@lodestar/beacon-node 1.47.0-dev.9572bcc698 → 1.47.0-dev.9ba9a5ce85

package/src/chain/opPools/executionPayloadBidPool.ts

@@ -11,14 +11,20 @@ const SLOTS_RETAINED = 2;
 type BlockRootHex = string;
 type BlockHashHex = string;
 
+export type PooledExecutionPayloadBid = {
+  signedBid: gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid;
+  /** Time in milliseconds from the slot start when the bid was received */
+  receivedMs: number;
+};
+
 /**
  * Store the best signed execution payload bid per slot / (parent block root, parent block hash).
  */
 export class ExecutionPayloadBidPool {
   private readonly bidByParentHashByParentRootBySlot = new MapDef<
     Slot,
-    MapDef<BlockRootHex, Map<BlockHashHex, gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid>>
-  >(() => new MapDef<BlockRootHex, Map<BlockHashHex, gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid>>(() => new Map()));
+    MapDef<BlockRootHex, Map<BlockHashHex, PooledExecutionPayloadBid>>
+  >(() => new MapDef<BlockRootHex, Map<BlockHashHex, PooledExecutionPayloadBid>>(() => new Map()));
   private lowestPermissibleSlot = 0;
 
   get size(): number {
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@ export class ExecutionPayloadBidPool {
     return count;
   }
 
-  add(bid: gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid): InsertOutcome {
+  add(bid: gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid, receivedMs: number): InsertOutcome {
     const {slot, parentBlockRoot, parentBlockHash, value} = bid.message;
     const lowestPermissibleSlot = this.lowestPermissibleSlot;
 
@@ -45,16 +51,16 @@ export class ExecutionPayloadBidPool {
     const existing = bidByParentHash.get(parentHashHex);
 
     if (existing) {
-      const existingValue = existing.message.value;
+      const existingValue = existing.signedBid.message.value;
       const newValue = value;
       if (newValue > existingValue) {
-        bidByParentHash.set(parentHashHex, bid);
+        bidByParentHash.set(parentHashHex, {signedBid: bid, receivedMs});
         return InsertOutcome.NewData;
       }
       return newValue === existingValue ? InsertOutcome.AlreadyKnown : InsertOutcome.NotBetterThan;
     }
 
-    bidByParentHash.set(parentHashHex, bid);
+    bidByParentHash.set(parentHashHex, {signedBid: bid, receivedMs});
     return InsertOutcome.NewData;
   }
 
@@ -66,7 +72,7 @@ export class ExecutionPayloadBidPool {
     slot: Slot,
     parentBlockHash: BlockHashHex | null,
     parentBlockRoot: BlockRootHex
-  ): gloas.SignedExecutionPayloadBid | null {
+  ): PooledExecutionPayloadBid | null {
     if (parentBlockHash === null) return null;
     const bidByParentHash = this.bidByParentHashByParentRootBySlot.get(slot)?.get(parentBlockRoot);
     return bidByParentHash?.get(parentBlockHash) ?? null;

package/src/chain/opPools/index.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 export {AggregatedAttestationPool} from "./aggregatedAttestationPool.js";
 export {AttestationPool} from "./attestationPool.js";
 export {DeferredVoluntaryExitPool} from "./deferredVoluntaryExitPool.js";
-export {ExecutionPayloadBidPool} from "./executionPayloadBidPool.js";
+export {ExecutionPayloadBidPool, type PooledExecutionPayloadBid} from "./executionPayloadBidPool.js";
 export {OpPool} from "./opPool.js";
 export {PayloadAttestationPool} from "./payloadAttestationPool.js";
 export {ProposerPreferencesPool} from "./proposerPreferencesPool.js";

package/src/chain/prepareNextSlot.ts

@@ -45,6 +45,14 @@ const PREPARE_EPOCH_LIMIT = 1;
  * Expressed in bps so it scales with slot duration (mainnet vs minimal/devnet). */
 const BUILDER_PREVERIFY_LIMIT_BPS = 2000;
 
