Introduction
The River Protocol is powered by a network of Stream Nodes that are registered on chain and run by Node Operators. This guide is intended as an introduction to getting started as an operator and running a node in the River network.
Operating River Components
River Stream Nodes are software components that are able to be run by anyone. River Protocol’s incentive structure supports River Stream Node operators as a first-class actor in the network. Operators, once registered and approved by the DAO , can run a Stream Node on River Chain and participate in block validation as well as reward distribution.
Given the open-source nature of River, the Foundation also encourages developers who would like to run instances of River Chain on a network of their choice connected to self-hosted River Stream Nodes. Though these nodes would not technically be connected to the River protocol node network that is deployed on Base Mainnet, developers may find value in experimenting with different rollup implementation features.
Operator Onboarding Lifecycle
Operator and node onboarding to the network follow a multi-stage lifecycle that is designed to ensure the operator is fully prepared and meets requirements to run a node in mainnet.
Each of the following steps are described in detail in subsequent sections.
Register operator in Testnet
DAO operator approval in Testnet
Register node in Testnet
Register operator in Mainnet
Achieve sufficient RVR token delegation
DAO operator approval in Mainnet
Register node in Mainnet
DAO operator activation in Mainnet
Participate in RVR rewards distribution epochs
Stream Node Configuration Modes
The below table outlines the current operator service level that is supported by the River Protocol. Supported configurations are outlined in subsequent sections.
| Configuration | Description | Node Registration | Stream Reads | Stream Writes | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full node | Stream node running inside River node network | required | yes | yes | supported |
| Info mode | Stream node running in info mode, unattached to the network, for debug purposes only. | no | no | no | supported |
| Archival node | Stream node running outside River node network storing all stream events from River node network | no | proxied | proxied | not yet supported |
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