Configuration

Torsten reads a JSON configuration file that controls network settings, genesis file paths, P2P parameters, and tracing options. The format is compatible with the cardano-node configuration format.

Configuration File Format

The configuration file uses PascalCase keys (matching the cardano-node convention):

{
  "Network": "Testnet",
  "NetworkMagic": 2,
  "EnableP2P": true,
  "Protocol": {
    "RequiresNetworkMagic": "RequiresMagic"
  },
  "ShelleyGenesisFile": "shelley-genesis.json",
  "ByronGenesisFile": "byron-genesis.json",
  "AlonzoGenesisFile": "alonzo-genesis.json",
  "ConwayGenesisFile": "conway-genesis.json",
  "TargetNumberOfActivePeers": 20,
  "TargetNumberOfEstablishedPeers": 40,
  "TargetNumberOfKnownPeers": 100,
  "MinSeverity": "Info",
  "TraceOptions": {
    "TraceBlockFetchClient": false,
    "TraceBlockFetchServer": false,
    "TraceChainDb": false,
    "TraceChainSyncClient": false,
    "TraceChainSyncServer": false,
    "TraceForge": false,
    "TraceMempool": false
  }
}

Fields Reference

Network Settings

Field	Type	Default	Description
`Network`	string	`"Mainnet"`	Network identifier: `"Mainnet"` or `"Testnet"`
`NetworkMagic`	integer	auto	Network magic number. If omitted, derived from `Network` (764824073 for mainnet)
`EnableP2P`	boolean	`true`	Enable P2P networking mode

Protocol

Field	Type	Default	Description
`Protocol.RequiresNetworkMagic`	string	`"RequiresMagic"`	Whether network magic is required in handshake

Genesis file paths are resolved relative to the directory containing the configuration file. For example, if your config is at /opt/cardano/config.json and specifies "ShelleyGenesisFile": "shelley-genesis.json", Torsten will look for /opt/cardano/shelley-genesis.json.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`ShelleyGenesisFile`	string	none	Path to Shelley genesis JSON
`ByronGenesisFile`	string	none	Path to Byron genesis JSON
`AlonzoGenesisFile`	string	none	Path to Alonzo genesis JSON
`ConwayGenesisFile`	string	none	Path to Conway genesis JSON

Tip: Genesis files for each network can be downloaded from the Cardano Operations Book.

P2P Parameters

Field	Type	Default	Description
`TargetNumberOfActivePeers`	integer	20	Target number of active (hot) peers
`TargetNumberOfEstablishedPeers`	integer	40	Target number of established (warm) peers
`TargetNumberOfKnownPeers`	integer	100	Target number of known (cold) peers

Tracing

Field	Type	Default	Description
`MinSeverity`	string	`"Info"`	Minimum log severity level
`TraceOptions.TraceBlockFetchClient`	boolean	`false`	Trace block fetch client activity
`TraceOptions.TraceBlockFetchServer`	boolean	`false`	Trace block fetch server activity
`TraceOptions.TraceChainDb`	boolean	`false`	Trace ChainDB operations
`TraceOptions.TraceChainSyncClient`	boolean	`false`	Trace chain sync client activity
`TraceOptions.TraceChainSyncServer`	boolean	`false`	Trace chain sync server activity
`TraceOptions.TraceForge`	boolean	`false`	Trace block forging
`TraceOptions.TraceMempool`	boolean	`false`	Trace mempool activity

Log Level Control

Torsten uses the RUST_LOG environment variable for fine-grained log control:

# Default (info level)
RUST_LOG=info torsten-node run ...

# Debug level for all crates
RUST_LOG=debug torsten-node run ...

# Debug only for specific crates
RUST_LOG=torsten_network=debug,torsten_consensus=debug torsten-node run ...

# Trace level for detailed diagnostics
RUST_LOG=trace torsten-node run ...

Minimal Configuration

The smallest viable configuration file specifies only the network:

{
  "Network": "Testnet",
  "NetworkMagic": 2
}

All other fields use sensible defaults. When no genesis files are specified, the node operates with built-in default parameters.

Format Support

Torsten supports both JSON (.json) and TOML (.toml) configuration files. The format is determined by the file extension. JSON files use the cardano-node compatible PascalCase format shown above.

Torsten Documentation