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Registration and Licensing

To earn the 3% light-node reward share, a light node must be registered on-chain and must keep proving that it is alive. This page covers how registration works, how the node proves liveness, and how to register and license a node through the Dashboard.

On-chain registration​

Registration records your light node on the chain so the protocol knows it exists, what type it is (sx or ux), and which operator key controls it. Once registered and live, the node becomes eligible for the light-node reward share.

Generating the registration command​

The SX edition can print the exact chain command to register this node. Run:

lightnode-sx register

This reads your operator key from the keyring and prints a ready-to-run qorechaind transaction along with your operator address, node type, and version. The command takes two optional flags:

  • --type — the node type, sx or ux (defaults to sx).
  • --version — the node version to register (defaults to the binary's own version).

The printed command registers the node under the x/lightnode module on-chain. Submit it with a funded operator account on the network you are joining (testnet qorechain-diana or mainnet qorechain-vladi).

note

lightnode-sx register prints the registration transaction for you to review and submit — it does not broadcast on its own. This keeps you in control of when and how the node is registered.

Heartbeat liveness proofs​

Registration alone is not enough to stay eligible. A registered light node must continuously prove it is online by submitting heartbeat liveness proofs. These heartbeats are how the chain distinguishes active nodes — which are eligible for the reward share — from registered-but-offline nodes.

In practice this means a node that is registered and kept running (and synced) maintains its eligibility, while a node that goes offline stops proving liveness and loses eligibility until it returns. Keeping the daemon running and healthy is therefore part of earning rewards — see Rewards and Monitoring for how to watch heartbeat and sync health.

PQC-cosigned heartbeat pipeline​

QoreChain is PQC-required by default, so the heartbeat liveness transaction is produced through a post-quantum co-signed pipeline rather than a classical-only signature. The daemon builds the unsigned heartbeat, then co-signs it with a hybrid Dilithium-5 (ML-DSA-87) signature before broadcast — the same post-quantum posture the chain enforces for every transaction. The node submits one heartbeat per interval_blocks window (matching the chain's heartbeat_interval parameter), pacing itself by block height to avoid early-submission rejections.

On-chain heartbeats are opt-in in the daemon: enable the [heartbeat] section in the node config (enabled = true) and point qorechaind_path at a qorechaind binary, which performs the generate-then-co-sign flow. When this is not configured, the node runs without submitting on-chain heartbeats and the operator can submit liveness manually with the printed chain commands.

Registering and licensing via the Dashboard​

You can also register a node and obtain a license through the QoreChain Dashboard, which provides a guided flow instead of constructing chain commands by hand.

  • Register your node from Tools → Node Registration.
  • Obtain or renew a license from Tools → Buy License.

The Dashboard flow walks you through associating your operator key, choosing the node type and network, and completing the on-chain registration. Use it if you prefer a UI over the CLI, or to manage licensing alongside registration in one place.

Where to go next​