+/**
+ * How far before the next slot builder connections are pre-established, see `checkBuilderStatusBeforeSlot`.
+ *
+ * 1667 = 16.67% of slot (2s on mainnet). Must stay under the few seconds an idle connection survives,
+ * while leaving room for a round trip to a distant builder to complete before the slot begins.
+ */
+const BUILDER_STATUS_CHECK_BEFORE_SLOT_BPS = 1667;
+
 /**
  * At Bellatrix, if we are responsible for proposing in next slot, we want to prepare payload
  * 4s before the start of next slot at PREPARE_NEXT_SLOT_BPS of the current slot.
@@ -151,25 +159,41 @@ export class PrepareNextSlotScheduler {
         const proposerIndex = await getProposerIndex();
         feeRecipient = this.chain.beaconProposerCache.get(proposerIndex);
 
-        if (feeRecipient) {
-          // If we are proposing next slot, we need to predict if we can proposer-boost-reorg or not
-          const proposerHead = this.chain.predictProposerHead(clockSlot);
+        // Predict the proposer head of the next slot when either:
+        //  - we are proposing the next slot (single-slot proposer-boost-reorg), or
+        //  - this is an epoch transition: post-Fulu the next proposer may reorg a weak
+        //    last-block-of-epoch and build slot 0 on the strong parent (epoch-boundary reorg),
+        //    so we should dial the strong parent through the boundary instead of the weak head.
+        if (feeRecipient || isEpochTransition) {
+          const proposerHead = this.chain.predictProposerHead();
           const {slot: proposerHeadSlot, blockRoot: proposerHeadRoot} = proposerHead;
 
-          // If we predict we can reorg, we build on the proposer head (parent) block instead
+          // If we predict a reorg, we build the epoch transition on the proposer head (parent) instead
           if (proposerHeadRoot !== headRoot || proposerHeadSlot !== headSlot) {
-            this.logger.verbose("Weak head detected. May build on parent block instead", {
+            // feeRecipient set => WE propose the next slot and may reorg it out ourselves;
+            // otherwise it's a predicted reorg by another proposer (epoch-boundary reorg).
+            const logMessage = feeRecipient
+              ? "Weak head detected. We may build on parent block instead"
+              : "Weak head detected. Another proposer may build on parent block instead";
+            this.logger.verbose(logMessage, {
               proposerHeadSlot,
               proposerHeadRoot,
               headSlot,
               headRoot,
+              isEpochTransition,
             });
             this.metrics?.weakHeadDetected.inc();
+            if (isEpochTransition) {
+              this.metrics?.precomputeNextEpochTransition.predictedReorg.inc();
+            }
             updatedHead = proposerHead;
           }
+        }
 
+        if (feeRecipient) {
           if (isForkPostGloas(fork)) {
             this.chain.builderCircuitBreaker.update(clockSlot, updatedHead);
+            this.checkBuilderStatusBeforeSlot(prepareSlot);
           } else {
             // Update the builder status, if enabled shoot an api call to check status
             this.chain.updateBuilderStatus(clockSlot);
@@ -182,6 +206,7 @@ export class PrepareNextSlotScheduler {
         }
 
         // post-fulu we'll always reach here because preparedState is undefined
+        // we may run epoch transition not with headBlock if it's weak
         if (preparedState === undefined || updatedHead !== headBlock) {
           preparedState = await this.chain.regen.getBlockSlotState(
             updatedHead,
@@ -280,7 +305,7 @@ export class PrepareNextSlotScheduler {
       //  + if next slot is a skipped slot, it'd help getting target checkpoint state faster to validate attestations
       if (isEpochTransition) {
         this.metrics?.precomputeNextEpochTransition.count.inc({result: "success"}, 1);
-        const previousHits = this.chain.regen.updatePreComputedCheckpoint(headRoot, nextEpoch);
+        const previousHits = this.chain.regen.updatePreComputedCheckpoint(updatedHead.blockRoot, nextEpoch);
         if (previousHits === 0) {
           this.metrics?.precomputeNextEpochTransition.waste.inc();
         }
@@ -289,6 +314,8 @@ export class PrepareNextSlotScheduler {
         this.logger.verbose("Completed PrepareNextSlotScheduler epoch transition", {
           nextEpoch,
           headSlot,
+          headRoot,
+          updatedHeadRoot: updatedHead.blockRoot,
           prepareSlot,
           previousHits,
           durationMs: Date.now() - start,
@@ -372,6 +399,22 @@ export class PrepareNextSlotScheduler {
     }
   };
 
