Igra - Novacula

Igra is an EVM-compatible L2 anchored on the Kaspa DAG. Every Igra node runs two processes: a kaspad node that follows the underlying Kaspa network, and an igra-reth execution layer (a reth fork tailored to the Igra L2) that serves the standard Ethereum JSON-RPC. The two share a JWT secret over the internal Engine API, just like an Ethereum execution-layer / consensus-layer pair; that link is internal to the node and you don’t configure it. Igra runs on Kubernetes only. Deploy it from the Deploy Node wizard against an executor that supports Igra. See Provision on Kubernetes.

Quick start on k3s

No full cluster? A lightweight distribution works too. k3s is a CNCF-certified, single-binary Kubernetes that stands up a working cluster in one command — enough to host the Novacula Operator and an Igra node.

Install a single-node k3s cluster

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

k3s ships a default local-path storage class, which the Operator’s PVCs can use. It stores data on the node’s own disk, so size that disk for Igra’s volumes (see Resource defaults below). This is fine for a test or galleon-testnet node; for a production mainnet node use a real CSI storage class instead.

Install Helm

The Operator ships as a Helm chart, so you need Helm:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-4 | bash

Point your shell at the cluster

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml

k3s writes this kubeconfig as root with 600 permissions. If you aren’t running as root, either use sudo, or install k3s with --write-kubeconfig-mode 644 (append it to the install command above) so kubectl and helm can read the file.

Install the Operator

Copy the exact helm upgrade --install from the Connect Executor screen in the UI — it comes pre-filled with your Hub URL and executor key, so you don’t fill those in by hand:

helm upgrade --install nvcl-operator oci://ghcr.io/rsquad/nvcl/charts/nvcl-operator \
  --namespace nvcl-system --create-namespace \
  --set image.tag="<version>" \
  --set gateway.tag="<version>" \
  --set hub.url="https://hub.novacula.io" \
  --set-string hub.token="<executor-api-key>" \
  --set hub.name="<executor-name>"

Then confirm the Operator rolled out:

kubectl -n nvcl-system rollout status deploy/nvcl-operator

The executor row in the UI flips to online within seconds. See Connect an executor and the full Provision on Kubernetes walkthrough.

Deploy Igra

Open the Deploy Node wizard, pick Igra and a network, and deploy. See Deploy a node.

Networks

Network	Underlying Kaspa	Use
`mainnet`	Kaspa `mainnet`	Production.
`galleon-testnet`	Kaspa `testnet`	Testing.

The wizard offers exactly the networks, clients, and versions the executor declares. Pick a network and the wizard pre-fills the resource and storage defaults for it. Igra has a single node type, full.

Clients

Role	Client	Versions
Kaspa node	kaspad	`2.3`
Execution layer	igra-reth (reth fork)	`2.3`

The two roles move in lock-step at the same version.

Resource defaults

The wizard pre-fills these per network; you can raise them before deploying.

Network	Role	CPU	Memory	Storage
`mainnet`	kaspad	4	24Gi	1500Gi
`mainnet`	igra-reth	4	16Gi	1000Gi
`galleon-testnet`	kaspad	2	24Gi	200Gi
`galleon-testnet`	igra-reth	2	8Gi	100Gi

kaspad is the heavier process — plan for a node well above 32Gi total RAM once both processes and the OS are accounted for.

Ports

The Ethereum JSON-RPC is served on :8545 (HTTP) and :8546 (WebSocket). Point your apps at these.

Configuration

Igra runs with a fixed, upstream-pinned configuration per network — there are no client config overrides to set when you deploy. The product picks the correct ports, chain identity, and bootstrap for the network you chose.

Sync

The execution layer receives blocks from kaspad over the internal Engine API; the L2 itself has no peer-to-peer chain-tip discovery.
Block Height and Sync Progress are derived by comparing the node’s local height against the public Igra explorer’s tip on each reporting cycle. This requires outbound HTTPS from the executor to the public explorer (explorer.igralabs.com). If your network blocks that egress, Sync Progress will report stale.

Monitoring

Open a node and select the Monitoring tab to read the common per-node metrics — Block Height, Peers, Sync Progress, plus EL Finalized Block and EL Safe Block extras — as charts. Kaspad-side health is surfaced too: Kaspad DAA Score (the kaspad chain height) and Kaspad Sync progress. See Node monitoring.

Common patterns

RPC endpoint — accept the defaults and expose :8545 (HTTP) and :8546 (WebSocket) to your apps. Check egress to the public Igra explorer is open, or Sync Progress won’t track.

​Quick start on k3s

​Networks

​Clients

​Resource defaults

​Ports

​Configuration

​Sync

​Monitoring

​Common patterns