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Agave Validator Documentation

Agave is a validator client for the Solana blockchain, maintained by the core engineering team at Anza. It is a fork of the original Solana validator software, designed for mass adoption with high-performance capabilities across finance, NFTs, payments, and gaming applications. Solana operates as a single global state machine that is open, interoperable, and decentralized. Agave is one of several Solana validator clients, providing the infrastructure to participate in network consensus and transaction processing.

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Get Started

Quickstart

Get a local test validator running in minutes

Installation

Install Agave from source or prebuilt binaries

What is Agave

Learn about Agave’s architecture and features

CLI Tools

Install and use the Solana CLI tool suite

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Key Features

High Performance

Optimized transaction processing using pipelined architecture with TPU and TVU components

Proof-of-Stake

Energy-efficient consensus mechanism with Tower BFT for fast finality

Developer Friendly

Complete CLI tool suite with test validator for local development

Production Ready

Battle-tested on Solana mainnet-beta with comprehensive monitoring tools

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Core Documentation

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Understanding the Architecture

Get to know the underlying architecture of how the proof-of-stake blockchain works:
  • Clusters - A collection of validators that work together for consensus
  • Validators - Individual nodes that form the backbone of the network
  • Runtime - Native programs that are core to the validator and blockchain
  • Pipelining - Optimized processing using TPU (Transaction Processing Unit) and TVU (Transaction Validation Unit)

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Running a Validator

Explore what it takes to operate an Agave validator and help secure the network:
  • Validator vs RPC node differences
  • System requirements and hardware recommendations
  • Quick start guide for setting up your first validator
  • Networking and firewall configuration

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Command Line Tools

The Solana CLI tool suite provides everything you need to interact with the network:
  • Install and configure the CLI tools
  • Create and manage wallets
  • Choose a cluster (devnet, testnet, mainnet-beta)
  • Deploy and interact with on-chain programs

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Next Steps

Start Building

Follow the quickstart guide to run a local test validator and start developing on Agave