+  /**
+   * Pre-establish the builder connections so the handshake lands outside the bid deadline. Scheduled
+   * later in the slot, connecting at PREPARE_NEXT_SLOT_BPS would go cold before bids are requested.
+   */
+  private checkBuilderStatusBeforeSlot(prepareSlot: Slot): void {
+    const msBeforeSlot = this.config.getSlotComponentDurationMs(BUILDER_STATUS_CHECK_BEFORE_SLOT_BPS);
+    const msUntilCheck = -this.chain.clock.msFromSlot(prepareSlot) - msBeforeSlot;
+    sleep(Math.max(0, msUntilCheck), this.signal)
+      .then(() => this.chain.builderApiClient.checkStatus())
+      .catch((e) => {
+        if (!isErrorAborted(e)) {
+          this.logger.debug("Failed to check builder status", {prepareSlot}, e as Error);
+        }
+      });
+  }
+
   computeStateHashTreeRoot(state: IBeaconStateView, isEpochTransition: boolean): void {
     // cache HashObjects for faster hashTreeRoot() later, especially for computeNewStateRoot() if we need to produce a block at slot 0 of epoch
     // see https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/issues/6194

package/src/chain/produceBlock/computeNewStateRoot.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
-import {
-  DataAvailabilityStatus,
-  ExecutionPayloadStatus,
-  IBeaconStateView,
-  StateHashTreeRootSource,
-} from "@lodestar/state-transition";
+import {EMPTY_SIGNATURE, IBeaconStateView} from "@lodestar/state-transition";
 import {BeaconBlock, BlindedBeaconBlock, Gwei, Root} from "@lodestar/types";
-import {ZERO_HASH} from "../../constants/index.js";
 import {Metrics} from "../../metrics/index.js";
 
 /**
@@ -19,35 +13,6 @@ export function computeNewStateRoot(
   block: BeaconBlock | BlindedBeaconBlock
 ): {newStateRoot: Root; proposerReward: Gwei; postState: IBeaconStateView} {
   // Set signature to zero to re-use stateTransition() function which requires the SignedBeaconBlock type
-  const blockEmptySig = {message: block, signature: ZERO_HASH};
-
-  const postState = state.stateTransition(
-    blockEmptySig,
-    {
-      // ExecutionPayloadStatus.valid: Assume payload valid, it has been produced by a trusted EL
-      executionPayloadStatus: ExecutionPayloadStatus.valid,
-      // DataAvailabilityStatus.available: Assume the blobs to be available, have just been produced by trusted EL
-      dataAvailabilityStatus: DataAvailabilityStatus.Available,
-      // verifyStateRoot: false  | the root in the block is zero-ed, it's being computed here
-      verifyStateRoot: false,
-      // verifyProposer: false   | as the block signature is zero-ed
-      verifyProposer: false,
-      // verifySignatures: false | since the data to assemble the block is trusted
-      verifySignatures: false,
-      // Preserve cache in source state, since the resulting state is not added to the state cache
-      dontTransferCache: true,
-    },
-    {metrics}
-  );
-
-  const {attestations, syncAggregate, slashing} = postState.proposerRewards;
-  const proposerReward = BigInt(attestations + syncAggregate + slashing);
-
-  const hashTreeRootTimer = metrics?.stateHashTreeRootTime.startTimer({
-    source: StateHashTreeRootSource.computeNewStateRoot,
-  });
-  const newStateRoot = postState.hashTreeRoot();
-  hashTreeRootTimer?.();
-
-  return {newStateRoot, proposerReward, postState};
+  const signedBlock = {message: block, signature: EMPTY_SIGNATURE};
+  return state.computeNewStateRoot({block: signedBlock}, {metrics});
 }

package/src/chain/produceBlock/produceBlockBody.ts

@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ export async function produceBlockBody<T extends BlockType>(
     const parentExecutionRequests = isExtendingPayload
       ? await this.getParentExecutionRequests(parentBlock.slot, parentBlock.blockRoot)
       : ssz.gloas.ExecutionRequests.defaultValue();
-    executionPayloadValue = BigInt(builderBid.message.value) * GWEI_TO_WEI;
+    executionPayloadValue = (BigInt(builderBid.message.value) + builderBid.message.executionPayment) * GWEI_TO_WEI;
 
