Node Profiles

Node profiles are the operator-local contract between xian-cli and xian-stack.

They are written as JSON and validated on read. The current schema is explicit:

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "name": "validator-1",
  "network": "mainnet",
  "moniker": "validator-1",
  "validator_key_ref": "./keys/validator-1/validator_key_info.json",
  "runtime_backend": "xian-stack",
  "stack_dir": "../xian-stack",
  "seeds": [],
  "genesis_url": null,
  "snapshot_url": null,
  "service_node": false,
  "home": null,
  "pruning_enabled": false,
  "blocks_to_keep": 100000,
  "block_policy_mode": "on_demand",
  "block_policy_interval": "0s",
  "operator_profile": "embedded_backend",
  "monitoring_profile": "service_node",
  "dashboard_enabled": false,
  "monitoring_enabled": true,
  "dashboard_host": "127.0.0.1",
  "dashboard_port": 8080
}

Important Fields

Field	Meaning
validator_key_ref	path to validator_key_info.json or priv_validator_key.json
stack_dir	explicit xian-stack checkout used by the runtime backend
service_node	enables the optional indexed-service stack used for BDS-backed reads
operator_profile	the intended operator posture inherited from the selected starter template
monitoring_profile	the monitoring posture inherited from the selected starter template
home	explicit CometBFT home override
block_policy_mode	on_demand, idle_interval, or periodic
block_policy_interval	interval used for idle/periodic block policies
monitoring_enabled	starts Prometheus and Grafana through the xian-stack backend
dashboard_*	optional runtime dashboard settings

How Profiles Are Created

Profiles are usually created with:

uv run xian network join validator-1 --network mainnet --template embedded-backend ...

or by network create when bootstrapping a fresh local network.

Use xian network template list to inspect the canonical starter shapes before creating or joining a network.

The current canonical templates standardize these postures:

• single-node-dev: operator_profile=local_development, monitoring_profile=none
• single-node-indexed: operator_profile=indexed_development, monitoring_profile=local_stack
• consortium-3: operator_profile=shared_network, monitoring_profile=service_node
• embedded-backend: operator_profile=embedded_backend, monitoring_profile=service_node

Scope

Profiles are intentionally node-local. Network-wide defaults belong in the manifest; node-specific overrides belong in the profile.

The block policy only changes whether chain time advances while the chain is idle. Contract now still comes from the finalized consensus block timestamp.