tendermint/docs/specification/genesis.rst

Genesis
=======

The genesis.json file in ``$TMHOME/config`` defines the initial TendermintCore
state upon genesis of the blockchain (`see
definition <https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/blob/master/types/genesis.go>`__).

Fields
~~~~~~

-  ``genesis_time``: Official time of blockchain start.
-  ``chain_id``: ID of the blockchain. This must be unique for every
   blockchain. If your testnet blockchains do not have unique chain IDs,
   you will have a bad time.
-  ``validators``:
-  ``pub_key``: The first element specifies the pub\_key type. 1 ==
   Ed25519. The second element are the pubkey bytes.
-  ``power``: The validator's voting power.
-  ``name``: Name of the validator (optional).
-  ``app_hash``: The expected application hash (as returned by the
   ``Commit`` ABCI message) upon genesis. If the app's hash does not
   match, a warning message is printed.
-  ``app_state``: The application state (e.g. initial distribution of tokens).

Sample genesis.json
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. code:: json

    {
      "genesis_time": "2016-02-05T06:02:31.526Z",
      "chain_id": "chain-tTH4mi",
      "validators": [
        {
          "pub_key": [
            1,
            "9BC5112CB9614D91CE423FA8744885126CD9D08D9FC9D1F42E552D662BAA411E"
          ],
          "power": 1,
          "name": "mach1"
        },
        {
          "pub_key": [
            1,
            "F46A5543D51F31660D9F59653B4F96061A740FF7433E0DC1ECBC30BE8494DE06"
          ],
          "power": 1,
          "name": "mach2"
        },
        {
          "pub_key": [
            1,
            "0E7B423C1635FD07C0FC3603B736D5D27953C1C6CA865BB9392CD79DE1A682BB"
          ],
          "power": 1,
          "name": "mach3"
        },
        {
          "pub_key": [
            1,
            "4F49237B9A32EB50682EDD83C48CE9CDB1D02A7CFDADCFF6EC8C1FAADB358879"
          ],
          "power": 1,
          "name": "mach4"
        }
      ],
      "app_hash": "15005165891224E721CB664D15CB972240F5703F",
      "app_state": {
        {"account": "Bob", "coins": 5000}
      }
    }