Source Walkthrough Exercises

What this page explains#

Exercises turn the Source List into contributor practice: trace one behavior from wiki claim to module to test evidence. This page sits in Core Protocol Source Path. It gives the topic a plain-language handle first, then shows the working idea, the mechanism, the source trail, and any limits that still matter. This category is a code-reading path. It treats source files as evidence with boundaries: a constant proves one kind of thing, a pipeline proves another, and a test proves only the scenario it covers.

The writing follows a simple Kaspa documentation pattern: answer the practical question first, then link outward for details. The closest public sources for this page are RK-GHOSTDAG, RK-VIRTUAL-PIPELINE, RK-DAA, RK-PRUNING-PROOF, RK-REACHABILITY. Local notes can help choose what to explain, but public-facing references resolve to upstream websites, repositories, papers, release pages, or docs.

How to think about it#

The practical model starts by naming the layer that owns the topic: wallet use, node operation, consensus, transaction validation, Toccata script behavior, tooling, or research. From there, the page shows which public source can support the explanation and where the explanation becomes incomplete.

For Source Walkthrough Exercises, the model is built around these anchors: trace a block through GHOSTDAG; trace a transaction into accepted state; trace one DAA calculation; trace one pruning proof; trace one reachability query and record what each source can prove. This model is useful, but it does not encode every constant, branch, error type, or edge case. Those details belong in the source path and the source notes.

How it works#

1. trace a block through GHOSTDAG. Core protocol source pages explain which subsystem owns the behavior. The reader should come away knowing whether the evidence belongs in params, constants, proof of work, header processing, body processing, virtual processing, DAA, pruning, reachability, storage, or tests.

2. trace a transaction into accepted state. Virtual state is the bridge from ordered consensus consequences into the state surfaces that tools can inspect. Mempool visibility says a node is considering a transaction; accepted evidence says the transaction was incorporated through consensus processing. UTXO diffs, accepting data, and indexer replay are the review trail for applications that need durable state.

3. trace one DAA calculation. Core protocol source pages explain which subsystem owns the behavior. The reader should come away knowing whether the evidence belongs in params, constants, proof of work, header processing, body processing, virtual processing, DAA, pruning, reachability, storage, or tests.

4. trace one pruning proof. Core protocol source pages explain which subsystem owns the behavior. The reader should come away knowing whether the evidence belongs in params, constants, proof of work, header processing, body processing, virtual processing, DAA, pruning, reachability, storage, or tests.

5. trace one reachability query and record what each source can prove. Source-review pages are practical maps. They start from one claim, identify the owning subsystem, inspect data structures and serialization, follow validation or execution, check tests and release context, and then write down what remains unresolved. The page is useful only if it says both what a source proves and what it does not prove.

This mechanism section is a source checking guide. Each paragraph names the subsystem that owns the claim and keeps constants, params, pipelines, tests, releases, and KIPs in their own evidence lanes.

How to check it#

When using this page for source review, start with the claim class, then read the owner module, tests, KIP or release context, and any dependent interface. Record what the source proves and what it does not prove before strengthening wiki wording.

Related Pages#

• activation-kips-and-release-evidence
• core-protocol-source-path