We wanted to let the developer and node operator community know that we will be deploying Epochs support on Flow Mainnet over three milestone phases beginning with the August 18 spork (Mainnet 12).
The release of Epochs 1.0 will give node operator committee participants the ability to change through the protocol software by interacting with a smart contract to stake and un-stake between each Epoch. This removes the reliance on Sporks to change node operators.
The foundational code for Epochs will be deployed for internal testing on Testnet. This notice is meant to be an early heads up of the upcoming Epochs rollout.
Node Operator Action Items for 8/18 Spork
Previously we requested action for the 8/18 spork. This is no longer required, and no action is needed.
Node Operators have a minor action item in the spork process beginning with the 8/18 Mainnet Spork. Node Operators must run their node software with one additional required flag (–access-address), the value of which we will provide closer to the date. Running with this extra flag will be required beginning with the Mainnet 12 Spork, and all subsequent sporks.
Milestone Schedule
Please find the milestone schedule below for an overview of the Epochs rollout plan:
- Milestone A (August 18, Mainnet 12): Epochs deployed on Testnet, no public facing changes. Disabled on Mainnet. Node operators begin running node software with one additional required flag (–access-address).
- Milestone B (September 15, Mainnet 13): Epochs deployed on Mainnet. Collection and consensus node operators must create and fund a new machine account before this spork date (detailed instructions and documentation will be provided in the coming weeks) using Flow Port.
- Milestone C (October 13, Mainnet 14): The benefits of Epochs begin showing:
The process of staking to join the Flow network will be managed by smart contract logic, but there is still an allow-list of operators which the Flow team manages and which filters the registrations made on-chain.
This is a step toward network participation not being mediated directly by the Flow team.
We will provide further details and instructions at a later date following Milestone A, which will need to be executed prior to Milestone B (September 15 Mainnet 13 spork). Just to stress again.
If you have any questions, please reach out directly.
Thank you,
The Flow Team 