Kora Node Operator Guide

Name: kora-operator
Rating: 92
Author: solana-foundation

Run Kora nodes to validate, sign, and sponsor Solana transaction fees for your users.

Docs: https://launch.solana.com/docs/kora/operators Install: cargo install kora-cli Source: https://github.com/solana-foundation/kora

Quick Start

bash

# Install
cargo install kora-cli

# Minimal config files needed: kora.toml + signers.toml

# Validate config
kora --config kora.toml config validate

# Start server
kora --config kora.toml rpc start --signers-config signers.toml

# Initialize payment ATAs (for receiving token payments)
kora --config kora.toml rpc initialize-atas --signers-config signers.toml

CLI Reference

bash

# Global flags
kora --config <path>     # kora.toml location (default: ./kora.toml)
kora --rpc-url <url>     # Solana RPC URL (overrides config, env: RPC_URL)

# Commands
kora config validate                    # Validate kora.toml
kora config validate-with-rpc           # Validate with live RPC calls
kora rpc start --signers-config <path>  # Start RPC server
kora rpc start --no-load-signer         # Start without loading signers (limited functionality)
kora rpc start --port 8080              # Custom port (default: 8080)
kora rpc start --logging-format json    # JSON logging (default: standard)
kora rpc initialize-atas --signers-config <path>  # Initialize payment ATAs

# ATA init options
--fee-payer-key <base58>     # Custom fee payer for ATA creation
--compute-unit-price <num>   # Priority fee
--compute-unit-limit <num>   # Compute budget
--chunk-size <num>           # Batch size for ATA creation

Configuration Overview

Two config files required:

File	Purpose
`kora.toml`	Server config: validation, auth, pricing, caching, methods, metrics
`signers.toml`	Signer pool: keys, types, selection strategy

Minimal kora.toml

toml

[kora]
rate_limit = 100

[validation]
max_allowed_lamports = 1000000
max_signatures = 10
price_source = "Mock"  # or "Jupiter" (requires JUPITER_API_KEY env var)

allowed_programs = [
    "11111111111111111111111111111111",
    "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA",
    "ATokenGPvbdGVxr1b2hvZbsiqW5xWH25efTNsLJA8knL",
    "ComputeBudget111111111111111111111111111111",
]

allowed_tokens = ["<your-token-mint>"]
allowed_spl_paid_tokens = ["<your-token-mint>"]

[validation.price]
type = "margin"
margin = 0.1  # 10% markup

Minimal signers.toml

toml

[signer_pool]
strategy = "round_robin"  # or "random", "weighted"

[[signers]]
name = "signer_1"
type = "memory"
private_key_env = "KORA_PRIVATE_KEY"
weight = 1

Detailed References

•Full kora.toml reference: See references/configuration.md - all sections, fields, and production examples
•Signer types and setup: See references/signers.md - memory, Turnkey, Privy, Vault configuration
•Fee calculation and pricing: See references/fees.md - fee components, pricing models, security considerations

Key Operator Decisions

Pricing Model

Model	Use Case	Security
`margin` (default)	Charge users cost + markup	Safest - includes fee payer outflow
`fixed`	Flat fee per transaction	Must disable fee payer transfers in policy
`free`	Sponsor all fees	Must disable fee payer transfers in policy

Authentication

Both optional, can be used simultaneously:

•API Key: Simple x-api-key header. Set api_key in [kora.auth] or KORA_API_KEY env var.
•HMAC: Cryptographic signature with timestamp. Set hmac_secret in [kora.auth] or KORA_HMAC_SECRET env var.

Fee Payer Policy

Control what actions the fee payer can perform in transactions. All default to false (restrictive). Explicitly set to true only what you need.

Critical for fixed/free pricing: ensure allow_transfer remains false (the default) on system and token programs to prevent fee payer fund drain.

Caching

Optional Redis caching for token account lookups:

toml

[kora.cache]
enabled = true
url = "redis://localhost:6379"
default_ttl = 300
account_ttl = 60

Monitoring

Optional Prometheus metrics at /metrics:

toml

[metrics]
enabled = true
endpoint = "/metrics"
port = 9090

Key metrics: kora_http_requests_total, kora_http_request_duration_seconds, signer_balance_lamports.

Deployment

Docker

Pre-built image available:

bash

docker pull ghcr.io/solana-foundation/kora:v2.0.4
docker run -v ./kora.toml:/kora.toml -v ./signers.toml:/signers.toml \
  -e RPC_URL=https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com \
  -e KORA_PRIVATE_KEY=<key> \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/solana-foundation/kora:v2.0.4

Or build from source:

dockerfile

FROM rust:1.86-bookworm AS builder
RUN cargo install kora-cli
FROM debian:bookworm-slim
COPY --from=builder /usr/local/cargo/bin/kora /usr/local/bin/kora
COPY kora.toml signers.toml ./
ENV RPC_URL=https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com
CMD ["kora", "rpc", "start", "--signers-config", "signers.toml"]

Railway

•Create project with kora.toml, signers.toml, Dockerfile
•railway login && railway init && railway up
•Set env vars in dashboard: RPC_URL, KORA_PRIVATE_KEY, RUST_LOG
•Generate public domain from settings

Docs: https://launch.solana.com/docs/kora/operators/deployment/railway

Kora Core Development

For contributors working on the Kora codebase itself:

bash

make build          # Build all crates
make build-lib      # Build kora-lib only
make build-cli      # Build kora-cli only
make check          # Check formatting
make fmt            # Format + lint with auto-fix
make unit-test      # Run unit tests
make integration-test  # Run full integration test suite