     const commonBlockBody = await commonBlockBodyPromise;
     const gloasBody = Object.assign({}, commonBlockBody) as gloas.BeaconBlockBody;

package/src/chain/regen/interface.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export enum RegenCaller {
   validateApiVoluntaryExit = "validateApiVoluntaryExit",
   publishDeferredVoluntaryExits = "publishDeferredVoluntaryExits",
   validateGossipExecutionPayloadBid = "validateGossipExecutionPayloadBid",
+  validateApiExecutionPayloadBid = "validateApiExecutionPayloadBid",
   validateGossipPayloadAttestationMessage = "validateGossipPayloadAttestationMessage",
   validateGossipProposerPreferences = "validateGossipProposerPreferences",
   onForkChoiceFinalized = "onForkChoiceFinalized",
@@ -41,14 +42,14 @@ export type StateRegenerationOpts = {
 };
 
 export interface IStateRegenerator extends IStateRegeneratorInternal {
-  dropCache(): void;
+  dropCache(): Promise<void>;
   dumpCacheSummary(): routes.lodestar.StateCacheItem[];
   getStateSync(stateRoot: RootHex): IBeaconStateView | null;
   getPreStateSync(block: BeaconBlock): IBeaconStateView | null;
   getCheckpointStateOrBytes(cp: CheckpointHex): Promise<IBeaconStateView | Uint8Array | null>;
   getCheckpointStateSync(cp: CheckpointHex): IBeaconStateView | null;
   getClosestHeadState(head: ProtoBlock): IBeaconStateView | null;
-  pruneOnCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch, headStateRoot: RootHex): void;
+  onCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch, headStateRoot: RootHex): void;
   processState(blockRootHex: RootHex, postState: IBeaconStateView): void;
   addCheckpointState(cp: phase0.Checkpoint, item: IBeaconStateView): void;
   updateHeadState(newHead: ProtoBlock, maybeHeadState: IBeaconStateView): void;

package/src/chain/regen/queued.ts

@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@ export class QueuedStateRegenerator implements IStateRegenerator {
     return this.jobQueue.jobLen < REGEN_CAN_ACCEPT_WORK_THRESHOLD;
   }
 
-  dropCache(): void {
+  async dropCache(): Promise<void> {
     this.blockStateCache.clear();
-    this.checkpointStateCache.clear();
+    await this.checkpointStateCache.clear();
   }
 
   dumpCacheSummary(): routes.lodestar.StateCacheItem[] {
@@ -138,9 +138,9 @@ export class QueuedStateRegenerator implements IStateRegenerator {
     return this.checkpointStateCache.getLatest(head.blockRoot, Infinity) || this.blockStateCache.get(head.stateRoot);
   }
 
-  pruneOnCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch, headStateRoot: RootHex): void {
-    this.checkpointStateCache.prune(finalizedEpoch, justifiedEpoch);
-    this.blockStateCache.prune(headStateRoot);
+  onCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch, headStateRoot: RootHex): void {
+    this.checkpointStateCache.onCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch, justifiedEpoch);
+    this.blockStateCache.onCheckpoint(headStateRoot);
   }
 
   processState(blockRootHex: RootHex, postState: IBeaconStateView): void {

package/src/chain/stateCache/fifoBlockStateCache.ts

@@ -144,13 +144,20 @@ export class FIFOBlockStateCache implements BlockStateCache {
     return this.cache.size;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * On a checkpoint event, prune the cache while keeping the head state.
+   */
+  onCheckpoint(headStateRootHex: string): void {
+    this.prune(headStateRootHex);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Prune the cache from tail to keep the most recent n states consistently.
    * The tail of the list is the oldest state, in case regen adds back the same state,
    * it should stay next to head so that it won't be pruned right away.
    * The FIFO cache helps with this.
    */
-  prune(lastAddedKey: string): void {
+  private prune(lastAddedKey: string): void {
     while (this.keyOrder.length > this.maxStates) {
       const key = this.keyOrder.last();
       // it does not make sense to prune the last added state

package/src/chain/stateCache/persistentCheckpointsCache.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ import {BlockStateCache, CacheItemType, CheckpointHex, CheckpointStateCache} fro
 export type PersistentCheckpointStateCacheOpts = {
   /** Keep max n state epochs in memory, persist the rest to disk */
   maxCPStateEpochsInMemory?: number;
-  /** Keep max n state epochs on disk */
+  /**
+   * On-disk retention of persisted checkpoint states. Selects one of two modes:
+   * - `Infinity` (default) -> tiered retention mode
+   * - any finite `n` (>= 0) -> legacy flat retention (keep the last n dense epochs)
+   */
   maxCPStateEpochsOnDisk?: number;
 };
 
