For Validators

BAM (Blockspace Assembly Market) extends the Jito-Solana client to interface with external schedulers via gRPC, receiving pre-sequenced transaction bundles and executing them in FIFO order with respect to account locks. This design maintains network security while enabling sophisticated transaction ordering strategies.

Access to BAM is fully permissionless, and any validator can join mainnet or testnet by following the instructions below.

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Understanding the Architecture

BAM Architecture Overview

The BAM system operates within a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), providing secure transaction scheduling while maintaining validator sovereignty over block production.

Step 2: Download the Source Code

The BAM client is open source and available on GitHub:

• BAM Client Repository - Full source code, build instructions, and development documentation

Step 3: Choose Your Region

Connect to the BAM cluster closest to your validator:

Step 4: Configure Your Validator

Running the BAM validator client is similar to running Jito-Solana, but requires one mandatory configuration addition:

# Required BAM configuration flag
--bam-url <BAM_NODE_URL>                    # Connect to BAM scheduler

# Additional important flags for Block Engine integration
--shred-receiver-address <ADDRESS>          # Shred receiver address, described in https://docs.jito.wtf/lowlatencytxnsend/#api
--block-engine-url <BLOCK_ENGINE_URL>       # Block engine endpoint, described in https://docs.jito.wtf/lowlatencytxnsend/#api

Testnet Example:

solana-validator \
  --identity /path/to/validator-keypair.json \
  --vote-account /path/to/vote-account-keypair.json \
  --ledger /path/to/ledger \
  --bam-url http://ny.testnet.bam.jito.wtf \
  --shred-receiver-address 64.130.35.224:1002 \
  --block-engine-url https://ny.testnet.block-engine.jito.wtf \
  --rpc-port 8899 \
  --tip-payment-program-pubkey GJHtFqM9agxPmkeKjHny6qiRKrXZALvvFGiKf11QE7hy \
  --tip-distribution-program-pubkey F2Zu7QZiTYUhPd7u9ukRVwxh7B71oA3NMJcHuCHc29P2 \
  --merkle-root-upload-authority 7heQNXEtxSv3wV8sNbuQsDN5xNGbbpLvHGiyXuJxEf7n \
  --commission-bps 800 \
  # ... your other testnet configuration

Mainnet Example:

solana-validator \
  --identity /path/to/validator-keypair.json \
  --vote-account /path/to/vote-account-keypair.json \
  --ledger /path/to/ledger \
  --bam-url http://ny.mainnet.bam.jito.wtf \
  --shred-receiver-address 141.98.216.96:1002 \
  --block-engine-url https://ny.mainnet.block-engine.jito.wtf \
  --rpc-port 8899 \
  --tip-payment-program-pubkey T1pyyaTNZsKv2WcRAB8oVnk93mLJw2XzjtVYqCsaHqt \
  --tip-distribution-program-pubkey 4R3gSG8BpU4t19KYj8CfnbtRpnT8gtk4dvTHxVRwc2r7 \
  --merkle-root-upload-authority 8F4jGUmxF36vQ6yabnsxX6AQVXdKBhs8kGSUuRKSg8Xt \
  --commission-bps 800 \
  # ... your other mainnet configuration

Enabling Metrics Collection (Optional)

To enable metrics collection for your BAM validator, export the following environment variable:

Testnet:

export SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG="host=http://bam-public-metrics.jito.wtf:8086,db=testnet-bam-validators,u=testnet-bam-validator,p=wambamdamn"

Mainnet:

export SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG="host=http://bam-public-metrics.jito.wtf:8086,db=mainnet-bam-validators,u=mainnet-bam-validator,p=wambamdamn"

Step 5: Runtime Configuration (Optional)

You can update the BAM configuration during runtime using the Admin RPC without restarting your validator.

Enable or Update BAM URL

# Update BAM URL without restarting
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"setBamUrl","params":["http://ny.mainnet.bam.jito.wtf"]}' | \
socat - UNIX-CONNECT:admin.rpc

Disable BAM

# Disable BAM (returns to normal Agave mode)
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"setBamUrl","params":[null]}' | \
socat - UNIX-CONNECT:admin.rpc

Alternative: Using the CLI

You can also configure BAM using the agave-validator CLI tool:

# Set or update BAM URL
agave-validator --ledger <DIR> set-bam-config --bam-url <bam_url>

# Disable BAM (leave --bam-url empty)
agave-validator --ledger <DIR> set-bam-config --bam-url

Example:

# Enable BAM with NY mainnet endpoint
agave-validator --ledger /path/to/ledger set-bam-config --bam-url http://ny.mainnet.bam.jito.wtf

# Disable BAM
agave-validator --ledger /path/to/ledger set-bam-config --bam-url

Operational Modes

Your validator operates in one of these modes depending on your configuration:

🔒 Security & Audits

Current Audit Status:

• Ottersec - Validator code audit (View Report)
• Anza - Validator code review (completion mid-August 2025)
• Asymmetric Research - Node code audit (in progress)

Support

• Technical Questions: Discord Community
• BAM Technical Forum: BAM Forum