What this module covers
- What “ready” means in practice
- How to review your performance as a CSM operator & best practices
- ICS requirements and application
- Next steps after testnet (including mainnet)
What “ready” means
You are ready when you have:
- Successfully brought validators online
- Operated them for a sustained period
- Encountered and handled issues
- Understood the responsibility of participating in CSM
Occasional issues are expected.
Reviewing your performance
As a CSM operator, you are expected to regularly review your performance.
You should be able to:
- Check whether your validators are meeting performance thresholds
- Understand when keys are eligible or ineligible for rewards
- Detect early signs of underperformance
Performance can be reviewed via:
- CSM widget & linked dashboards at csm.lido.fi/monitoring
- Local monitoring, such as Grafana, if you run it
You can read a detailed walkthrough in
Best practices
Good CSM operators tend to:
- Monitor validator health proactively
- Read to improve their validator’s uptime, performance and security.
Understanding ICS expectations
Identified Community Stakers (ICS) are evaluated across three dimensions:
- Proof of Experience (5–8 points)
- Proof of Humanity (4–8 points)
- Proof of Engagement (2–7 points)
To obtain ICS status, operators must:
- Reach at least 15 points in total
- Meet the minimum required points in each category
You can read more about the system and apply here:
Next steps: from testnet to mainnet
After operating successfully on testnet, the natural next step is mainnet.
Before moving to mainnet, make sure you:
- Are consistently meeting performance thresholds
- Are comfortable monitoring and reacting to issues
- Understand the higher stakes and stricter expectations
Mainnet key generation follows the same principles as testnet, but with stricter security requirements (e.g. air-gapped setups).
Read more here
- Alerts and monitoring (CSM) https://docs.lido.fi/run-on-lido/csm/alerts-and-monitoring/
- CSM best practices https://docs.lido.fi/run-on-lido/csm/best-practices/
- Identified Community Staker system https://csm.lido.fi/type/ics-system
- Mainnet validator key generation (CSM) https://docs.lido.fi/run-on-lido/csm/generating-validator-keys/key-generation-for-mainnet/
End of the module
You should now be able to explain:
- How to review your performance as a CSM operator
- Where and how to monitor validator health
- What best practices matter over time
- What the path from testnet to mainnet looks like
🎉 End of the cohort
Congrats! Now you’re one of the hundreds of home stakers helping keep Ethereum secure and decentralized.