How to host Flashblocks-aware RPC nodes

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites:

   • Docker and Docker Compose
   • Minimum hardware requirements (see node README)
   • Access to a Flashblocks websocket endpoint, we provide public endpoints in the env files in the repo

2. Set Up Environment:

   # Clone the repository
   git clone https://github.com/base/node.git
   cd node

3. Start the Node with Flashblocks Support:

   NODE_TYPE=base CLIENT=reth docker-compose up

Configuration Options

• Node Type: Use NODE_TYPE=base to enable base reth node withFlashblocks functionality
• Network: Use NETWORK_ENV=.env.mainnet for mainnet or NETWORK_ENV=.env.sepolia for testnet

Verifying Flashblocks Functionality

Test that your node is properly supporting Flashblocks by querying a pending block:

curl -X POST \
  --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_getBlockByNumber","params":["pending", false],"id":1}' \
  http://localhost:8545

Available RPC Methods

Flashblocks-aware nodes provide all standard Ethereum JSON-RPC methods plus specialized Flashblocks endpoints. For more details, see the Flashblocks RPC API documentation.

Further Resources

For detailed information about node setup, including hardware requirements and additional configuration options, refer to the Reth node README.