nullislabs · mfw78 · Jul 15, 2026 · Jul 9, 2026 · Jul 10, 2026
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+# Multi-chain deployment patterns
+
+This guide covers running Shepherd against multiple EVM chains simultaneously.
+The engine dispatches each module only to the chains it subscribes to, so a
+single `nexum` process can serve modules watching Mainnet, Gnosis Chain,
+Arbitrum One, and Base at the same time.
+
+---
+
+## Chain support matrix
+
+The table lists the chains this repo's modules target. The CoW Protocol
+orderbook supports more (the `cowprotocol` crate's `Chain` enum also carries
+BNB, Polygon, Avalanche, Linea, and Plasma); the same wiring pattern applies
+to any of them. Shepherd can subscribe to block and log events on any EVM
+chain; add only the chains your modules actually use.
+
+| Chain | Chain ID | Orderbook slug | Barn (staging) | Notes |
+|-------|----------|----------------|----------------|-------|
+| Ethereum Mainnet | 1 | `mainnet` | ✓ | Primary production chain |
+| Gnosis Chain | 100 | `xdai` | ✓ | Second-most-active CoW deployment |
+| Base | 8453 | `base` | ✗ | |
+| Arbitrum One | 42161 | `arbitrum_one` | ✓ | |
+| Sepolia | 11155111 | `sepolia` | ✓ | Recommended testnet for soak runs |
+
+The CoW Protocol orderbook is not deployed on every EVM chain. A `[chains.<id>]`
+entry in `engine.toml` for a chain with no orderbook deployment will open block
+and log subscriptions, but any module that calls `cow-api` will fail at runtime.
+
+---
+
+## `engine.toml` — per-chain RPC wiring
+
+Add one `[chains.<id>]` table per chain. Log-subscription modules require a
+WebSocket (`wss://`) transport; request-only modules can use HTTP.
+
+```toml
+[chains.1]                                   # Ethereum Mainnet
+rpc_url = "${MAINNET_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.100]                                 # Gnosis Chain
+rpc_url = "${GNOSIS_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.8453]                                # Base
+rpc_url = "${BASE_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.42161]                               # Arbitrum One
+rpc_url = "${ARBITRUM_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.11155111]                            # Sepolia (soak / staging)
+rpc_url = "${SEPOLIA_RPC_URL}"
+```
+
+`${VAR}` tokens are substituted at engine boot from environment variables. A
+missing variable fails fast with the exact variable name. In Docker Compose,
+forward the variables from the host `.env` file:
+
+```yaml
+# docker-compose.yml (engine service environment section)
+environment:
+  MAINNET_RPC_URL:
+  GNOSIS_RPC_URL:
+  BASE_RPC_URL:
+  ARBITRUM_RPC_URL:
+  SEPOLIA_RPC_URL:
+```
+
+### Opt out of the WebSocket requirement
+
+By default the engine logs an ERROR at boot when a chain is configured with an
+HTTP URL because `block` and `log` subscriptions need WebSocket. If a chain is
+used only for `chain::request` (poll-only modules with no `[[subscription]]`),
+suppress it:
+
+```toml
+[chains.1]
+rpc_url = "https://eth.llamarpc.com"
+require_ws = false
+```
+
+---
+
+## CoW Protocol orderbook URLs
+
+The engine's `cow-api` extension resolves the orderbook URL automatically from
+the chain ID using the canonical `https://api.cow.fi/<slug>/` pattern. No
+extra config is needed for production.
