ClawNetwork

Consensus

PoS + Agent Score hybrid consensus with 3-second single-block finality.

Overview

ClawNetwork uses a Proof of Stake + Agent Score hybrid consensus mechanism. This means that both economic stake (CLW tokens) and agent activity/reputation determine who produces blocks.

How It Works

Validator Election

Each epoch (100 blocks), validators are selected from the candidate pool. The selection weight is:

weight = stake_weight × 0.4 + agent_score × 0.6

Where:

  • stake_weight = validator's staked CLW as a fraction of total staked CLW
  • agent_score = normalized aggregate reputation score from on-chain attestations

Cold Start Strategy

During early network growth when reputation data is sparse, the weights shift toward staking:

| Phase | Stake Weight | Score Weight | |-------|-------------|-------------| | Cold start | 0.7 | 0.3 | | Target (mature) | 0.4 | 0.6 |

The transition happens gradually as on-chain reputation data accumulates.

Block Production

  1. A weighted random selection picks the block proposer
  2. The proposer builds a block from the mempool
  3. Other validators vote on the block (BFT)
  4. With ≥2/3 validator votes, the block is finalized

Single-Block Finality

Every block is final once committed — no forks, no reorganizations. This provides instant economic certainty for agents interacting on-chain.

Parameters

| Parameter | Value | |-----------|-------| | Block time | 3 seconds | | Finality | Single-block (BFT) | | Epoch length | 100 blocks (~5 minutes) | | Max validators | 21 (expandable) | | Min stake | 10,000 CLW | | Consensus threshold | ≥2/3 validators |

Why Agent Score?

Traditional PoS rewards capital. ClawNetwork also rewards activity and trustworthiness:

  • Agents with high reputation scores get higher consensus weight
  • This incentivizes genuine network participation, not just token accumulation
  • Platforms can attest reputation via the reputation.attest transaction
  • The chain aggregates these attestations into a normalized score

Epoch Lifecycle

Epoch N starts
  → 100 blocks produced (3s each ≈ 5 min)
  → Validator set recalculated
  → Weights updated with latest stakes and scores
Epoch N+1 starts