Start Operator

Run the Operator Service using the start command with your Vault address and node endpoints. If you did not use Operator Service to generate keys or the hot wallet, you will need to provide the relevant paths via --keystores-dir, --hot-wallet-file, and --deposit-data-file flags. Choose the format matching your installation method:

Binary

./operator start \
  --vault=0xf27...10ad9 \
  --consensus-endpoints=https://consensus-node \
  --execution-endpoints=https://execution-node

Docker

For Docker, mount the folder containing validator keystores and include the --data-dir flag:

docker run --restart on-failure:10 \
-u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
-v ~/.stakewise/:/data \
europe-west4-docker.pkg.dev/stakewiselabs/public/v3-operator:v3.1.10 \
src/main.py start-local \
--vault=0xf27...10ad9 \
--data-dir=/data \
--consensus-endpoints=http://localhost:5052 \
--execution-endpoints=http://localhost:8545

Source Files

PYTHONPATH=. poetry run python src/main.py start-local \
--vault=0xf27...10ad9 \
--consensus-endpoints=http://localhost:5052 \
--execution-endpoints=http://localhost:8545

Configure via Environment Variables

Instead of CLI flags, you can configure the Operator Service using environment variables. Copy this example file ↗ and save it as .env. Load them before running:

export $(grep -v '^#' .env | xargs)

Optional Flags

Flag	Description
--network	Network of the Vault: mainnet, hoodi, or gnosis. Default: network specified at init command
--data-dir	Path where the Vault data will be placed. Default: ~/.stakewise
--database-dir	Directory where the database will be created or read from. Default: ~/.stakewise/<vault>
--execution-jwt-secret	JWT secret key used for signing and verifying JSON Web Tokens when connecting to execution nodes
--keystores-dir	Directory with validator keys in EIP-2335 ↗ format. Must contain a single password.txt or per-keystore password files (e.g., keystore1.json, keystore1.txt)
--keystores-password-file	Path to the password file for decrypting keystores
--hot-wallet-file	Path to the password-protected hot wallet private key file
--hot-wallet-password-file	Path to the hot wallet password file
--deposit-data-file	Path to deposit_data.json. Default: file generated with create-keys command
--harvest-vault	Keeps your Vault synced by calling updateState every 12 hours, reducing gas costs for users. The Vault state is also updated whenever users interact with it (deposits, withdrawals, etc.)
--max-fee-per-gas-gwei	Maximum gas fee per transaction. Default: 10 Gwei (Ethereum), 2 Gwei (Gnosis)
--min-validators-registration	Minimum number of validators required to start registration
--pool-size	Number of CPU cores used to load and create keystores. Default: all cores. For optimal performance, set to half your CPU cores to prevent overloading
--verbose	Enable debug mode, prints full output on error
--log-level	Set logging level: fatal, error, warning, info, debug
--log-format	Log record format: plain or json
--enable-metrics	Enable Prometheus metrics server
--metrics-host	Prometheus metrics host. Default: 127.0.0.1
--metrics-port	Prometheus metrics port. Default: 9100
--metrics-prefix	Prometheus metrics prefix. Default: sw_operator