+
+Override individual chains to point at a staging ("barn") instance or a local
+mock:
+
+```toml
+[extensions.cow.orderbook_urls]
+# Point chain 11155111 at the barn (staging) orderbook:
+11155111 = "https://barn.api.cow.fi/sepolia/"
+
+# Point chain 1 at a local Wiremock during integration testing:
+1 = "http://localhost:9999/"
+```
+
+**Canonical URLs by chain:**
+
+| Chain | Production URL | Barn (staging) URL |
+|-------|---------------|-------------------|
+| Mainnet (1) | `https://api.cow.fi/mainnet/` | `https://barn.api.cow.fi/mainnet/` |
+| Gnosis (100) | `https://api.cow.fi/xdai/` | `https://barn.api.cow.fi/xdai/` |
+| Base (8453) | `https://api.cow.fi/base/` | — |
+| Arbitrum One (42161) | `https://api.cow.fi/arbitrum_one/` | `https://barn.api.cow.fi/arbitrum_one/` |
+| Sepolia (11155111) | `https://api.cow.fi/sepolia/` | `https://barn.api.cow.fi/sepolia/` |
+
+---
+
+## Contract addresses
+
+### CREATE2-stable (identical on every chain)
+
+These addresses are the same across all supported chains:
+
+| Contract | Address |
+|----------|---------|
+| `GPv2Settlement` | `0x9008D19f58AAbD9eD0D60971565AA8510560ab41` |
+| `GPv2VaultRelayer` | `0xC92E8bdf79f0507f65a392b0ab4667716BFE0110` |
+| `ComposableCoW` | `0xfdaFc9d1902f4e0b84f65F49f244b32b31013b74` |
+
+### EthFlow
+
+The **current** production EthFlow deployment is address-identical on every
+chain CoW Protocol supports (the `cowprotocol` crate pins it as
+`ETH_FLOW_PRODUCTION`, sourced from
+[`cowprotocol/ethflowcontract`](https://github.com/cowprotocol/ethflowcontract)
+`networks.prod.json`):
+
+```
+0xbA3cB449bD2B4ADddBc894D8697F5170800EAdeC  (all supported chains)
+```
+
+This is what `modules/ethflow-watcher/module.toml` wires for Sepolia, and the
+same value carries to Mainnet, Gnosis Chain, Arbitrum One, and Base today.
+
+Unlike ComposableCoW, however, the sameness is **not a CREATE2 guarantee** -
+EthFlow has legacy per-version deployments at other addresses (e.g. the
+v1.0.0 contracts), and a future version may land at a new address on a
+per-chain schedule. When porting `ethflow-watcher` to a new chain or bumping
+the contract version, verify the `[[subscription]] address` against
+`networks.prod.json` for that chain rather than assuming the constant holds.
+
+---
+
+## Module manifests — the `[[subscription]]` duplication pattern
+
+A module subscribes per chain. To watch the same event on multiple chains,
+declare one `[[subscription]]` block per chain. The engine opens a separate
+stream for each and routes dispatches independently.
+
+### twap-monitor on Mainnet + Gnosis
+
+```toml
+# module.toml for twap-monitor (multi-chain)
+
+# ComposableCoW.ConditionalOrderCreated on Mainnet
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "chain-log"
+chain_id = 1
+address = "0xfdaFc9d1902f4e0b84f65F49f244b32b31013b74"
+event_signature = "0x2cceac5555b0ca45a3744ced542f54b56ad2eb45e521962372eef212a2cbf361"
+
+# New-block ticks on Mainnet (drives the poll loop)
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "block"
+chain_id = 1
+
+# ComposableCoW.ConditionalOrderCreated on Gnosis Chain
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "chain-log"
+chain_id = 100
+address = "0xfdaFc9d1902f4e0b84f65F49f244b32b31013b74"
+event_signature = "0x2cceac5555b0ca45a3744ced542f54b56ad2eb45e521962372eef212a2cbf361"
+
+# New-block ticks on Gnosis Chain
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "block"
+chain_id = 100
+```
+
+The module's `on_event` receives every event tagged with its `chain_id`; use
+the chain ID to dispatch to the correct `chain::request` target and the correct
+`cow-api` submission path.
+
+### ethflow-watcher on Mainnet + Sepolia
+
+```toml
+# module.toml for ethflow-watcher (multi-chain)
+
+# CoWSwapEthFlow.OrderPlacement on Mainnet
+# IMPORTANT: verify this address against cowprotocol/ethflowcontract
+# networks.prod.json before deploying — EthFlow is NOT CREATE2-stable.
