ava-labs · StephenButtolph · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026 · May 5, 2026
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+# C-Chain VM (`cchain`)
+
+`cchain` is the C-Chain VM. It is a thin chain-specific harness around [saevm](../), the generic EVM framework that implements [ACP-194](https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/tree/main/ACPs/194-streaming-asynchronous-execution). `saevm` does the heavy lifting — block execution, settlement, gas accounting, and EVM gossip. `cchain` adds what makes the chain *the C-Chain*: transactions for moving assets between Primary Network chains, Warp messaging, and validator-voted chain parameters.
+
+## Architecture
+
+The C-Chain is composed of three major components:
+
+1. **AvalancheGo** — [networking](../../../network), [consensus](../../../snow), validator-set management, and the external API surface.
+2. **SAE** — the generic EVM implementation.
+3. **C-Chain** (this package) — the wrapper that adds C-Chain-specific behavior.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TB
+    subgraph avago["AvalancheGo"]
+        direction LR
+        consensus["Consensus"]
+        network["Network"]
+        apiserver["API Server"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph sae["SAE"]
+        direction LR
+        execution["Execution"]
+        p2pn["P2P Network"]
+        rpc["/rpc"]
+        ws["/ws"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph cchain["C-Chain"]
+        direction LR
+        hook["Hooks"]
+        warp["Warp"]
+        db[("Database")]
+        mempool[("Mempool")]
+        avax["/avax"]
+    end
+
+    network <--> consensus
+    network --> p2pn
+    consensus --> execution
+    apiserver --> rpc
+    apiserver --> ws
+    apiserver --> avax
+    execution --> hook
+
+    hook --> warp
+    p2pn --> warp
+
+    hook --> mempool
+    p2pn --> mempool
+    avax --> mempool
+
+    hook --> db
+    warp --> db
+    mempool --> db
+```
+
+Hooks are the seam through which SAE calls into C-Chain–specific code. SAE invokes them at the relevant points of a block's lifecycle:
+
+- **Build** — construct custom header fields and embed cross-chain transactions into the block body.
+- **Verify** — enforce validation rules on header fields, embedded transactions, and Warp predicates.
+- **Execute** — apply cross-chain transaction state effects.
+
+## What `cchain` adds
+
+`cchain` extends the standard Ethereum block format. The block header gains the following extra fields:
+
+- `blockGasCost` — legacy block-level required priority fee.
+- `extDataGasUsed` — legacy gas used by cross-chain transactions.
+- `extDataHash` — keccak256 of the block's cross-chain transaction data.
+- `gasTargetExcess` — ACP-176 gas-target vote tracker.
+- `minDelayExcess` — ACP-226 minimum-delay vote tracker.
+- `minimumPriceExcess` — ACP-283 minimum-gas-price vote tracker.
+- `timestampMilliseconds` — millisecond-precise timestamp.
+
+The block body adds one extra field:
+
+- `blockExtraData` — encoded cross-chain transactions; their semantics are described under [Cross-chain transactions](#cross-chain-transactions) below.
+
+The standard `extraData` field carries Warp predicate verification results — see [Warp messaging](#warp-messaging).
+
+### Cross-chain transactions
+
+The Primary Network is the set of three chains — P, X, and C — that exchange assets through pair-wise [shared stores](../../../chains/atomic). Each pair of chains has its own store, readable and writable by both chains in the pair.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TB
+    P((P-Chain))
+    X((X-Chain))
+    C((C-Chain))
+
+    PX[("P&X Database")]
+    CP[("C&P Database")]
+    CX[("C&X Database")]
+
+    P --> PX
+    X --> PX
+    P --> CP
+    C --> CP
+    X --> CX
+    C --> CX
+```
+
+A cross-chain transfer happens in two steps. An **Export** transaction on the source chain burns the asset and writes a UTXO into the shared store between the source and destination chains. The UTXO specifies who is allowed to consume it. An **Import** transaction, issued by that party on the destination chain, consumes the UTXO and credits funds to addresses of the Import issuer's choice.
+
+`cchain` defines both transaction types, their validation rules, and runs a dedicated mempool that gossips them in a bandwidth-optimized way using bloom filters.
+
+#### How transactions enter the mempool
+
+Cross-chain transactions reach the mempool from four independent sources. Each transaction passes the same checks — signature, state validity, and conflict resolution — before being added.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart LR
+    rpc["/avax"]
+    pushgossip["Outbound push gossiper"]
+    push["Inbound push gossip"]
+    pull["Inbound pull gossip"]
+    rej["Block rejection"]
+    mempool[("Mempool")]
+
+    rpc --> pushgossip
+    rpc --> mempool
+    push --> mempool
+    pull --> mempool
+    rej --> mempool
+```
+
+The four entry paths in detail:
+
+- **User RPC submission.** The `/avax` JSON-RPC endpoint receives a transaction and forwards it to the mempool, also enqueuing it on the push-gossiper. This is the only path that registers transactions with the push-gossiper.
+- **Inbound push gossip.** A peer pushes a transaction over the transaction gossip protocol; the transaction is routed to the same add path.
+- **Inbound pull gossip.** Periodically, `cchain` sends a bloom filter representing the current state of the mempool to a peer. The peer returns transactions not referenced in the bloom filter; those transactions are forwarded to the same add path.
+- **Block rejection.** When the consensus engine rejects a block this node had previously verified, `cchain` extracts the transactions from the block and submits each to the mempool. The point is to keep otherwise-valid transactions from being dropped by an unlucky conflict.
+
+### Warp messaging
+
+The C-Chain participates in cross-subnet [Warp messaging](../../platformvm/warp) on both sides — sending messages to other chains and receiving messages from them. Four pieces are involved:
+
+- A custom precompile that lets EVM contracts emit and consume Warp messages.
+- Incoming Warp messages encoded in the access-list, so the hook implementation can verify them prior to EVM execution.
+- [Predicate verification](../../evm/predicate) results encoded into the block header's `extraData`, so a bootstrapping node doesn't need to re-verify historical Warp messages.
+- The [ACP-118](https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/tree/main/ACPs/118-warp-signature-request) p2p protocol for collecting BLS signatures from peer validators on outbound messages.
+
+`cchain` persists this chain's Warp messages, serves signature requests against that store, and verifies Warp predicates during block verification.
+
+### Validator-voted parameters
+
+Three chain parameters are settled by validator vote on each block. The block builder casts the vote: when building a block they can move each parameter toward their ideal value. Because block production is stake-weighted, this yields a stake-weighted voting mechanism over the long run.
+
+- **Gas target per second** ([ACP-176](https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/tree/main/ACPs/176-dynamic-evm-gas-limit-and-price-discovery-updates)) — the throughput target. The rest of ACP-176 (gas accounting and excess tracker) lives in SAE; `cchain` contributes only the target value.
+- **Minimum block delay** ([ACP-226](https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/tree/main/ACPs/226-dynamic-minimum-block-times)) — a lower bound on the time between consecutive blocks. Prevents block production faster than the network can maintain.
+- **Minimum gas price** ([ACP-283](https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/tree/main/ACPs/283-dynamic-minimum-gas-price)) — a floor on the gas price for transactions to be included in a block.