@@ -64,6 +68,18 @@ export const DEFAULT_MAX_CP_STATE_EPOCHS_IN_MEMORY = 3;
  */
 export const DEFAULT_MAX_CP_STATE_ON_DISK = Infinity;
 
+// CP_STATE_TIER_BASE = spacing multiplier per tier AND per-tier capacity. Deciding capacity == base
+// so that a full tier[n] always holds exactly ONE epoch aligned to tier[n+1]
+// given tier[n] has span = 16 ^ n and tier[n+1] has span = 16 ^ (n+1)
+// why 16?
+//   - tier 0 is the dense hot-regen window; it must exceed regen's MAX_EPOCH_TO_PROCESS (=5).
+//   - with a full 4 tiers = 64 epochs, we can cover ~ a year of continuous non-finality, and it'll grow very slowly after that
+//     - tier0 spans 16 epochs ≈ 1.7h, this is more than enough to handle reorg
+//     - tier1 spans 256 epochs ≈ 1.1d, ie we store 16 epochs of the previous day
+//     - tier2 spans 4096 epochs ≈ 18d, ie we store 16 epochs of the last ~2.5 weeks
+//     - tier3 spans 65536ep ≈ 291d, ie we store 16 epochs of the last 0.8 year
+export const CP_STATE_TIER_BASE = 16;
+
 // TODO GLOAS: re-evaluate this timing
 const PROCESS_CHECKPOINT_STATES_BPS = 6667;
 
@@ -112,6 +128,19 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
   private preComputedCheckpointHits: number | null = null;
   private readonly maxEpochsInMemory: number;
   private readonly maxEpochsOnDisk: number;
+  /**
+   * Persist checkpoint states (epoch + root) by tiers
+   *
+   *                   ╔═════════ tier 2 ══════════╦═══════ tier 1 ═══════╦═══ tier 0 (dense) ══╗
+   * finalizedEpoch -> ║  keep 1 epoch per 256     ║  keep 1 epoch per 16 ║  keep every epoch   ║ -> head
+   *                   ║  x·······x·······x······  ║  x···x···x···x···    ║  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  ║
+   *                   ╚═══════════════════════════╩══════════════════════╩═════════════════════╝
+   *
+   * starting from tier 1, all epochs must be aligned to the finalized epoch
+   */
+  private persistentTiers: Map<Epoch, Set<RootHex>>[] = [new Map()];
+  private finalizedEpoch: Epoch = 0;
+  private justifiedEpoch: Epoch = 0;
   private readonly datastore: CPStateDatastore;
   private readonly blockStateCache: BlockStateCache;
   private readonly bufferPool?: BufferPool;
@@ -152,6 +181,13 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
         metrics.cpStateCache.size.set({type: CacheItemType.inMemory}, inMemoryCount);
         metrics.cpStateCache.epochSize.set({type: CacheItemType.persisted}, persistentEpochs.size);
         metrics.cpStateCache.epochSize.set({type: CacheItemType.inMemory}, memoryEpochs.size);
+
+        for (let tier = 0; tier < this.persistentTiers.length; tier++) {
+          let states = 0;
+          for (const roots of this.persistentTiers[tier].values()) states += roots.size;
+          metrics.cpStateCache.persistentTierEpochs.set({tier}, this.persistentTiers[tier].size);
+          metrics.cpStateCache.persistentTierStates.set({tier}, states);
+        }
       });
     }
     this.logger = logger;
@@ -407,10 +443,77 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
   }
 
