the network. Back it up so you can restore your node without losing its identity.

  • Store a secure backup of the key.
  • In a recovery scenario, place it back into the same path (e.g. /defra/keys).
  • Use the same keyring/secret configuration.
Warning

If this key is lost, and there is no backup available, you will be unable to restore your node with the same identity.

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