active
The node sent a heartbeat inside the active window, currently 30 minutes.
Node lifecycle and archival
Vorliq keeps registry history transparent while making the live network easier to understand. Old stale or test nodes can be archived or retired, but registry records are preserved and must not be silently deleted.
stale
The node is outside the active window but was seen within the recent lifecycle window, currently 7 days.
inactive
The node has been stale longer than the lifecycle window. It may be an old test node, a stopped node, or a real node whose heartbeat needs repair.
archived
An admin intentionally hid the node from default live network views. The record remains available in lifecycle and audit/history views.
retired
An operator or admin marked the node as no longer participating. The record remains preserved for transparency.
Why old test nodes may appear
Registry data is append-and-update operational history. If an early localhost or test node registered and then stopped sending heartbeats, it remains visible as stale or inactive until an admin archives or retires it. This is intentional: old records are not deleted just to make the network look cleaner.
Safe admin actions
Use the protected operator dashboard or protected API routes. Archive old test nodes that should no longer appear in default live network views. Restore a node when it returns and should go back to heartbeat-based classification. Retire a node when the operator intentionally ends participation.
Do not manually edit registry.json. Do not delete records. Do not rewrite historical blocks, alter block hashes, disable snapshot signing, or weaken signed snapshot verification.
Trusted public node caution
The trusted public node, normally https://node.vorliq.org, should not be archived casually. It is a critical operational signal for public sync checks. Protected admin archive requires an explicit force flag for that node.
API
Read lifecycle state with GET /api/registry/lifecycle and summary counts with GET /api/registry/summary. Protected actions are POST /api/admin/registry/archive, POST /api/admin/registry/restore, and POST /api/admin/registry/retire. Each action takes node_url and reason, requires ADMIN_TOKEN, and never deletes registry history.