Make mac release binaries runnable without nix

[vrom911]

The pre-built mac binaries hard-linked their libraries from /nix/store, so they only launched on a machine that had nix installed. On a plain mac dyld could not find those paths and the binaries would not start at all.

This fixes the packaging step. The libiconv rewrite now matches the versioned name so hydra-node points at the macOS system copy, and the libraries that macOS does not ship (libsodium-vrf, secp256k1, gmp, ncursesw) get bundled next to the binaries with dylibbundler and referenced via @executable_path. Verified on a fresh nix build .#release that both binaries have no /nix/store paths left, stay validly signed and launch fine.

Fixes #2461

---

• CHANGELOG updated or not needed
• Documentation updated or not needed
• Haddocks updated or not needed
• No new TODOs introduced or explained herafter

[github-actions]

Transaction cost differences

No cost or size differences found

[github-actions]

End-to-end benchmark differences

Comparing this PR (new) against master (old). Numbers come from cloud VMs, so changes under 5% are shown as ≈ and are likely run-to-run noise rather than a real regression or improvement. 🟢 = improvement, 🔴 = regression; uncolored rows are neutral measures reported for context.

Sustained load (3 nodes, 3x5000 txs)

Metric	master	PR	Δ
End-to-end TPS (tx/s)	485.15	458.53	🔴 -26.62 (-5.5%)
Sustained TPS (tx/s)	970.19	900.90	🔴 -69.29 (-7.1%)
Backlog drain time (s)	26.80	32.00	🔴 +5.20 (+19.4%)
Snapshots per second (/s)	0.55	0.52	-0.03 (-5.5%)
Avg txs per snapshot	882.40	882.40	≈ +0.00 (+0.0%)
Avg. Confirmation Time (s)	25.435	26.483	≈ +1.048 (+4.1%)
P50 confirmation (s)	26.808	27.954	≈ +1.145 (+4.3%)
P95 confirmation (s)	30.349	32.073	🔴 +1.724 (+5.7%)
P99 confirmation (s)	30.460	32.291	🔴 +1.831 (+6.0%)
Tx validation time p50 (s)	10.973	11.006	≈ +0.033 (+0.3%)
Peak node RSS (MB)	420.40	408.40	≈ -12.00 (-2.9%)
Invalid txs	0.00	0.00	≈ +0.00 (n/a%)

Plateau 1000 UTxO (1 node, 4000 txs)

Metric	master	PR	Δ
End-to-end TPS (tx/s)	234.57	229.53	≈ -5.04 (-2.1%)
Backlog drain time (s)	16.90	17.30	≈ +0.40 (+2.4%)
Snapshots per second (/s)	0.41	0.40	≈ -0.01 (-2.4%)
Avg txs per snapshot	571.40	571.40	≈ +0.00 (+0.0%)
Avg. Confirmation Time (s)	10.930	11.210	≈ +0.280 (+2.6%)
P50 confirmation (s)	12.219	11.455	🟢 -0.764 (-6.3%)
P95 confirmation (s)	16.952	17.334	≈ +0.382 (+2.3%)
P99 confirmation (s)	16.953	17.335	≈ +0.382 (+2.3%)
Tx validation time p50 (s)	4.548	5.654	🔴 +1.107 (+24.3%)
Peak node RSS (MB)	361.70	386.20	+24.50 (+6.8%)
Invalid txs	0.00	0.00	≈ +0.00 (n/a%)

Round-trip latency (3 nodes, closed-loop, 3x250 txs)

Metric	master	PR	Δ
End-to-end TPS (tx/s)	100.13	103.97	≈ +3.84 (+3.8%)
Sustained TPS (tx/s)	100.94	104.43	≈ +3.49 (+3.5%)
Backlog drain time (s)	0.00	0.00	≈ +0.00 (n/a%)
Snapshots per second (/s)	67.55	70.15	≈ +2.60 (+3.8%)
Avg txs per snapshot	1.50	1.50	≈ +0.00 (+0.0%)
Avg. Confirmation Time (s)	0.030	0.029	≈ -0.001 (-4.0%)
P50 confirmation (s)	0.029	0.028	≈ -0.001 (-3.5%)
P95 confirmation (s)	0.039	0.037	≈ -0.001 (-3.6%)
P99 confirmation (s)	0.045	0.042	🟢 -0.002 (-5.2%)
Tx validation time p50 (s)	0.008	0.007	≈ -0.000 (-3.8%)
Peak node RSS (MB)	149.40	149.60	≈ +0.20 (+0.1%)
Invalid txs	0.00	0.00	≈ +0.00 (n/a%)

[github-actions]

Transaction costs

Sizes and execution budgets for Hydra protocol transactions. Note that unlisted parameters are currently using arbitrary values and results are not fully deterministic and comparable to previous runs.

