An EVM-based autoscaling blockchain platform

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Features
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Running the Network Locally
  • Running the JSON-RPC Server
• Testing with MetaMask
• Testing with Jest
• Stopping and Cleaning Up
• Health Checks
• Contributing
• Community
• License

Introduction

Shardeum is an innovative EVM-compliant blockchain platform that leverages dynamic state sharding to achieve unprecedented scalability. By implementing a sharding model, Shardeum ensures faster processing times and lower transaction costs without compromising security or decentralization.

Features

• Scalability: Horizontal scalability through sharding
• High Performance: Low latency and high throughput
• Security: Advanced cryptographic techniques and robust consensus protocols
• Decentralization: Truly decentralized network with no single point of failure
• Interoperability: EVM compatibility for existing DApps and smart contracts

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18.19.1)
• npm (v10.2.4)
• Rust (v1.74.1)
• Docker (optional, for containerized deployment)

Setting Up Your Environment

Shardeum requires specific versions of Nodejs, Rust and other build tools to run.

We have detailed setup instructions in this page

[!IMPORTANT] This is a crucial step, ensure your local environment is correctly set up before proceeding with the next steps

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/shardeum/shardeum.git
cd shardeum

2. Install dependencies:

npm ci

3. Network Configuration:

export LOAD_JSON_CONFIGS=[full-path-to-your-local-shardeum-repo]/debug-10-nodes.config.json

For instance, if your local shardeum repo is on this path /Users/john/Desktop/projects/shardeum/ then you would run:

export LOAD_JSON_CONFIGS=/Users/john/Desktop/projects/shardeum/debug-10-nodes.config.json

Learn more about the different config options here

4. Compile project

npm run prepare

5. Install the Shardus CLI:

npm install -g @shardeum-foundation/tools-shardus-cli
npm update @shardeum-foundation/archiver

Running the Network Locally

To start a local Shardeum network with 10 nodes, run:

shardus start 10

Running the JSON-RPC Server

1. Clone the JSON-RPC server repository:

git clone https://github.com/shardeum/json-rpc-server.git
cd json-rpc-server
npm install

2. Start the server:

npm run start

The default RPC URL is http://localhost:8080.

Testing with MetaMask

To test your local Shardeum network using MetaMask:

1. Install the MetaMask extension.
2. Add the Shardeum network to MetaMask:

• Network Name: Shardeum
• RPC URL: http://localhost:8080
• Chain ID: 8082
• Currency Symbol: SHM
• Block Explorer URL: http://localhost:6001/

3. Obtaining Test Tokens and Configuring the Genesis File: To receive SHM tokens for testing on your local Shardeum network, you need to add your wallet address to the src/config/genesis.json file. Open this file in a text editor and add an entry for your wallet address with the desired SHM balance like this:

"YOUR-WALLET-ADDRESS": {
    "wei": "200000000000000000000000000"
},

Testing with Jest

src/index.ts is mocked for all tests. You can see how its mocked out in the test/unit/setup.ts file. Don’t import the index file directly if you can since it has a lot of dependencies, import the specific files you need in your implementation or test files.

Stopping and Cleaning Up

To stop the network and clean up resources:

shardus stop && shardus clean && rm -rf instances

Health Checks

Diagnostic endpoints to check the health of the node

• GET /is-alive this endpoint returns 200 if the server is running.
• GET /is-healthy currently the same as /is-alive but will be expanded.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contribution Guidelines for more information. All contributors are expected to adhere to our Code of Conduct.

Community

• GitHub Discussions
• Discord
• X (formerly Twitter)

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.