Supernode Overview

What is a Lumera Supernode?

A Supernode is a compute-intensive node that extends a Lumera validator with specialized services. While validators handle consensus and block production, Supernodes handle the heavy lifting: Cascade storage, Sense verification, and AI inference tasks.

Every Supernode is paired with a validator but must run on a separate server. The Supernode maintains its own account, keys, and stake delegation, and talks to the Lumera chain over gRPC.

Architecture

The Supernode and its validator are two independent hosts that meet on-chain. The validator produces blocks on Lumera through its normal consensus P2P on port 26656. The Supernode separately talks to the Lumera chain via gRPC to read state and broadcast its own messages. What actually ties them together is a pair of on-chain records:

• register-supernode(VALOPER, SN_ENDPOINT, SN_ACCOUNT) signed by the validator operator key, this chain message binds a specific Supernode endpoint and account to a specific validator. Only that validator's operator can register, update, or retire this Supernode.
• Stake delegation from SN_ACCOUNT to VALOPER under LEP-3, the combined total of validator self-delegation and this SN-account delegation must meet the network's minimum stake.

Together those two facts form the entire Supernode ↔ validator relationship. Supernodes also form a peer-to-peer mesh with other Supernodes using a Kademlia DHT (port 4445) for data replication and storage challenge proofs across the network.

Key Information

Staking Requirements (LEP-3)

Supernode registration requires a minimum combined stake from two sources, enforced on-chain via the minimum_stake_for_sn parameter.

The stake can come from two sources combined (both count toward the minimum):

1. Validator self-delegation must be non-zero
2. Delegation from Supernode Account (SN_ACCOUNT), delegation from the SN wallet to your validator

For example: 8,000 LUME self-delegated + 2,000 LUME from SN_ACCOUNT = 10,000 LUME total (meets requirement).

You can verify the current on-chain requirement at any time:

# Via CLI
lumerad query supernode params
 
# Via REST API
curl -s https://lumera-testnet-api.bonynode.online/LumeraProtocol/lumera/supernode/v1/params | jq '.params.minimum_stake_for_sn'

Hardware Requirements

Supernodes are more resource-intensive than validators due to the compute workloads they handle.

Required Ports

Supernode Host

Validator Host

Prerequisites

Before setting up a Supernode, you need:

• A running Lumera validator in a bonded state, see Validator Overview
• A separate server meeting the hardware requirements above
• Access to the validator operator key (for registration transactions)
• Testnet LUME tokens from the faucet or Discord

Automated Setup

If you prefer a one-command setup, use the tested setup script that handles all steps automatically:

wget -O setup-supernode.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kaleababayneh/lumera-validator/main/setup-supernode.sh
chmod +x setup-supernode.sh
./setup-supernode.sh

The script is interactive, it pauses for key creation, gRPC configuration, and prints the registration command to run on your validator host. See the source and full guide for details.

For a manual step-by-step walkthrough, continue with the pages below.

Next Steps