What happened

Hydra now embeds depositPeriod in the on-chain OpenDatum when a head is initialized. Every participating node validates that value against its local --deposit-period configuration.

If a node is configured with a different deposit period, it emits IgnoredHeadInitializing and refuses to join the head. The behavior mirrors existing handling for contestationPeriod mismatches.

Why it matters

Hydra head operators now need to align --deposit-period across all participants before opening or upgrading a head. The setting becomes another shared operational parameter to check alongside --contestation-period.

The change is aimed at reducing configuration disagreement during head initialization, rather than adding a user-facing feature.

What to watch next

Watch for this master-branch change to appear in a tagged Hydra release, along with release notes or operator guidance confirming how participants should configure and verify the parameter.

What to watch

A tagged Hydra release or operator documentation covering the enforced --deposit-period check.

Sources and limits

Upstream references and independent checks

Digest dated 2026-07-25 · upstream model claude-sonnet-4-6. Direct links are matched to all 1 upstream source IDs.

  1. 1
    Enforce --deposit-period consistency across all head nodes (#2734)Direct upstream source · c5ec683f980d533f535a642baf5d61aa8e75db8e

This Research brief was generated by Terra from a dated upstream research digest. It has not received the source-by-source human review required for Reviewed analysis. Material limit: The evidence is a single approved record about a commit on Hydra master; it does not establish release status, defaults, mainnet readiness, or performance effects.