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Database Snapshots

Database snapshots let you quickly start your node without having to download all blocks from the very beginning. Instead, you use a pre-made version of the database that’s already in sync up to a certain block. This saves you a lot of time, especially if the network has many blocks.

There are two main ways to download and use a snapshot with Pathfinder:

Using Rclone for Snapshots​

Rclone is a command-line program to manage files on cloud storage. It is highly recommended for Pathfinder snapshots due to its reliability and support for resumable downloads.

Rclone Configuration​

  1. Follow the official installation guide for your operating system.
  2. Open or create your Rclone configuration file ($HOME/.config/rclone/rclone.conf) and add: 
    [pathfinder-snapshots]
    type = s3
    provider = Cloudflare
    env_auth = false
    access_key_id = 7635ce5752c94f802d97a28186e0c96d
    secret_access_key = 529f8db483aae4df4e2a781b9db0c8a3a7c75c82ff70787ba2620310791c7821
    endpoint = https://cbf011119e7864a873158d83f3304e27.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
    acl = private
  3. Use rclone to copy the compressed SQLite file to your local directory: 
    rclone copy -P pathfinder-snapshots:pathfinder-snapshots/mainnet_0.15.0_1067473_pruned.sqlite.zst .
tip

Add -P to get a progress display that helps you track the download status.

Downloading via HTTPS​

While HTTPS URLs are also provided, direct HTTPS downloads can sometimes be less reliable for very large files. If you must use HTTPS, verify you can resume downloads or maintain a stable connection. For example:

wget --continue https://pub-1fac64c3c0334cda85b45bcc02635c32.r2.dev/mainnet_0.15.0_1067473_pruned.sqlite.zst

Extracting Snapshots and Checksums​

Snapshots come as zstd-compressed SQLite files. Once the download completes, follow these steps:

  1. Compare the file’s checksum against the published value to ensure data integrity:

    sha256sum sepolia-testnet_0.14.0_209745_pruned.sqlite.zst
    # Compare with the listed hash in the documentation

  2. Use zstd (version 1.5 or later) to extract:

    zstd -T0 -d sepolia-testnet_0.14.0_209745_pruned.sqlite.zst -o testnet-sepolia.sqlite

    This produces an uncompressed file, e.g., testnet-sepolia.sqlite.

  3. If you intend to replace your existing database, stop the Pathfinder process, rename or remove your old database, and move the new file into place. For example:

    mv testnet-sepolia.sqlite /path/to/your/pathfinder/data/mainnet.sqlite

    Ensure your file names and paths match the network you’re running.

Available Snapshots​

The table below lists currently available snapshots, their block heights, and corresponding checksums. Refer to the official release page or the snapshot hosting platform for the latest files.

NetworkBlockPathfinder version requiredModeFilenameDownload URLCompressed sizeSHA2-256 checksum of compressed file
Mainnet1067473>= 0.15.0prunedmainnet_0.15.0_1067473_pruned.sqlite.zstDownload88 GBc389912316dc18f4ad370f8b64009f351e0fe10643f20101e70bd09209cdbf29
Mainnet1067473>= 0.15.0archivemainnet_0.15.0_1067473_archive.sqlite.zstDownload505.53 GBf04d09b92869bcbf52c58929674c0540abff7c3e9846394fcdb804b726d5f3a9
Sepolia testnet451735>= 0.15.0prunedsepolia-testnet_0.15.0_451735_pruned.sqlite.zstDownload8.8 GB79fada3814d721efb03a3c71a22d56ff95dd9a2d70dc0dd9b99ef47d4613be76
Sepolia testnet451735>= 0.15.0archivesepolia-testnet_0.15.0_451735_archive.sqlite.zstDownload32.21 GBb143779c172eb55ee449f6d686c626c1df67c3b3c66545c869af8bf73e846c38
info

Pruned mode retains limited historical state tries, reducing storage size but limiting storage-proof queries. (All queries other than storage proofs are unaffected.) Archive mode is fully historic, storing all state tries since genesis.