   /**
-   * This is just to conform to the old implementation
+   * This is called on every checkpoint event to refresh the pinned finalized/justified epochs.
    */
-  prune(): void {
-    // do nothing
+  onCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch): void {
+    this.finalizedEpoch = finalizedEpoch;
+    this.justifiedEpoch = justifiedEpoch;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * This is called right after we persist a checkpoint state.
+   */
+  private async onPersist(epoch: Epoch, rootHex: RootHex): Promise<void> {
+    let roots = this.persistentTiers[0].get(epoch);
+    if (roots === undefined) {
+      roots = new Set<RootHex>();
+      this.persistentTiers[0].set(epoch, roots);
+    }
+    roots.add(rootHex);
+    await this.prunePersistentTier(0);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * When tier `n` overflows (> CP_STATE_TIER_BASE epochs), evict its oldest epoch and either promote it to tier `n + 1` (if aligned there) or delete it.
+   *
+   *   before:  persistentTiers[n]   = { ..., e_old }
+   *            persistentTiers[n+1] = { ... }
+   *
+   *   after, if e_old aligns to n+1:           |  after, if e_old does NOT align to n+1:
+   *     persistentTiers[n]   = { ... }         |    persistentTiers[n]   = { ... }
+   *     persistentTiers[n+1] = { ..., e_old }  |    e_old and all its roots deleted from disk
+   *
+   * Since pruning a tier[n] may push an item at tier[n+1], we must call the function recursively.
+   */
+  private async prunePersistentTier(tier: number): Promise<void> {
+    const tierMap = this.persistentTiers[tier];
+    while (tierMap.size > CP_STATE_TIER_BASE) {
+      // Evict the oldest epoch, but never the pinned justified epoch
+      const oldestEpoch = Math.min(...Array.from(tierMap.keys()).filter((epoch) => epoch !== this.justifiedEpoch));
+      const roots = tierMap.get(oldestEpoch) as Set<RootHex>;
+      tierMap.delete(oldestEpoch);
+
+      const rootHexes = Array.from(roots).join(",");
+      // `>= finalizedEpoch` guards the transient window where an epoch below the (fork-choice)
+      // finalized epoch has not yet been removed by pruneFinalized: its offset would be negative
+      // and JS `%` could spuriously report it as aligned. Such epochs are stale -> delete.
+      if (oldestEpoch >= this.finalizedEpoch && this.alignedForTier(oldestEpoch, tier + 1)) {
+        if (this.persistentTiers[tier + 1] === undefined) {
+          this.persistentTiers[tier + 1] = new Map<Epoch, Set<RootHex>>();
+        }
+        this.persistentTiers[tier + 1].set(oldestEpoch, roots);
+        this.logger.verbose("Migrated persistent checkpoint states to lower tier", {
+          epoch: oldestEpoch,
+          fromTier: tier,
+          toTier: tier + 1,
+          rootHexes,
+        });
+        await this.prunePersistentTier(tier + 1);
+      } else {
+        // the oldest epoch is not aligned to the next tier
+        await this.deleteAllEpochItems(oldestEpoch)
+          .then(() => this.logger.verbose("Pruned checkpoint states from disk", {epoch: oldestEpoch, tier, rootHexes}))
+          .catch((e) => this.logger.debug("Error delete all epoch items", {epoch: oldestEpoch, tier}, e as Error));
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Starting from tier[1], it must be aligned to the finalized epoch
+   * ie given finalized epoch F, tier[n] only epochs of F + n*16, n = 1,2,3...
+   */
+  private alignedForTier(epoch: Epoch, tier: number): boolean {
+    return (epoch - this.finalizedEpoch) % CP_STATE_TIER_BASE ** tier === 0;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -598,9 +701,16 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
     return seedBlockState;
   }
 
-  clear(): void {
-    this.cache.clear();
-    this.epochIndex.clear();
+  async clear(): Promise<void> {
+    // deleteAllEpochItems removes every root of an epoch from disk and clears the cache
+    await Promise.all(
+      Array.from(this.epochIndex.keys()).map((epoch) =>
+        this.deleteAllEpochItems(epoch).catch((e) =>
+          this.logger.debug("Error delete all epoch items on clear", {epoch}, e as Error)
+        )
+      )
+    );
+    this.persistentTiers = [new Map()];
   }
 
