Saga is a protocol designed to allow developers to launch application-specific blockchains called Chainlets via Realms, each of which is made up of (i) a security source (the chain from which security is derived), (ii) obligations (the rules by which validators operate), and (iii) technology (including the virtual machine and consensus algorithm used). The Saga Chainlet Realm is Saga’s first Realm, as well as its intended main realm, though Realms for partner protocols such as Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and Celesita are also intended. The three core components of the Saga Chainlet Realm are described in further detail below:
Saga Security Chain: The Saga Security Chain (SSC) is a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) Layer-1 network built using the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus mechanism that is intended to initially secure the Saga Chainlet Realm (SSC, platform chain and deployed Chainlets). Of note, additional sources of security (e.g. Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, etc.) are also intended to be inherited by the platform chain and Chainlets thereafter.
Platform Chain: The platform chain is where developers can launch and maintain a Chainlet. The platform chain is a Layer-1 network built using the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus mechanism. The project’s documentation states that the platform chain is intended to aggregate security from multiple security chains, including the SSC. Specifically, the platform chain is intended to relay messages from security chains to deployed chainlets and vice versa via a modified version of Cosmos’ Cross-Chain Validation (CCV), with validator misbehavior relayed by Chainlets resulting in slashing of validator stake on the underlying security chain.
Chainlet: A Chainlet is a sovereign blockchain with a virtual machine (VM) module running a single smart contract. Chainlets are intended to initially inherit security from the SSC via the platform chain, with additional sources of security to be made available thereafter. Additionally, Saga supports horizontal scaling so that developers can split workloads across multiple chainlets. Every Saga protocol validator responsible for security must validate every Chainlet according to its Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a given Chainlet. The project’s documentation states an auditor is responsible for alerting the validator set when a particular validator fails to meet service obligations. This validator can then be slashed as a means of punishment. The Saga team is also developing a suite of validator orchestration tools to help Saga validators automatically manage all Chainlets. These tools include automated server environments for each Chainlet, automatic scheduling binary execution, and monitoring tools to ensure sufficient compute resources are available for Chainlets.