Metadata
Generated at	2026-07-28 16:25:14.996243693 UTC
Max. memory units	14000000
Max. CPU units	10000000000
Max. tx size (kB)	16384

Script summary

Name	Hash	Size (Bytes)
νHead	f2dd4ade71e19c2310a86215aa78aea06463aca2d8b818af8dc1b8a4	12805
μHead	4abb8dedbcd6a6f03f4fe227300e2713d73b7680d47baa898b60d27a*	4971
νDeposit	c78e8c9205721eb3ef4410f3db9c6169fa6db497c24641d29c20529c	1615
νCRS	09db7ee6cf7a4b358dd5c8a2f19d2c048336ffc5a01ef35a47ca7072	2736

• The minting policy hash is only usable for comparison. As the script is parameterized, the actual script is unique per head.

Init transaction costs

Parties	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	5475	9.34	3.07	0.49
2	5572	9.82	3.22	0.50
3	5668	10.53	3.45	0.51
5	5860	11.13	3.63	0.52
10	6345	13.76	4.47	0.57
50	10180	35.52	11.31	0.97
100	14983	62.25	19.65	1.45
114	16327	69.34	21.86	1.59

Cost of Increment Transaction

Parties	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	2321	21.24	7.55	0.48
2	2453	21.57	8.31	0.49
3	2584	22.62	9.31	0.51
5	2844	24.59	11.27	0.56
10	3501	29.43	16.14	0.66
50	8741	71.50	55.96	1.52
75	12018	97.46	80.76	2.05

Cost of Decrement Transaction

Parties	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	642	18.46	6.68	0.38
2	772	19.42	7.65	0.40
3	905	20.41	8.63	0.42
5	1167	22.26	10.55	0.46
10	1822	27.19	15.45	0.56
50	7068	67.78	54.80	1.40
75	10338	93.87	79.60	1.94

Close transaction costs

Parties	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	669	17.78	11.67	0.41
2	801	18.76	12.65	0.43
3	931	19.69	13.61	0.45
10	1853	26.46	20.44	0.59
50	7090	67.73	60.08	1.44
75	10365	93.22	84.77	1.97

Contest transaction costs

Parties	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	701	21.50	14.91	0.46
2	832	22.64	15.93	0.48
3	963	23.77	16.96	0.51
5	1225	26.10	19.03	0.55
10	1885	31.70	24.14	0.66
50	7122	80.15	65.90	1.59
66	9218	98.80	82.40	1.95

FanOut transaction costs

Involves spending head output and burning head tokens. Uses ada-only UTXO for better comparability.

Parties	UTxO	UTxO (bytes)	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
10	0	0	5644	23.29	42.87	0.90
10	1	57	5679	25.63	45.39	0.93
10	5	285	5814	35.88	55.71	1.10
10	10	568	5982	49.89	68.99	1.31
10	20	1139	6323	82.42	96.97	1.79
10	20	1140	6324	82.42	96.97	1.79

PartialFanOut transaction costs

Largest chunk of ada-only outputs that can be distributed in one partial fanout step, computed dynamically. The last row is the maximum total UTxO count where at least one output can still be distributed.

Distributed	UTxO (bytes)	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
11	570	987	34.91	66.33	0.95
25	1309	1424	68.24	99.40	1.48
30	1310	1429	68.24	99.40	1.48
40	1310	1429	68.24	99.40	1.48
50	1306	1425	68.24	99.40	1.48
100	1309	1424	68.24	99.40	1.48
150	1307	1426	68.24	99.40	1.48
200	1310	1429	68.24	99.40	1.48
200	1310	1429	68.24	99.40	1.48

PartialFanOut transaction costs (with native tokens)

Largest chunk of native-token outputs that can be distributed in one partial fanout step, computed dynamically. The last row is the maximum total UTxO count where at least one output can still be distributed.

Distributed	UTxO (bytes)	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
11	980	1455	42.00	68.83	1.05
25	2205	2452	76.59	99.17	1.59
30	2352	2610	76.59	99.22	1.60
40	2016	2258	76.56	99.11	1.58
50	2079	2325	76.59	99.12	1.59
100	2478	2739	76.59	99.22	1.60
150	2373	2633	76.59	99.22	1.60
200	2121	2369	76.56	99.12	1.59
200	2121	2369	76.59	99.12	1.59

FinalPartialFanOut transaction costs (with native tokens)

Terminal partial fanout step (FanoutProgress → Final) with outputs carrying a native token. Burns all head tokens and proves accumulator exhaustion via BLS proof.

