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seedward-chaincoord

seedward-chaincoord is a self-hosted coordination server for Cosmos SDK chain genesis launches.

It manages the full launch lifecycle — from assembling a committee, through validator applications and M-of-N approval, to M-of-N agreement on the final genesis and block monitoring — with a tamper-evident audit log at every step. coordd never runs a node, never holds a validator's signing key, and never assembles the final genesis itself — a committee member builds it locally with the chain binary once the committee has agreed. (coordd does hold its own Ed25519 keys for signing the audit log and session tokens.)

Newly released

seedward-chaincoord v1.0.0 is the first stable release — a Spec-Driven Development project: the protocol, the M-of-N committee governance model, the launch-lifecycle state machine, the threat model, and the offline-verifiable audit-log design were authored as a spec and implemented with AI assistance under review. It has not had an external security audit — review the security model and verify on your own infrastructure before high-value use.

Cosmos SDK only

seedward-chaincoord is purpose-built for Cosmos SDK chains. It works with standard gentx-based genesis files, secp256k1 operator keys, and CometBFT RPC endpoints. It is not compatible with EVM, Substrate, or other chain frameworks.

How it works

A launch moves through seven states, each gated by committee action:

flowchart LR
    DRAFT --> PUBLISHED --> WINDOW_OPEN --> WINDOW_CLOSED --> GENESIS_READY --> LAUNCHED
    GENESIS_READY --> WINDOW_CLOSED
    DRAFT & PUBLISHED & WINDOW_OPEN & WINDOW_CLOSED & GENESIS_READY --> CANCELED
State What happens
DRAFT Coordinator creates the launch and configures the committee
PUBLISHED Chain record published; initial genesis file hash committed
WINDOW_OPEN Members submit join requests (gentx + metadata) — launches are private (committee ∪ members only)
WINDOW_CLOSED Application window closes; BFT safety check passes (no single entity ≥ 1/3 voting power)
GENESIS_READY Committee reproduces the genesis from the approved inputs and attests its hash (M-of-N PUBLISH_GENESIS); validators then download and verify it
LAUNCHED Block monitoring detects the chain is live
CANCELED Launch aborted from any non-terminal state

Most state transitions are driven by proposals — committee actions that require M-of-N committee-member signatures before they execute. A couple of actions are direct: any committee member can open the application window, and the lead can directly cancel a DRAFT/PUBLISHED launch (once past PUBLISHED, cancellation is an M-of-N CANCEL_LAUNCH proposal). The move to LAUNCHED is detected automatically from the chain.

Key concepts

Committee — A group of N committee members, of which M must sign any proposal for it to execute (M-of-N threshold). One member is designated the lead.

Proposal — A signed, time-limited action raised by any committee member. A single VETO from any member kills it. Once M SIGN decisions are collected, it executes immediately.

Membership — Every launch is private. Only its committee and the addresses on its per-launch members list (managed directly by the committee) can see it or submit a join request; everyone else gets a 404.

Join request — A member's application to participate, carrying their gentx and self-delegation amount; the operator address is derived from the gentx's signer, not supplied as a trusted field.

Audit log — An append-only JSONL file recording every state transition and committee proposal. Each entry is signed with the server's Ed25519 key and can be verified offline with coordd audit verify.

Components

Component Role Status
coordd The coordination server — HTTP API + background jobs Stable — v1.0.0
seedward-chaincoord-web React + TypeScript web frontend — a separate repo; committee members and validators use their Keplr/Leap wallet to authenticate and drive the full launch lifecycle over coordd's HTTP API Beta — functional; drives the full lifecycle, but a deliberately minimal UI that will keep evolving
smoke-signer Test utility for signing committee and validator actions in smoke/E2E tests Test-only utility

Next steps