# Twilight mining (devnet preview)

> Twilight is a proof-of-work blockchain that decouples the block reward from block production. The only validators are Slot operators; each receives a share of every block's new coins and passes it on, through the authorization server (MINIS) it runs, to the people whose agents did verified work off chain. The chain registers Slots and pays each active Slot a share of every block's emission; a Slot's authorization server (MINIS) verifies participation from metadata only and pays participants on chain, per epoch. One Slot is open to participants today: Slot 3, the search router at https://router-api.nyks.dev, whose unit of work is a web search. The client is `jevlin` (npm `@jevlinsearch/jevlin`, source https://github.com/jevlinai/jevlin-go): no daemon, no proxy, no MCP server; a skill plus hooks for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, opencode, Pi and Hermes.

Key facts:
- Slots are registered by the network authority (`MsgRegisterCoreSlot`), not self-service; up to 100 active. Every block mints a subsidy (416,190 utwlt at genesis, halving on supply thresholds toward a 21M TWLT cap); each epoch (360 blocks, about 32 minutes) the pool splits among active Slots as entitlements that the Slot's authorization server releases to participants by settlement chunks. No claim transaction.
- Distribution mode today is `TRUSTED_AS_DISTRIBUTION`: one verified observation per epoch makes a participant eligible; the Slot's share splits equally among the eligible. The on-chain selection draw exists in the genesis but is not applied.
- For Slot 3 a verified observation is a search served by the router with an `sr-` key from the enrolled account, matched by the authorization server through the router's verification API. The trace (trajectory) a search carries is optional; `TOKENDROP_TRACE=off` earns the same.
- Registering a Slot: an authority action (`twilightd coreslot register <operator> <payout> <settlement> <consensus-pubkey> <moniker>`, then `coreslot activate <slot-id>`); the Slot is pending until activated, then a validator with voting power 1 and a share of each epoch's emission. The operator runs a validator (archival), a provider with a verification API, and one authorization server (MINIS) per Slot. See https://docs.twilight.org/register-a-slot.
- Taking part: install the Slot's client (for Slot 3, Jevlin's: https://docs.jevlin.ai/quickstart), enable mining, choose a payout address.
- Identity (browserless): the agent registers with the provider's agents API with no credential and receives its key at once; a person claims it later and approves mining; the provider then issues a signed enrollment assertion that the client redeems at MINIS as a JWT bearer grant with a DPoP proof, which binds the installation to an account with no browser or device code. MINIS cannot create participants itself; an `sr-` API key meters searches at the router; a wallet (made locally, 24 words) or a pasted `twilight1…` address receives payouts.
- Devnet: chain `twilight-devnet-3`, Slot 3, AS https://minis.nyks.dev. Payout binding is declared, not proven. Not a mainnet promise.

## Docs

- [Twilight](https://docs.twilight.org/twilight.md): Slots, registration, the token supply, MINIS, the client; reference: CLI, config, protocol, chain parameters
- [Search router](https://docs.twilight.org/search-router.md): Slot 3: searching, trajectories, how the Slot distributes tokens; reference: router API, trace envelope
- [Agent skill](https://docs.twilight.org/skill.md): what the client installs into agents
- [Manifest](https://docs.twilight.org/manifest.json): JSON index with sizes and checksums

## Optional

- [Twilight protocol docs](https://docs.twilight.org): the chain itself — pools, Boomerang, the validity gadget, validators
- [twilight-project on GitHub](https://github.com/twilight-project)