Distributed	UTxO (bytes)	Tx size	% max Mem	% max CPU	Min fee ₳
1	98	5518	22.10	44.30	0.89
5	525	5860	35.70	55.83	1.10
10	1120	6351	53.90	70.65	1.37
10	1090	6320	53.90	70.63	1.37

End-to-end benchmark results

This page is intended to collect the latest end-to-end benchmark results produced by Hydra's continuous integration (CI) system from the latest master code.

Please note that these results are approximate as they are currently produced from limited cloud VMs and not controlled hardware. Rather than focusing on the absolute results, the emphasis should be on relative results, such as how the timings for a scenario evolve as the code changes.

Generated at 2026-07-28 16:28:07.329996629 UTC

Baseline Scenario

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	300
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	181.8
P99	189.3ms
P95	188.6ms
P50	179.7ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	108.5
End-to-end TPS	1558.05 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.2
Snapshots observed	3
Snapshots per second	15.58 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	100.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.9
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	2

Three local nodes

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	900
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	827.0
P99	883.9ms
P95	883.4ms
P50	846.8ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	433.6
End-to-end TPS	1012.09 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.9
Snapshots observed	3
Snapshots per second	3.37 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	300.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	148.5
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	4

Scenario benchmark results

This page collects results from the scenario matrix: every combination of cluster size, UTxO shape, and incremental-ops mode is exercised by CI from the latest master code and reported below.

Numbers are approximate. They come from cloud VMs rather than controlled hardware, so the useful signal is the relative change between cells and between commits, not the absolute throughput.

Generated at 2026-07-28 16:41:29.300087285 UTC

Summary across cells

TPS columns are rates (transactions per second); Wall clock (s) is the measured elapsed time from the first tx submission to the last confirmation. Times are rounded to one decimal.

Scenario	Txs	Wall clock (s)	End-to-end TPS (tx/s)	Sustained TPS (tx/s)	Avg conf (ms)	P95 conf (ms)
Nodes=1, Constant, fire and forget	30	0.0	1144.51	n/a	25.5	25.9
Nodes=1, Constant, wait for tx valid	30	0.2	188.62	189.31	5.2	6.2
Nodes=1, Growing, fire and forget	30	0.0	1004.55	n/a	29.0	29.6
Nodes=1, Growing, wait for tx valid	30	0.2	143.34	143.26	6.9	8.7
Nodes=1, Mixed, fire and forget	30	0.0	1023.81	n/a	28.6	29.0
Nodes=1, Mixed, wait for tx valid	30	0.2	160.22	156.74	6.2	7.8
Nodes=2, Constant, fire and forget	60	0.1	730.25	n/a	81.3	82.0
Nodes=2, Constant, wait for tx valid	60	0.5	116.94	116.33	16.9	22.9
Nodes=2, Growing, fire and forget	60	0.1	787.37	n/a	74.5	76.0
Nodes=2, Growing, wait for tx valid	60	0.7	84.08	83.40	23.5	29.6
Nodes=2, Mixed, fire and forget	60	0.1	1027.10	n/a	55.9	57.7
Nodes=2, Mixed, wait for tx valid	60	0.7	88.41	84.01	22.4	30.3
Nodes=3, Constant, fire and forget	90	0.1	780.33	n/a	111.1	112.2
Nodes=3, Constant, wait for tx valid	90	0.9	100.72	99.51	29.5	38.3
Nodes=3, Growing, fire and forget	90	0.2	517.60	n/a	170.3	172.8
Nodes=3, Growing, wait for tx valid	90	1.4	64.14	63.27	45.4	68.2
Nodes=3, Mixed, fire and forget	90	0.2	550.78	n/a	160.8	163.2
Nodes=3, Mixed, wait for tx valid	90	1.2	77.80	73.96	38.0	53.1

Nodes=1, Constant, fire and forget

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	25.5
P99	26.0ms
P95	25.9ms
P50	25.7ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	12.9
End-to-end TPS	1144.51 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	76.30 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	15.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.1
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	2

Nodes=1, Constant, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	5.2
P99	6.4ms
P95	6.2ms
P50	5.1ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	1.8
End-to-end TPS	188.62 tx/s
Sustained TPS	189.31 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	30
Snapshots per second	188.62 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.1
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	2

