Join the testnet

The public testnet runs the gaia release candidate that reaches mainnet next, so it is where you rehearse installs, upgrades, and validator operations with nothing at stake. You need a machine that meets the system requirements at the sentry tier or better. At the end you have a synced testnet node and, if you want one, a testnet validator. The source of truth for the testnet is the provider README in cosmos/testnets. It lists the current version, the next scheduled upgrade, endpoints, and join scripts. It changes with every release candidate. Values below were checked on 2026-10-15.

Testnet facts

Item	Value
Chain-id	`provider`
Denomination	`uatom`
gaia version	v29.0.0-rc0, upgraded from v28.2.0 at height 19412200 on 2026-10-13
Launched	2023-02-02 with gaia v9.0.0-rc2
Genesis	provider-genesis.json, sha256 `91870bfb8671f5d60c303f9da8e44b620a5403f913359cc6b212150bfc3e631d`
Minimum gas price	`0.005uatom`
Explorers	explorer.polypore.xyz/provider, Mintscan, testnet.itrocket.net/cosmos, explorer.nodestake.org
Faucet	faucet.polypore.xyz or the faucet channel on Discord
Snapshots	snapshots.polypore.xyz/provider

Confirm the version before installing anything:

curl -s https://rpc.provider-sentry-01.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz/abci_info | jq -r '.result.response.version'
curl -s https://rpc.provider-sentry-01.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz/status | jq -r '.result.node_info.network'

On 2026-10-15 these printed v29.0.0-rc0 and provider. The testnet upgrades one or two weeks ahead of mainnet, so the answer changes often.

Install the release candidate

Release candidates ship as bare signed binaries (gaiad-v29.0.0-rc0-linux-amd64 with an .asc signature and SHA256SUMS-v29.0.0-rc0.txt) and as the container tag ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.0-rc0. There is no tarball. Verification is the same as on Install gaiad: import the release key, run gpg --verify, then run sha256sum --check. For a source build, run git checkout v29.0.0-rc0 and make install with the Go version from that tag’s go.mod. Install the testnet binary to a separate path, for example /usr/local/bin/gaiad-testnet, if the machine also runs mainnet.

gaiad version

This must print v29.0.0-rc0 (or whatever the README names today) before you go on.

Initialize and install the genesis

gaiad init my-testnet-node --chain-id provider --home ~/.gaia-testnet
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cosmos/testnets/refs/heads/master/provider/provider-genesis.json -o ~/.gaia-testnet/config/genesis.json
sha256sum ~/.gaia-testnet/config/genesis.json

A separate home keeps testnet and mainnet apart on one machine. Every command below includes --home ~/.gaia-testnet. The checksum must be 91870bfb8671f5d60c303f9da8e44b620a5403f913359cc6b212150bfc3e631d.

Configure gas price, seeds, and client defaults

gaiad config set client chain-id provider --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config set app minimum-gas-prices 0.005uatom --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config set config p2p.seeds "08ec17e86dac67b9da70deb20177655495a55407@provider-seed-01.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz:26656,4ea6e56300a2f37b90e58de5ee27d1c9065cf871@provider-seed-02.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz:26656,84871382a3ffa5e781034b6519126f2d5ea29f15@cosmos-testnet-seed.itrocket.net:21656" -s --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config get config p2p.seeds --home ~/.gaia-testnet

These write client.toml, minimum-gas-prices in app.toml, and [p2p] seeds in config.toml. The seeds are the ones in the testnet README on 2026-10-15. The -s flag is required for config.toml keys on this gaia version.

State sync

The testnet publishes two state sync remote procedure call (RPC) servers. Fetch a trust height and hash. Then write the [statesync] keys exactly as on Sync a node, with these servers:

RPC=https://rpc.provider-state-sync-01.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz:443
LATEST=$(curl -s $RPC/block | jq -r .result.block.header.height)
TRUST_HEIGHT=$(( (LATEST - 2000) / 1000 * 1000 ))
TRUST_HASH=$(curl -s "$RPC/block?height=$TRUST_HEIGHT" | jq -r .result.block_id.hash)
gaiad config set config statesync.enable true -s --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config set config statesync.rpc_servers "https://rpc.provider-state-sync-01.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz:443,https://rpc.provider-state-sync-02.hub-testnet.polypore.xyz:443" -s --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config set config statesync.trust_height "$TRUST_HEIGHT" -s --home ~/.gaia-testnet
gaiad config set config statesync.trust_hash "$TRUST_HASH" -s --home ~/.gaia-testnet

A snapshot archive from snapshots.polypore.xyz is the alternative. Restore it as on Sync a node.

