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 flags — see Keystore & Wallet below.

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

Setup Complete

Congratulations! Your Operator Service is now running and ready to trigger validator registrations within your Vault. Monitor the logs to ensure validators are being registered successfully.

Optional Flags

General

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

Keystore & Wallet

Only needed if you didn't use the Operator Service to generate keys and hot wallet.

Flag	Description
--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

Automation

Enable this flag to automate Vault state updates:

Flag	Description
--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.)

Gas & Performance

Control transaction costs and resource usage:

Flag	Description
--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

Logging

Configure log output and Prometheus metrics:

Flag	Description
--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

Environment Variables

Operator Service can be configured via environment variables instead of CLI flags. Copy this example file ↗ and save it as .env. Adjust as necessary based on your node configuration.

Load environment variables before running Operator Service:

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