SOF

SOF is a Solana-focused Rust workspace for low-latency data ingest and transaction execution.

It is split into three user-facing crates:

• sof: observer/runtime crate for shred ingest, relay/cache, dataset reconstruction, plugin and runtime-extension events, fork/reorg tracking, and local commitment tagging without RPC dependency
• sof-tx: transaction SDK for building, signing, and submitting Solana transactions through RPC, direct leader routing, hybrid fallback, and optional kernel-bypass transports
• sof-gossip-tuning: typed gossip and ingest tuning presets for hosts embedding sof

Highlights

• Low-latency shred ingest and dataset reconstruction
• Local processed / confirmed / finalized transaction tagging
• Plugin hooks and runtime extensions for downstream logic
• Replayable derived-state feed for restart-safe stateful services
• First-class sof-tx adapters for live plugin and replayable derived-state control-plane inputs
• Flow-safety policy evaluation for stale or degraded tx-control-plane state
• Optional gossip bootstrap and external kernel-bypass ingress
• Transaction submission with RPC, direct, hybrid, and kernel-bypass paths
• Typed gossip and ingest tuning presets for embedded SOF hosts

Repository Layout

• crates/sof-observer: published as sof
• crates/sof-tx: published as sof-tx
• crates/sof-gossip-tuning: typed host tuning presets for gossip bootstrap and ingest
• docs/architecture: ADRs, ARDs, and framework/runtime contracts
• docs/operations: deployment and tuning docs
• scripts: local tooling and helper scripts

Requirements

• Rust stable
• cargo-make for the full contributor gate

Install cargo-make if needed:

cargo install cargo-make

Install

Observer/runtime crate:

cargo add sof

Transaction SDK:

cargo add sof-tx

Typed host tuning presets:

cargo add sof-gossip-tuning

Feature examples:

sof = { version = "0.7.0", features = ["gossip-bootstrap"] }
sof-tx = { version = "0.7.0", features = ["sof-adapters"] }

Kernel-bypass integrations:

• sof supports external ingress APIs through --features kernel-bypass
• sof-tx supports custom direct transport adapters through --features kernel-bypass

Quick Start

Run the observer runtime example:

cargo run --release -p sof --example observer_runtime

Run the observer with gossip bootstrap:

cargo run --release -p sof --example observer_runtime --features gossip-bootstrap

Run the transaction SDK tests:

cargo test -p sof-tx

Run the derived-state service example:

cargo run --release -p sof --example derived_state_slot_mirror

Run the full contributor gate:

cargo make ci

Basic Setup Guides

• Observer/runtime setup: crates/sof-observer/README.md
• Transaction SDK setup: crates/sof-tx/README.md
• Typed gossip tuning setup: crates/sof-gossip-tuning/README.md
• Docs entry point: docs/README.md
• Contribution guide: CONTRIBUTING.md

Operational Notes

sof is not observer-only in gossip mode. By default it can also relay shreds and serve bounded repair responses.

To keep ingest/processing but reduce outward network activity:

• SOF_UDP_RELAY_ENABLED=false
• SOF_REPAIR_ENABLED=false

Documentation

• Docs home: docs/README.md
• Architecture index: docs/architecture/README.md
• Operations index: docs/operations/README.md
• Runtime bootstrap modes: docs/architecture/runtime-bootstrap-modes.md
• Plugin hook model: docs/architecture/framework-plugin-hooks.md
• Runtime extension model: docs/architecture/runtime-extension-hooks.md
• Derived-state feed contract: docs/architecture/derived-state-feed-contract.md
• Transaction SDK ADR: docs/architecture/adr/0006-transaction-sdk-and-dual-submit-routing.md

CI and Release

• CI workflow: .github/workflows/ci.yml
• Release workflow: .github/workflows/release-crates.yml