This Help Center is written for stakers. If you run a validator, the answers you need mostly live in the technical documentation and the public APIs, which carry per-epoch data this Help Center cannot.
Start Here: The Validator Bonds Skill
We built a skill specifically for validator questions, and we strongly recommend installing it or at least giving it a try.
We trained it on everything to do with Validator Bonds, SAM, PSR, settlements, eligibility, scoring, and bond sizing, and it has access to both Marinade's source code and the live data. It should be able to handle most validator questions on its own.
The point is that you do not have to wait for us. Our team is small and spread across time zones, so a question asked at the wrong hour can sit for a while. The Skill answers whenever you need it, using the same code and data we would check ourselves.
Install it once from github.com/marinade-finance/validator-bonds and four skills activate automatically depending on what you ask:
marinade-sam-bond: SAM auction mechanics, every settlement type including the protected-event sub-kinds for downtime and commission increases, bond lifecycle, PSR, epoch lifecycle, CPMPE, clearing price, bond capacity versus bid competitiveness.
marinade-ecosystem: repo map, program IDs, token addresses, public APIs, issue filing, SDK references.
marinade-docs: live API base URLs, OpenAPI schemas, GCS bucket paths, repo clone commands.
find: researches and verifies facts directly against source code and live APIs.
It works with Claude Code and Codex.
One caveat: answers come from an AI tool, so double-check anything you act on against the live data. If you hit a wrong or incomplete answer, tell us or open an issue on the repo and we will get it verified and fixed.
Documentation
docs.marinade.finance covers the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), validator bonds, Protected Staking Rewards (PSR), settlements, and how bids and the clearing price work.
psr.marinade.finance is the PSR and bond dashboard.
Public APIs for Per-Epoch Data
Questions about a specific epoch, bid, or vote account are answered by the APIs, which are always current:
Validator Bonds API: validator-bonds-api.marinade.finance/docs for bond balances, bidding, and protected events.
Scoring API: scoring.marinade.finance/api/v1 for SAM scores per epoch.
Validators API: validators-api.marinade.finance for validator metadata.
This is the right place for questions such as why a vote account's eligibility changed in a given epoch, or what the clearing price and winning bids were. Those values change every epoch, so any figure written into an article would be wrong within days.
Code and Issues
The programs, SDKs, and CLIs are open source at github.com/marinade-finance. Bugs and feature requests are best filed as issues on the relevant repository, where the engineers working on it will see them.
Still Stuck? Open a Ticket on Discord
If the Skill, the docs, and the APIs have not answered your question, open a support ticket in our Discord and share the details. We will review it and get back to you.
See Official Links for the genuine invite. Never use a Discord link sent to you in a DM.
Include these details so it can be routed without a round trip, especially for a bond or stuck stake issue:
Your vote account address
The stake account address involved, if there is one
The epoch in which the problem appeared
The transaction signature, if there is one
What you already checked, and what the data showed
FAQ
Q: What is the Validator Bonds Skill?
A: A plugin we built and maintain, trained on Validator Bonds, SAM, PSR, settlements, eligibility, and scoring, with access to Marinade's source code and live data. It is designed to answer most validator questions without waiting for our team. Install it from the validator-bonds repository.
Q: Can support tell me why my validator lost eligibility?
A: Not directly. Eligibility is computed per epoch and published through the scoring and bonds APIs. Ask the Validator Bonds Skill or check the APIs first, then open a Discord ticket if the data does not explain what you are seeing.
Q: What was the last auction clearing price?
A: Query the bonds API rather than asking support. Auction results change every epoch and the API is the authoritative source.
Q: How much bond do I need?
A: The bond requirement is a formula, not a fixed number, and it depends on your stake and bids. The Validator Bonds Skill covers the calculation, and your current balance is in the bonds API.