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This page answers one question before every other page: which versions you are dealing with. Read it before you install. Come back to it whenever a page in the Cosmos SDK or CometBFT sections looks different from what your node does.

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Mainnet

The release to run on the Cosmos Hub mainnet, chain-id cosmoshub-4, is gaia v28.3.1.
Any public remote procedure call (RPC) endpoint returns the application version its node runs. Compare two providers if the answer surprises you. On 2026-10-15 this returned v28.3.1 at height 33424490. Not every node reports the same patch number. On 2026-10-21 several public nodes still returned v28.3.0, the build that reached validators privately before the public v28.3.1 tag was published; it is the same patch under an earlier number. Upgrade history explains how those rows are recorded. Build or download v28.3.1.
The node_info.version field of the /status RPC endpoint reports 0.38.22 on a CometBFT v0.38.23 build, because the v0.38.23 tag did not bump its internal version string. Read the CometBFT version from go.mod or from gaiad version --long, not from /status.
Confirm the same numbers from your own binary:
The first command prints the gaia, Cosmos SDK, and Go versions. The second lists the dependency lines that carry the CometBFT, PebbleDB, ibc-go, and wasmd versions.

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Testnet

The public testnet, chain-id provider, runs the release candidate that will reach mainnet next. On 2026-10-15 it ran gaia v29.0.0-rc0, upgraded at height 19412200 on 2026-10-13.
The testnet is where operators rehearse upgrades. The current state of the testnet, the next planned upgrade, and the join scripts are in the cosmos/testnets provider README. The Join testnet page walks through it.

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Facts that depend on the version

  • The Hub currently runs Cosmos SDK v0.53 staking. gaia v28.3.1 has no command to rotate a validator key: gaiad tx staking --help lists cancel-unbond, create-validator, delegate, edit-validator, redelegate, and unbond only. The operator key can never be changed. The consensus key has no rotation path on the Hub. The node key is simply regenerated when needed.
  • The gaiad config command is confix v0.1.2. Setting a config.toml key needs gaiad config set config <key> <value> -s. Without -s, confix answers cometbft config is not supported. App keys work without it: gaiad config set app <key> <value>.
  • The database backend defaults to goleveldb. PebbleDB is built in (pebbledb). See Database backends.
  • The --x-crisis-skip-assert-invariants flag is gone. The pruning-keep-every option is gone. Both still appear in old guides.
  • The upgrade handlers compiled into v28.3.1 cover v28_2_0 only. Older upgrades require older binaries. See Upgrade history.

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Which upstream docs apply

The Cosmos SDK and CometBFT sections of this site document their newest releases, which are ahead of what the Hub runs. The table says which copy to read for each operator topic. Concept pages are safe on the newest copy. Configuration references are not, so they point at the archived copy that matches the Hub.

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Verify

Prints v28.3.1 for a mainnet binary built from the current tag. If your binary prints a different version, it is either an older release or a testnet release candidate.

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Next

System requirements, then Install gaiad.