Block Authorization and Finality

Block Authors

There are validators on the Mandala Chain who participate in the consensus mechanism to produce the blocks based on validity statements from other validators. These validators are called block authors; they are selected by AURA consensus and can note up to one backable candidate for each block to include in the blockchain. A backable candidate included in the chain is considered backed in that fork of the chain.

In a Mandala Chain block, block authors will only include candidate receipts that have a parent candidate receipt in an earlier block. This ensures the Mandala Chain blocks follow a valid chain. Also, the block authors will only include a receipt for which they have an erasure coding chunk, ensuring that the system can perform the next round of availability and validity checks.