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aere-docs/AERE-SHADOW-PRODUCER-SUMMARY.md

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Spec 13: Self-verifying parallel Shadow Block Producer

Note added 2026-08-19. Statements in this document that consensus on chain 2800 is (or remains) classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT were written before the post-quantum header anchor went live, and remain true for block-by-block finality. Since block 13,014,000 anchor blocks (every 32nd block, on every one since block 13,889,296) also carry, under the block hash, a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, and since 2026-08-14 a node rejects an anchor block with fewer than three valid seals (f+1 of nine; eight or nine are carried in practice). That is a post-quantum checkpoint about every 16 seconds, not a per-block quorum: the claim published on 2026-08-15 that from block 14,050,000 no block finalizes without a post-quantum quorum was wrong (the per-block rule armed at that height is retired in the shipped code in favour of the anchor rules) and was withdrawn on 2026-08-19. Details: https://aere.network/quantum.html and the aere-node repository, anchor/README.md.

Date: 2026-07-19. Chain 2800 (Aere Network mainnet), head ~10,364,611 at build time.

What was built

A live compliance monitor under aerenew/shadow-producer/ that re-derives each canonical chain-2800 block independently and raises a DIVERGENCE ALARM on any mismatch. It never produces the canonical chain (read-only monitor).

Files:

  • aerenew/shadow-producer/shadow-producer.mjs - the runner (real, runnable).
  • aerenew/shadow-producer/blockstm-adapter.mjs - Phase C [MEASURE] scaffold seam to the Block-STM parallel executor.
  • aerenew/shadow-producer/README.md - overview + honest scope + run instructions.
  • aerenew/shadow-producer/package.json - type:module, scripts, no deps (ethers resolved from repo installs via ../conformance/lib.mjs, same as the conformance suite).
  • aerenew/shadow-producer/logs/ - captured live run logs (monitor, selftest, reexec).
  • aerenew/docs/AERE-SHADOW-PRODUCER.md - architecture + honest-status design doc.

Phases

  • Phase A [FRESH, RUNS LIVE]: recompute QBFT block hash from header fields, assert == canonical blockHash; recover committed seals to quorum against the validator set AS OF THAT BLOCK (set grew N=3 -> N=7 over history; per-block set is the honest check).
  • Phase B [FRESH, RUNS LIVE]: for a post-EIP-2935 empty block the only state delta is one history-ring SSTORE, history[(n-1) % 8191] = blockhash(n-1); re-derive and assert. Verifiable for recent blocks (ring holds last 8191; public RPC non-archival).
  • Phase C [MEASURE, SCAFFOLD]: full parallel re-execution of the block's txs through the Block-STM executor -> full world-state root, diff vs canonical stateRoot. Needs a full-state node + forked-Besu parallel EVM; adapter emits an inspectable plan + the exact command. Faithful backend = aerenew/parallel/ (253 real blocks re-imported, 0 mismatch), NOT the toy Rust executor (which proves concurrency correctness only).

REAL run result (FRESH)

node shadow-producer.mjs against https://rpc.aere.network, chain 2800:

  • 29 blocks Phase A: block hash re-derived byte-for-byte at EVERY block, spanning the whole chain incl. EIP-2935 activation (9,189,161) and base-fee floor fork (10,141,734); per-block seal quorum verified (2/3 early N=3, 5/7 current N=7).
  • 17 EIP-2935 empty-block state-delta re-derivations verified (Phase B).
  • 75 total re-derivation assertions, 0 divergences, exit 0.
  • Non-vacuity self-test (--selftest): genuine block re-derives (PASS); one-byte stateRoot tamper is CAUGHT (PASS). Proves the alarm is not a rubber stamp.
  • Phase C (--reexec): emits [MEASURE] re-execution plans honestly (no fabricated root).

Flags / honesty

  • Parallel execution is NOT live on L1; canonical chain is sequential Besu. Stated everywhere.
  • Monitor never produces the canonical chain; a bug in it cannot affect consensus (writes nothing consensus reads). Zero-risk on-ramp reasoning documented.
  • Consensus stays classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT; not touched, not post-quantum.
  • Full parallel re-execution against real world state = [MEASURE]; block-fetch + hash/state-delta re-derivation = [FRESH] and actually ran.
  • No em-dashes / no "--" in prose (only markdown rules, tables, ASCII diagram, CLI in code fences). Brand "Aere Network"/"Aere" title case; ticker AERE uppercase.
  • One correctness fix during build: initial seal check wrongly used the current N=7 quorum on historical blocks -> false alarms; fixed to per-block validator set. This itself demonstrated the alarm firing, then passing cleanly once correct.
  • Reused existing hashing/RLP/seal helpers from aerenew/conformance/lib.mjs (did not reinvent). Wired to existing evidence (Block-STM, cross-client determinism, 253-block re-import) rather than inventing new numbers.