refactor: pass BlockManager to ChainstateManager #36739

pull pzafonte wants to merge 13 commits into bitcoin:master from pzafonte:blockstorage-chainstate-separation changing 14 files +512 −281

pzafonte commented at 12:17 AM on November 3, 2026: contributor

ChainstateManager creates and owns its BlockManager which means block storage can't exist without chainstate management. Validation also reaches BlockManager's members through friend declarations. In #35627, moving that ownership out of ChainstateManager which came up as worthwhile doing.

ImportBlocks gets BlockManager::SetBlockfilesIndexed() for the reindex flag and moves to node/chainstate, since it drives validation. RequestPrune() and MarkBlockIndexDirty() replace the friend declarations, keeping the prune check flag private. NodeContext and the kernel then create the BlockManager first, pass it to ChainstateManager by reference and destroy ChainstateManager first. Last, ChainstateLoadOptions::prune is removed, since every caller set it from the BlockManager's prune mode.

The only behavior change to my knowledge is startup log order, because the block tree database opens before the script verification threads start.

Based on #36738

Thanks to musaHaruna for his review on my fork, which suggested RequestPrune().

test: apply BlockManager args in test fixtures

Without this, -prune and -fastprune in extra_args have no effect.

24ad36d929

test: check flush retry after failure

Move the blk file aside instead of deleting it, so it can be restored.

2334d27a24

test: characterize a failed prune flush

The pruned blk/rev files are not deleted, even after a later flush
succeeds.

108d7ff03c

validation: delete pruned files on a later flush

Files selected for pruning were kept in a local, so a failed flush left
them on disk until the next startup.

Keep them in BlockManager and delete them after the next block index
write. Take them with the dirty entries, which WriteBlockIndexDB() drops
even if the write fails. Drop a file from the set once a block is
written to it.

Pending files wait for the next periodic, forced or shutdown flush
rather than forcing one, which would retry a failing write on every
block.

d224fb8721

refactor: let BlockManager write block storage

Move the block and undo file flush, block index write and pruned file
deletion from FlushStateToDisk into BlockManager. Their bench log lines
change from FlushStateToDisk to WriteBlockStorage.

fb911aecde

refactor: apply prune locks in BlockManager

Validation read BlockManager's prune locks directly. Move that code and
PRUNE_LOCK_BUFFER into BlockManager.

14de6dfdf5

refactor: pass prune limits to BlockManager

BlockManager read the chainstate to decide what to prune. Decide in
validation and pass the height range and sizes instead. An Assume checks
the heights are non-negative.

ae7d92d02e

refactor: move prune bookkeeping into BlockManager

Move FlushStateToDisk's handling of the prune request, prune locks,
pruned flag, files to delete and blocks directory space check into
BlockManager. The prune request is cleared before the prune locks are
applied rather than after selection, which differs only if selection
throws.

An Assume checks that the pruned flag is set before files are queued
for deletion, so a restart knows blocks were deleted.

777b2f90de

refactor: add BlockManager::SetBlockfilesIndexed

ImportBlocks wrote the reindex flag through BlockManager's database and
then set m_blockfiles_indexed. Let BlockManager do both.

d59c161b35

refactor: move ImportBlocks to node/chainstate

ImportBlocks drives validation, so it does not belong in block storage.

ffb03bfbae

refactor: drop BlockManager's friend declarations

Validation only used the prune check flag and the dirty block index
entries. Add RequestPrune() and MarkBlockIndexDirty() for them.

a2c65d6a98

refactor: pass BlockManager to ChainstateManager

Create the BlockManager first and pass it in by reference. NodeContext
and the kernel own both and destroy ChainstateManager first.

The block tree database opens before the script verification threads
start, which swaps their startup log lines.

e7aec4e790

refactor: remove ChainstateLoadOptions::prune

Every caller set it from the BlockManager's prune mode, so check that
directly.

c43a937349

DrahtBot added the label Refactoring on Nov 3, 2026
DrahtBot commented at 12:18 AM on November 3, 2026: contributor


The following sections might be updated with supplementary metadata relevant to reviewers and maintainers.



External sites
- Code coverage & benchmarks: https://corecheck.dev/bitcoin/bitcoin/pulls/36739
- Ralph review <img src=https://review.fish.foo/assets/bitcoin/bitcoin/36739.png alt="Ralph review status"> https://git.fish.foo/bitcoin/bitcoin/pulls/36739#author-ralph


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Conflicts

Reviewers, this pull request conflicts with the following ones:
- #36621 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/36621.svg"> (node: batch block file pruning in a single pass over block index by mutatrum)
- #36548 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/36548.svg"> (net: serve MSG_BLOCK by stripping witnesses in place by l0rinc)
- #36326 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/36326.svg"> (kernel: Use typed errors for fatal and flush error notifications by arejula27)
- #36033 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/36033.svg"> ([wip,nomerge,rfc] build: Require C++23 compiler by maflcko)
- #35731 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/35731.svg"> (Indexes: Harden the flush-error notification invariant by arejula27)
- #35570 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/35570.svg"> (refactor: Change some validation.cpp methods to return BlockValidationState by optout21)
- #35071 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/35071.svg"> (Reindex: save progress to continue after interruption by pinheadmz)
- #34534 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/34534.svg"> (rpc: Manual prune lock management (Take 2) by fjahr)
- #34132 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/34132.svg"> (coins,dbwrapper: make point-read and txindex lookup failures fatal by l0rinc)
- #33637 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/33637.svg"> (validation: reduce block index comparison overhead by l0rinc)
- #33324 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/33324.svg"> (blocks: add resumable reobfuscation for existing block files by l0rinc)
- #31260 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/31260.svg"> (scripted-diff: Type-safe settings retrieval by ryanofsky)
- #26022 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/26022.svg"> (Add util::ResultPtr class by ryanofsky)
- #25665 <img src="https://drahtbot.space/ack_count/bitcoin/bitcoin/25665.svg"> (refactor: Add util::Result failure types and ability to merge result values by ryanofsky)
If you consider this pull request important, please also help to review the conflicting pull requests. Ideally, start with the one that should be merged first.

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Labels

Refactoring

Linked (view graph)

#35627 kernel: can't work with pruned blocksdir #36738 refactor: move block writes and pruning into BlockManager

refactor: pass BlockManager to ChainstateManager #36739

External sites

Reviews

Conflicts