   /** ONLY FOR DEBUGGING PURPOSES. For lodestar debug API */
@@ -743,12 +853,18 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
           }
           // overwrite cpKey, this means the state is deleted from memory
           this.cache.set(cpKey, {type: CacheItemType.persisted, value: persistedKey});
+          if (this.isTieredMode) {
+            await this.onPersist(epoch, rootHex);
+          }
         } else {
           if (persistedKey) {
             // persisted file will be eventually deleted by the archive task
             // this also means the state is deleted from memory
             this.cache.set(cpKey, {type: CacheItemType.persisted, value: persistedKey});
             // do not update epochIndex
+            if (this.isTieredMode) {
+              await this.onPersist(epoch, rootHex);
+            }
           } else {
             // delete the state from memory
             this.cache.delete(cpKey);
@@ -790,6 +906,10 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
       this.cache.delete(key);
     }
     this.epochIndex.delete(epoch);
+    // keep the on-disk retention tiers in sync so they never drift from epochIndex
+    for (const tierMap of this.persistentTiers) {
+      tierMap.delete(epoch);
+    }
     this.logger.verbose("Pruned checkpoint states for epoch", {
       epoch,
       persistCount,
@@ -798,7 +918,7 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Prune persisted checkpoint states from disk.
+   * Legacy flat-window on-disk pruning, used only when a `maxEpochsOnDisk` is configured.
    * Note that this should handle all possible errors and not throw.
    */
   private prunePersistedStates(): void {
@@ -842,6 +962,11 @@ export class PersistentCheckpointStateCache implements CheckpointStateCache {
 
     return null;
   }
+
+  /** Tiered pruning is active with the default `Infinity` on-disk cap; a finite cap uses the flat path */
+  private get isTieredMode(): boolean {
+    return this.maxEpochsOnDisk === Infinity;
+  }
 }
 
 export function toCheckpointHex(checkpoint: phase0.Checkpoint): CheckpointHex {

package/src/chain/stateCache/types.ts

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export interface BlockStateCache {
   getSeedState(): IBeaconStateView;
   clear(): void;
   size: number;
-  prune(headStateRootHex: RootHex): void;
+  onCheckpoint(headStateRootHex: RootHex): void;
   dumpSummary(): routes.lodestar.StateCacheItem[];
   /** Expose beacon states stored in cache. Use with caution */
   getStates(): IterableIterator<IBeaconStateView>;
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ export interface CheckpointStateCache {
   getLatest(rootHex: RootHex, maxEpoch: Epoch): IBeaconStateView | null;
   getOrReloadLatest(rootHex: RootHex, maxEpoch: Epoch): Promise<IBeaconStateView | null>;
   updatePreComputedCheckpoint(rootHex: RootHex, epoch: Epoch): number | null;
-  prune(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch): void;
+  onCheckpoint(finalizedEpoch: Epoch, justifiedEpoch: Epoch): void;
   processState(blockRootHex: RootHex, state: IBeaconStateView): Promise<number>;
-  clear(): void;
+  clear(): Promise<void>;
   dumpSummary(): routes.lodestar.StateCacheItem[];
   /** Expose beacon states stored in cache. Use with caution */
   getStates(): IterableIterator<IBeaconStateView>;

package/src/chain/validation/block.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   MAX_PROPOSER_SLASHINGS,
   MAX_VOLUNTARY_EXITS,
   MAX_WITHDRAWAL_REQUESTS_PER_PAYLOAD,
+  MIN_SEED_LOOKAHEAD,
   isForkPostBellatrix,
   isForkPostDeneb,
   isForkPostGloas,
@@ -249,26 +250,58 @@ export async function validateGossipBlock(
     // This requires execution engine integration to verify the parent block hash
   }
 
