execution/protocol/rules: remove obsolete clique PoA engine#20532
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Clique proof-of-authority is no longer used by any supported network. Remove the entire execution/protocol/rules/clique package and all references: config structs, CLI flags, DB tables, RPC API registration, and engine instantiation paths. Move SealHash/encodeSigHeader into the aura package (the only remaining consumer). Simplify DeveloperGenesisBlock to produce a non-clique genesis directly. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Remove clique CLI flags, RPC methods, and evm seal options from docs. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
yperbasis
requested review from
AskAlexSharov,
Giulio2002,
bloxster,
canepat,
lupin012,
mh0lt and
sudeepdino008
as code owners
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Pull request overview
Removes the deprecated Clique PoA consensus engine and all associated configuration, RPC, CLI flags, DB tables, and documentation, leaving AuRa/Ethash/Bor as the supported consensus paths.
Changes:
- Deleted the
execution/protocol/rules/cliquepackage and removed all instantiation paths, configs, and DB tables tied to Clique. - Removed Clique-related CLI flags, RPC namespace registration, and documentation references.
- Moved the Clique-style
SealHash/signature-header encoding logic into the AuRa package (the remaining consumer).
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 32 out of 32 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| rpc/jsonrpc/daemon.go | Drops the clique RPC namespace registration. |
| node/rulesconfig/config.go | Removes Clique engine creation and related DB path logic. |
| node/ethconfig/gen_config.go | Removes TOML (un)marshalling for Clique config. |
| node/ethconfig/config.go | Removes the Clique config field from node eth config. |
| node/eth/backend.go | Removes Clique-based rules config selection during backend init. |
| node/cli/default_flags.go | Removes Clique snapshot/datadir flags from default CLI flags. |
| execution/types/accounts/account.go | Removes Clique-specific mimetype constant. |
| execution/tracing/tracers/js/tracer_test.go | Updates chain config literals to no longer reference Clique. |
| execution/tests/blockgen/chain_makers.go | Updates comments that referenced Clique-only testing. |
| execution/protocol/rules/merge/merge.go | Updates comment to no longer mention Clique as an eth1 engine. |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/verifier.go | Deletes Clique verifier implementation. |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/snapshot_test.go | Deletes Clique snapshot/voting tests. |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/snapshot.go | Deletes Clique snapshot/voting logic. |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/keys.go | Deletes Clique snapshot key helpers. |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/clique_test.go | Deletes Clique regression test(s). |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/clique.go | Deletes Clique engine implementation and helpers (incl. RPC API). |
| execution/protocol/rules/clique/api.go | Deletes Clique RPC API implementation. |
| execution/protocol/rules/aura/aura.go | Internalizes SealHash/signature-header encoding previously sourced from Clique. |
| execution/chain/spec/genesis.go | Simplifies Developer genesis creation to be non-Clique. |
| execution/chain/spec/clique.go | Removes Clique chainspec config and snapshot config type. |
| execution/chain/rules.go | Removes CliqueRules constant. |
| execution/chain/chain_config.go | Removes CliqueConfig and Config.Clique fields; updates consensus comment. |
| execution/builder/finish.go | Removes Clique-specific nonce handling branch (now obsolete). |
| docs/gitbook/src/fundamentals/configuring-erigon/README.md | Removes documentation for Clique-related CLI flags. |
| docs/DEV_CHAIN.md | Updates dev-chain docs to reflect removal of Clique-based dev mode flags. |
| db/kv/tables.go | Removes Clique DB tables and simplifies ConsensusTables. |
| db/config3/config3.go | Removes Clique mention from FullImmutabilityThreshold comment. |
| cmd/utils/flags.go | Removes Clique CLI flags/config wiring; updates dev genesis creation. |
| cmd/rpcdaemon/cli/config.go | Removes Clique remote-engine special casing (now obsolete). |
| cmd/rpcdaemon/README.md | Removes Clique RPC namespace/methods from RPC daemon docs. |
| cmd/integration/commands/stages.go | Removes migration support for legacy Clique consensus DB path. |
| cmd/evm/README.md | Removes docs for Clique sealing support in evm tool. |
Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)
rpc/jsonrpc/daemon.go:195
cfg.APIentries that aren’t handled by this switch are silently ignored. Now that thecliquenamespace has been removed, users can still pass--http.api=...,clique(or have it in existing configs) and get no feedback. Consider adding adefaultcase to warn/error on unknown API namespaces (at least for removed ones likeclique) to avoid silent misconfiguration.
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Remove empty else block in migration code and drop clique config from test fixture JSON. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull request overview
Copilot reviewed 33 out of 33 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.
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taratorio
approved these changes
Apr 14, 2026
# Conflicts: # execution/protocol/rules/clique/keys.go
- Add RulesName.Validate() to reject unsupported consensus engine names (e.g. "clique") at genesis load time instead of silently falling back to ethash. - Remove the no-op --dev.period CLI flag. - Fund the derived dev signer address in the genesis alloc. - Set Rules: EtHashRules in DeveloperGenesisBlock for consistency. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
yperbasis
changed the title
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Summary
execution/protocol/rules/cliquepackage (~2,350 lines) — Clique PoA is no longer used by any supported networkCliqueConfigstruct,CliqueRulesconstant, clique DB tables, CLI flags, RPC API registration, and all engine instantiation pathsSealHash/encodeSigHeaderinto the aura package (only remaining consumer)DeveloperGenesisBlockto produce a non-clique genesis directlyTest plan
make erigon— builds successfullymake integration— builds successfullymake lint— passes clean (multiple runs)🤖 Generated with Claude Code