Start the node

gaiad start --home ~/.gaia-testnet

Watch for the state sync snapshot to apply and blocks to execute. Then move the node under systemd as on Run gaiad as a service, with the testnet home and binary in the unit. Use Cosmovisor here too. The testnet is where you learn what an upgrade looks like before mainnet does it for real.

The testnets repository also ships join-provider.sh (plain systemd) and join-provider-cv.sh (Cosmovisor) under provider/, which do the steps above on a fresh Ubuntu machine. Read a script before running it. The Cosmovisor variant enables binary auto download, which this site does not recommend for mainnet.

Get test ATOM

A validator needs a self delegation. Every transaction needs fees. Create a key in the test keyring and fund it:

gaiad keys add testnet-operator --keyring-backend test --home ~/.gaia-testnet

This prints the new cosmos1... address and a mnemonic. The test keyring stores the key unencrypted on disk, which is fine for test ATOM and never for mainnet. Paste the address into faucet.polypore.xyz or post it in the Discord faucet channel. Then confirm the balance once the node is synced:

gaiad query bank balances $(gaiad keys show testnet-operator -a --keyring-backend test --home ~/.gaia-testnet) --home ~/.gaia-testnet

Create a testnet validator

The transaction is the same as on mainnet. Write validator.json with the consensus public key from your node. Then submit it:

gaiad comet show-validator --home ~/.gaia-testnet

{
  "pubkey": {"@type": "/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey", "key": "<key from show-validator>"},
  "amount": "1000000uatom",
  "moniker": "my-testnet-validator",
  "identity": "",
  "website": "",
  "security": "",
  "details": "",
  "commission-rate": "0.10",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.20",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.01",
  "min-self-delegation": "1"
}

gaiad tx staking create-validator validator.json --from testnet-operator --keyring-backend test --gas auto --gas-adjustment 3 --gas-prices 0.005uatom --home ~/.gaia-testnet

The testnet validator guide uses --gas auto --gas-adjustment 3. The simulation under estimates this transaction. After it is included,

gaiad query staking validator $(gaiad keys show testnet-operator --bech val -a --keyring-backend test --home ~/.gaia-testnet) --home ~/.gaia-testnet

shows the new validator. Whether it enters the active set depends on the stake of the current set. The testnet validator guide has the current advice. The key facts from Validator setup apply here too. The cosmosvaloper operator address you just created can never be changed, and the consensus key in priv_validator_key.json has no rotation path on this gaia version.

Rehearse an upgrade

Testnet upgrades are announced in the README and in the testnet channel on Discord. They follow the same two patterns as mainnet: a governance proposal with a plan height, or a coordinated halt height. The Upgrade a node runbook applies unchanged. Running gaiad query upgrade plan --home ~/.gaia-testnet shows the pending plan once a proposal has passed.

Verify

gaiad status --home ~/.gaia-testnet | jq '{network: .node_info.network, height: .sync_info.latest_block_height, catching_up: .sync_info.catching_up}'

The network field is provider. The catching_up field becomes false when the node reaches the height the explorer shows.

Join mainnet with what you learned, or Upgrade a node to prepare for the next testnet upgrade.

Cosmos Hub

Testnet facts

Install the release candidate

Get test ATOM

Create a testnet validator

Rehearse an upgrade

Verify

Next

​Testnet facts

​Install the release candidate

​Get test ATOM

​Create a testnet validator

​Rehearse an upgrade

​Verify

​Next

Testnet facts

Install the release candidate

Get test ATOM

Create a testnet validator

Rehearse an upgrade

Verify

Next