-  // use getPreState to reload state if needed. It also checks for whether the current finalized checkpoint is an ancestor of the block.
-  // As a result, we throw an IGNORE (whereas the spec says we should REJECT for this scenario).
+  // For gossip forwarding we only need the state to check the block's proposer index.
+  // If the state cannot be regenerated we throw an IGNORE (whereas the spec says we should REJECT for the
+  // finalized-ancestor scenario, which is already guarded by the parentBlock lookup above).
   // this is something we should change this in the future to make the code airtight to the spec.
   // [IGNORE] The block's parent (defined by block.parent_root) has been seen (via both gossip and non-gossip sources) (a client MAY queue blocks for processing once the parent block is retrieved).
   // [REJECT] The block's parent (defined by block.parent_root) passes validation.
-  const blockState = await chain.regen
-    .getPreState(block, {dontTransferCache: true}, RegenCaller.validateGossipBlock)
-    .catch(() => {
-      throw new BlockGossipError(GossipAction.IGNORE, {code: BlockErrorCode.PARENT_BLOCK_UNKNOWN, parentRoot});
+  const canUseParentState = blockEpoch - computeEpochAtSlot(parentBlock.slot) <= MIN_SEED_LOOKAHEAD;
+
+  const getValidationState = async () => {
+    const getPreState = () =>
+      chain.regen.getPreState(block, {dontTransferCache: true}, RegenCaller.validateGossipBlock);
+    if (canUseParentState) {
+      try {
+        const parentState = await chain.regen.getState(parentBlock.stateRoot, RegenCaller.validateGossipBlock);
+        chain.metrics?.gossipBlock.preStateSource.inc({source: "parentState"});
+        return parentState;
+      } catch {
+        // if parent state is not in memory, we fall back to disk reload / dial-forward
+        chain.metrics?.gossipBlock.preStateSource.inc({source: "fallbackPreState"});
+        chain.logger.debug("Parent state not in memory, falling back to getPreState for gossip block validation", {
+          slot: blockSlot,
+          root: blockRoot,
+          parentSlot: parentBlock.slot,
+          parentRoot,
+        });
+        return getPreState();
+      }
+    }
+    // parent is >1 epoch behind (deep skip) → beyond proposer-lookahead range, must dial forward
+    chain.metrics?.gossipBlock.preStateSource.inc({source: "preState"});
+    chain.logger.debug("Cannot use parent state for gossip block validation, dialing forward via getPreState", {
+      slot: blockSlot,
+      root: blockRoot,
+      parentSlot: parentBlock.slot,
+      parentRoot,
     });
+    return getPreState();
+  };
+
+  const state = await getValidationState().catch(() => {
+    throw new BlockGossipError(GossipAction.IGNORE, {code: BlockErrorCode.PARENT_BLOCK_UNKNOWN, parentRoot});
+  });
 
   // in forky condition, make sure to populate ShufflingCache with regened state
-  chain.shufflingCache.processState(blockState);
+  chain.shufflingCache.processState(state);
 
   // [REJECT] The block's execution payload timestamp is correct with respect to the slot
   // -- i.e. execution_payload.timestamp == compute_timestamp_at_slot(state, block.slot).
   if (isForkPostBellatrix(fork) && !isForkPostGloas(fork)) {
     if (!isExecutionBlockBodyType(block.body)) throw Error("Not execution block body type");
     const executionPayload = block.body.executionPayload;
-    if (isStatePostBellatrix(blockState) && blockState.isExecutionStateType && blockState.isExecutionEnabled(block)) {
+    if (isStatePostBellatrix(state) && state.isExecutionStateType && state.isExecutionEnabled(block)) {
       const expectedTimestamp = computeTimeAtSlot(config, blockSlot, chain.genesisTime);
       if (executionPayload.timestamp !== computeTimeAtSlot(config, blockSlot, chain.genesisTime)) {
         throw new BlockGossipError(GossipAction.REJECT, {
@@ -281,7 +314,7 @@ export async function validateGossipBlock(
   }
 
   // [REJECT] The proposer index is a valid validator index
-  if (proposerIndex >= blockState.validatorCount) {
+  if (proposerIndex >= state.validatorCount) {
     throw new BlockGossipError(GossipAction.REJECT, {code: BlockErrorCode.UNKNOWN_PROPOSER, proposerIndex});
   }
 
@@ -293,7 +326,7 @@ export async function validateGossipBlock(
   // shuffling (defined by parent_root/slot). If the proposer_index cannot immediately be verified against the expected
   // shuffling, the block MAY be queued for later processing while proposers for the block's branch are calculated --
   // in such a case do not REJECT, instead IGNORE this message.
-  if (blockState.getBeaconProposer(blockSlot) !== proposerIndex) {
+  if (state.getBeaconProposer(blockSlot) !== proposerIndex) {
     throw new BlockGossipError(GossipAction.REJECT, {code: BlockErrorCode.INCORRECT_PROPOSER, proposerIndex});
   }