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Relay Contracts Overview

Relay Contracts provide the on-chain infrastructure for building peer-to-peer validator networks within the Symbiotic ecosystem. These contracts serve as the critical bridge between Symbiotic Core's stake management and the off-chain Relay binary that runs validator networks.

What Relay Contracts Provide​

Relay Contracts offer a complete smart contract SDK for deploying and managing validator networks that:

  • Connect vault stakes to network operators - Transform delegated stake from Symbiotic Core vaults into voting power for validator networks
  • Manage validator sets - Derive and maintain validator sets epoch by epoch based on stake and operator status
  • Handle cryptographic keys - Verify and manage operator keys for different signature schemes (BLS, ECDSA)
  • Commit validator state - Provide settlement contracts that commit current validator sets to various blockchains
  • Enable flexible operator onboarding - Support various operator management schemes through modular extensions

Role in the Symbiotic Relay Ecosystem​

Relay Contracts act as the coordination layer in a three-part system:

  1. Symbiotic Core - Manages vaults, operators, and stake delegation
  2. Relay Contracts (this SDK) - Orchestrates validator sets and provides on-chain interfaces
  3. Relay Binary - Runs the actual peer-to-peer network using validator sets from contracts

The flow works as follows:

  • Operators stake in Symbiotic Core vaults
  • Relay Contracts translate stake into voting power and derive validator sets
  • ValSetDriver contract provides validator set data to Relay binary nodes
  • Settlement contracts commit validator set state across different blockchains
  • Applications can verify signatures against committed validator sets

Target Use Cases​

This SDK is designed for experienced Solidity developers who want to:

  • Deploy their own validator networks with custom economic and governance rules
  • Integrate with Symbiotic's restaking infrastructure to bootstrap network security
  • Build cross-chain applications that require decentralized validation
  • Experiment with different validator set management approaches

Prerequisites​

  • Solidity development experience - Advanced knowledge of smart contract development
  • Symbiotic ecosystem familiarity - Understanding of operators, vaults, and restaking concepts
  • Foundry/Forge toolchain - For deployment and testing
  • Basic cryptography knowledge - Understanding of BLS and ECDSA signatures

What's Next​

This documentation will guide you through:

  • Understanding the modular architecture
  • Setting up a local development environment
  • Deploying your first validator network
  • Customizing the system for your specific needs
  • Integrating with the broader Relay ecosystem