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "chain-log"
+chain_id = 1
+address = "<MAINNET_ETHFLOW_ADDRESS>"
+event_signature = "0xcf5f9de2984132265203b5c335b25727702ca77262ff622e136baa7362bf1da9"
+
+# CoWSwapEthFlow.OrderPlacement on Sepolia
+[[subscription]]
+kind = "chain-log"
+chain_id = 11155111
+address = "0xbA3cB449bD2B4ADddBc894D8697F5170800EAdeC"
+event_signature = "0xcf5f9de2984132265203b5c335b25727702ca77262ff622e136baa7362bf1da9"
+```
+
+---
+
+## Event topic reference
+
+These are keccak256 hashes of the event signatures. They are the same on every
+chain; only the contract `address` changes for EthFlow.
+
+| Event | Topic-0 |
+|-------|---------|
+| `ComposableCoW.ConditionalOrderCreated(address,(address,bytes32,bytes))` | `0x2cceac5555b0ca45a3744ced542f54b56ad2eb45e521962372eef212a2cbf361` |
+| `CoWSwapEthFlow.OrderPlacement(address,(address,address,address,uint256,uint256,uint32,bytes32,uint256,bytes32,bool,bytes32,bytes32),(uint8,bytes),bytes)` | `0xcf5f9de2984132265203b5c335b25727702ca77262ff622e136baa7362bf1da9` |
+
+---
+
+## Resource sizing (per additional chain)
+
+Each new chain adds:
+
+- **1 block subscription** (always-on WS stream, ~zero CPU when idle).
+- **N log subscriptions**, where N = number of modules with a `chain-log`
+  subscription on that chain.
+- **M `eth_call`s per block** for polling modules (e.g. TWAP), where M scales
+  linearly with the number of active registered orders on that chain.
+
+RPC provider sizing: budget **≥ 25 sustained req/s per chain** (a paid
+Alchemy / Infura / QuickNode tier - free tiers throttle `eth_subscribe`
+under exactly this load). Dedicated endpoints per chain are preferable to
+shared-rate plans when running `block` subscriptions simultaneously.
+
+Monitor `shepherd_chain_request_total{outcome="err"}` per `chain_id` — a
+sustained rate above 5% on any chain indicates RPC degradation.
+
+---
+
+## Full multi-chain `engine.docker.toml` example
+
+```toml
+[engine]
+state_dir = "/var/lib/shepherd"
+log_level  = "info"
+
+[engine.metrics]
+enabled   = true
+bind_addr = "0.0.0.0:9100"
+
+[chains.1]
+rpc_url = "${MAINNET_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.100]
+rpc_url = "${GNOSIS_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.8453]
+rpc_url = "${BASE_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.42161]
+rpc_url = "${ARBITRUM_RPC_URL}"
+
+[chains.11155111]
+rpc_url = "${SEPOLIA_RPC_URL}"
+
+[extensions.cow.orderbook_urls]
+# Uncomment to override individual chains with barn or a local mock:
+# 11155111 = "https://barn.api.cow.fi/sepolia/"
+
+[[modules]]
+path     = "/opt/shepherd/modules/twap_monitor.wasm"
+manifest = "/opt/shepherd/manifests/twap-monitor.toml"
+
+[[modules]]
+path     = "/opt/shepherd/modules/ethflow_watcher.wasm"
+manifest = "/opt/shepherd/manifests/ethflow-watcher.toml"
+```
+
+---
+
+## See also
+
+- [`docs/deployment.md`](../deployment.md) — `engine.toml` reference and
+  single-module quickstart
+- [`docs/production.md`](../production.md) — systemd, Docker, RPC provider
+  recommendations, and alerting rules
+- [`docs/deployment/docker.md`](./docker.md) — container image layout
+- [`modules/twap-monitor/module.toml`](../../modules/twap-monitor/module.toml)
+  — canonical subscription example
+- [`modules/ethflow-watcher/module.toml`](../../modules/ethflow-watcher/module.toml)
+  — EthFlow subscription with per-chain address caveat