4.6 KiB
Production pipeline (reference)
Last Updated: 2026-04-13
Document Version: 1.0
Status: Reference
This is a systems-level description of how serious searchers and builders often structure work: predict post-trade state, simulate, bid for ordering, settle. Details differ by chain, relay, and builder market.
Core loop (conceptual)
- Ingest chain head state, pool reserves, and (where available) pending transactions or private flow.
- Model candidate state transitions (e.g. apply pending tx to a local view of state).
- Search for profitable routes or reactions (cycles, backruns, liquidations).
- Simulate deterministically in an EVM-equivalent environment with gas and fee models.
- Decide under risk limits (inventory, gas caps, failure modes).
- Package signed transactions into bundles or other relay payloads.
- Submit to relays, builders, or public mempool; track inclusion and PnL.
- Observe failures, latency, and counterparties; feed back into strategy.
The system is not simply “find arb then send tx”; it is compete for ordering against others running similar loops.
Layer breakdown
Data layer
Inputs: RPC (archive when historical replay matters), mempool or builder streams, pool factories, logs, optional CEX/oracle feeds.
Outputs: Normalized pool graph edges, reserves, fees, and candidate triggers (new block, new pending tx, new pool).
Typical stack (illustrative): Self-hosted or low-latency RPC, websocket or fiber mempool feeds, indexers, Redis or in-memory hot state, PostgreSQL for metadata and analytics.
Simulation engine
Role: Given state S and a candidate action, compute post-state, balances, and net profit after gas and protocol fees.
Requirements: Deterministic EVM behavior, correct token transfer semantics, gas metering, and parallel evaluation of many candidates.
This layer is often the main technical moat after raw data access.
Strategy engine
Role: Choose which opportunities to pursue, size, and gas or builder tip policy under constraints (slippage, inventory, max loss, cooldowns).
Includes: Graph search / path enumeration, scoring, and integration with capital limits.
Execution layer
Role: Turn a simulated opportunity into an included on-chain outcome.
Mechanisms (chain-dependent): Bundles via relays (e.g. Flashbots-style flows), direct builder relationships, private orderflow, or public mempool with aggressive priority fees.
Win rate is dominated by this layer plus simulation quality, not only “alpha” detection.
Smart contract layer
Role: Atomic multi-hop swaps, flash loans, callbacks, and revert-safe accounting so failed attempts do not destroy inventory.
Requirements: Gas discipline, minimal external calls, clear failure modes.
Capital layer
Role: Inventory across tokens and chains, treasury movements, and rebalancing after runs.
Techniques: Pre-funded inventory, internal netting across strategies, flash liquidity (bounded by depth and fees).
Latency and placement
Role: Reduce time from signal to submission, and improve placement in the auction for blockspace.
Knobs: Geography, peering, NIC/kernel tuning, colocation (where allowed), direct builder APIs.
Mapping to MEV_Bot implementation specs
The MEV_Bot submodule (see parent proxmox repo) names concrete services in specs/SERVICE_ARCHITECTURE_AND_MESSAGE_CONTRACTS.md. Rough alignment:
| This reference layer | MEV_Bot service (MVP spec) |
|---|---|
| Data: pools, reserves, blocks | PoolIndexerService, StateIngestionService |
| Liquidity graph | LiquidityGraphService |
| Opportunity search | OpportunitySearchService |
| Simulation | SimulationService |
| Strategy / risk (partially in sim + ops) | Config + scoring in SEARCH_AND_SIMULATION_SPEC / ops docs |
| Bundle build | BundleBuilderService |
| Execution / relay | ExecutionGateway |
| Settlement and PnL | SettlementAnalyticsService |
| Mempool-driven rescoring (optional) | MempoolWatcherService (noted as optional in spec) |
Use MEV_Bot/specs/README.md for the authoritative reading order and scope boundaries.
Related
- ARCHITECTURE.md — Mermaid diagrams of the same pipeline
- OPPORTUNITY_TAXONOMY.md — what kinds of opportunities exist
- SCALING_AND_REALITY.md — competition and scaling