The Mainsail Testnet of ARK has pushed a new version on December 1, 2025 — v0.0.1-rc.8 is officially online. This update covers a wide range, with changes in core modules, API interfaces, consensus layer, and development tools.

What has this version done? First, on the code level, they have undertaken large-scale cleaning and restructuring of constants, contracts, and the kernel, with the aim of reducing runtime dependencies and unifying scattered shared types. The consensus storage and encrypted message processing have also been optimized, the deserialization of BlockHeader and LockProof is now safer, and the serialization storage logic is clearer.

The API module has fixed several bugs—interfaces related to HTTP, EVM, and the transaction pool are now more stable and reliable. The env:paths:clear command has added a feature switch for clearing consensus data and transaction pool data. Additionally, the ESLint rules have been tightened, TypeScript type definitions have been improved, and the dependency libraries have undergone bulk updates. There's also a new thing: an end-to-end testing workflow for public network synchronization.

To be honest, since the release of the new version of the Mainsail Testnet, the update pace has been quite fast. Previously, these technical details were scattered in the weekly development reports and the community Discord, but now the team has started to disseminate this information.

If you want to run a Testnet validation node and test ARK EVM, you can go to their community Discord in the Mainsail Testnet channel to find installation and upgrade guides. The complete update log can be found on GitHub.

$ARK