Nodes=1, Growing, fire and forget

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	29.0
P99	29.6ms
P95	29.6ms
P50	29.3ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	10.8
End-to-end TPS	1004.55 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	66.97 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	15.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.6
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	31

Nodes=1, Growing, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	6.9
P99	9.2ms
P95	8.7ms
P50	6.7ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	1.9
End-to-end TPS	143.34 tx/s
Sustained TPS	143.26 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	30
Snapshots per second	143.34 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.9
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	31

Nodes=1, Mixed, fire and forget

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	28.6
P99	29.1ms
P95	29.0ms
P50	28.7ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	12.4
End-to-end TPS	1023.81 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	68.25 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	15.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	143.2
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	2

Nodes=1, Mixed, wait for tx valid

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	1
Number of txs	30
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	6.2
P99	8.1ms
P95	7.8ms
P50	6.1ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	1.8
End-to-end TPS	160.22 tx/s
Sustained TPS	156.74 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	30
Snapshots per second	160.22 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.4
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	2

Nodes=2, Constant, fire and forget

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	81.3
P99	82.1ms
P95	82.0ms
P50	81.5ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	49.4
End-to-end TPS	730.25 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.1
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	24.34 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	30.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.4
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	3

Nodes=2, Constant, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	16.9
P99	27.2ms
P95	22.9ms
P50	16.0ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	4.1
End-to-end TPS	116.94 tx/s
Sustained TPS	116.33 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	60
Snapshots per second	116.94 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.6
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	3

Nodes=2, Growing, fire and forget

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	74.5
P99	76.0ms
P95	76.0ms
P50	75.0ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	25.8
End-to-end TPS	787.37 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.1
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	26.25 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	30.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.3
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	62

Nodes=2, Growing, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	23.5
P99	34.4ms
P95	29.6ms
P50	23.5ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	7.8
End-to-end TPS	84.08 tx/s
Sustained TPS	83.40 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	60
Snapshots per second	84.08 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	147.1
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	62

Nodes=2, Mixed, fire and forget

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	55.9
P99	58.0ms
P95	57.7ms
P50	56.0ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	24.0
End-to-end TPS	1027.10 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.1
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	34.24 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	30.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.4
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	3

Nodes=2, Mixed, wait for tx valid

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	2
Number of txs	60
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	22.4
P99	32.4ms
P95	30.3ms
P50	22.7ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	6.3
End-to-end TPS	88.41 tx/s
Sustained TPS	84.01 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	60
Snapshots per second	88.41 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	146.2
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	3

Nodes=3, Constant, fire and forget

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	111.1
P99	112.6ms
P95	112.2ms
P50	111.9ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	61.4
End-to-end TPS	780.33 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.1
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	17.34 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	45.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.4
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	4

Nodes=3, Constant, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	29.5
P99	42.4ms
P95	38.3ms
P50	28.4ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	7.8
End-to-end TPS	100.72 tx/s
Sustained TPS	99.51 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	61
Snapshots per second	68.27 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.5
Peak node RSS (MB)	145.5
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	4

Nodes=3, Growing, fire and forget

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	170.3
P99	172.9ms
P95	172.8ms
P50	171.5ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	47.2
End-to-end TPS	517.60 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.2
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	11.50 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	45.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	146.5
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	0

Nodes=3, Growing, wait for tx valid

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	45.4
P99	71.5ms
P95	68.2ms
P50	43.5ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	12.0
End-to-end TPS	64.14 tx/s
Sustained TPS	63.27 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	62
Snapshots per second	44.19 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.5
Peak node RSS (MB)	147.8
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	0

Nodes=3, Mixed, fire and forget

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	160.8
P99	163.3ms
P95	163.2ms
P50	160.8ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	48.3
End-to-end TPS	550.78 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.2
Snapshots observed	2
Snapshots per second	12.24 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	45.0
Peak node RSS (MB)	144.5
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	4

Nodes=3, Mixed, wait for tx valid

Each client first grows its UTxO set (1-in to 2-out) for half of its tx budget, then contracts it back (2-in to 1-out) for the remainder.

Number of nodes	3
Number of txs	90
Avg. Confirmation Time (ms)	38.0
P99	56.2ms
P95	53.1ms
P50	36.9ms
Tx validation time p50 (ms)	9.9
End-to-end TPS	77.80 tx/s
Sustained TPS	73.96 tx/s
Backlog drain time (s)	0.0
Snapshots observed	62
Snapshots per second	53.59 /s
Avg txs per snapshot	1.5
Peak node RSS (MB)	146.6
Number of Invalid txs	0
Fanout outputs	4