> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.spirals.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 🖥 Running a Validator

> How to run a regenerative validator by setting up a payment delegation on Celo

## Motivation

At the highest level our mission at Spirals is building regenerative web3
infrastructure. When we first started this journey, we spent a lot of time
working with validators – the core players powering proof-of-stake
infrastructure – to understand how they can become climate-positive and use this
to attract more stakers!

If you are here right now, it's probably because you are interested in running a
regenerative validator. We can't wait to support you on this journey and
exploring together how core blockchain infrastructure can heal the world 🌎

<Note>
  The following page assumes that you are running a validator on Celo. Support
  for this on other chains coming soon.
</Note>

## How does this work?

Today on Celo validators can set up a **payment delegation** to a beneficiary
address. This means that every epoch a fraction of the validator rewards in cUSD
is sent to the beneficiary, and this information is stored on Celo's core smart
contracts.

By setting up a payment delegation with the Spirals multi-sig on Celo as your
beneficiary, you can start to make a continuous, positive impact on climate
today!

## Can I do this today?

Yes! The section below shows you how you can do this today in 2 easy steps with
the Spirals multisig as the beneficiary. Feel free to give this a try, and you
can remove the payment delegation at anytime as well. Let's dive in 👇

### 1. Install `celocli`

`celocli` only supports node v12.x today so make sure you have that. `nvm` is a
pretty nifty package for managing multiple versions of node!

```bash theme={null}
$ nvm use 12

$ npm install -g @celo/celocli

$ celocli --version
@celo/celocli/1.7.3 darwin-x64 node-v12.22.12

$ source .env # load PRIVATE_KEY from .env file
$ export BENEFICIARY="0xb207D01Ae3816E5179eBaA93Acf9afD7F6d27A6d" # Spirals multisig on Celo
$ export FRACTION=0.1 # 10%
```

### 2. Setting the payment delegation

In this example I'm storing things in a private `.env` file locally, but there
are other ways to do this as well that are outlined in the Celo docs
[here](https://docs.celo.org/cli#import-accounts).

```
$ celocli account:set-payment-delegation --account 0xE1C46D6e7D44a446E2981A7C96F0cf9A9b097AF5 --beneficiary $BENEFICIARY --fraction $FRACTION --privateKey $PRIVATE_KEY
Payment delegation beneficiary and fraction are:

0xb207D01Ae3816E5179eBaA93Acf9afD7F6d27A6d 0.1
```

### 3. Sharing your impact 🤲

And that's it! Thank you setting up this payment delegation and committing to
running regenerative blockchain infrastructure. In the short-term, we hope to
ship some exciting features in the ecosystem to highlight the impact validators
we work with are making :

* 🔦 Impact metrics on **validator explorers** so you can attract new stakers
  through impact
* 📈 Monthly impact **reports** that you can share your impact with your
  community
* 💻 Spirals **dashboards** for understanding your impact and where the money is
  going

If at any point in time you would like to remove the payment delegation, you can
simply do that by calling `account:delete-payment-delegation`

Special shoutout to Aaron from VladiatorLabs for piloting this process with us
and providing valuable feedback 🙏