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Run a Pearl full node

A full node checks Pearl’s rules for itself and relays valid transactions and blocks. Running one makes you independent of anyone else’s view of the chain, even if you never mine a block.

Intermediate
2 min read
Updated October 20, 2026
4 sources

01 Node, wallet and miner are different jobs

pearld: Full node; Validates and relays the chain
Oyster: Wallet daemon; Holds keys and creates transactions
prlctl: Control utility; Talks to the node and wallet over RPC
vLLM miner: Mining workload; Competes to produce blocks

02 Install from an official release

Pearl publishes ready-made programs for macOS, Linux and Windows on its release page (opens in a new tab). The official one-line installers put pearld, prlctl, Oyster and oystercli on your machine with local-only mainnet defaults; Oyster uses the light client by default.

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pearl-research-labs/pearl/master/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pearl-research-labs/pearl/master/install.ps1 | iex

Building from source? Use the repository’s own build tasks (task build:blockchain). They compile with the xmss and zkpow tags; a plain go build produces a node that can’t verify block certificates.

03 Default network ports

Mainnet peers (P2P): 44108
Mainnet node RPC: 44107
Mainnet wallet RPC: 44207
Testnet P2P / RPC: 44110 / 44109
Testnet2 P2P / RPC: 44112 / 44111
Mainnet DNS seeds: 3; reef.seeder.pearlnetwork.net, tide.seeder.pearlnetwork.net, stream.seeder.pearlnetwork.net

04 Operating checklist

Run a supported release and watch for security and release updates.
Leave disk headroom for chain growth, logs and upgrades.
Monitor peer count, block height, disk use, clock accuracy and restarts. Pearl rejects blocks timestamped more than five minutes in the future.
Back up wallet material separately: a copy of the chain can be re-downloaded, a seed can’t.
Test upgrades before applying them to a machine that also controls real funds.
Keep mining RPC credentials separate from unrelated services.

05 Upgrades and forks

Pearl’s rule changes activate at fixed block heights. When a release announces a fork, upgrade before that height, or your node will follow a chain nobody else is on. The timeline lists every fork so far.

Since v1.4.8 the node finds peers through seeders under pearlnetwork.net, and v1.5.0 and later ship a built-in checkpoint at block 120,000 that protects new nodes while they sync.

06 Questions people ask

Do I need a GPU to run a node?

No. Verifying certificates is designed to be far cheaper than producing them. An ordinary always-on computer with enough disk space works.

Does running a node earn PRL?

No. Nodes validate and relay; only mining earns block rewards. The payoff is independence: your node trusts nobody else’s view of the chain.

Sources

Checked Oct 20, 2026

Software and protocol details change. Use LearnPearl to get oriented, then confirm anything involving money, keys or hardware at the official source.

Keep going

Next: the network’s numbers, defined.

Which parameters are fixed, which metrics move every block, and how to read them.

Pearl network guide Developer guide