# Aztec Labs — Aztec Core Contributor Report · Q1 2026

**URL:** <https://forum.aztec.network/t/aztec-labs-aztec-core-contributor-report-q1-2026/8578>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [May 15, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.aztec.network/t/aztec-labs-aztec-core-contributor-report-q1-2026/8578 "2026-05-15T16:17:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mitch](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.aztec.network/mitch/32/1386_2.png) [@mitch](https://forum.aztec.network/u/mitch)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.aztec.network/t/aztec-labs-aztec-core-contributor-report-q1-2026/8578/1 "2026-05-15T16:17:44Z")

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## TL;DR

- **Shipped:**
  - L1 Escape Hatch: a periodic alternative block-production path on L1 that anchors liveness guarantees to Ethereum and moves Aztec from Stage 0 to Stage 1 rollup maturity.
  - Multiple Blocks Per Slot: sequencers now build and publish multiple checkpoints during their slot. Improves latency of inclusion and time between L2 state updates.
  - Alpha upgrade payload and compatible node.

- **Landing next quarter:** the v5 release — sub-24s p50 user-perceived latency through pipelined block building, optimistic proving, improved slashing, and constrained delivery.
- **One ask:** Let’s finish off the protocol specs. Needs prioritization from Foundation.

## What we shipped this quarter

1. **L1 Escape Hatch** : moves Aztec from Stage 0 to Stage 1 by giving any bonded proposer a way to force transactions through L1 even under 100% committee censorship. Near-zero impact on normal block-production cost when not in use.
2. **Checkpoint architecture (multiple L2 blocks per slot)**: sequencers now publish “checkpoints” that batch multiple L2 blocks within a slot, with txs building on the state of preceding blocks. Cuts perceived latency by decoupling block cadence from L1 inclusion cadence; foundational for the v5 latency target.
3. **The Great Wallet Refactor** — context-free `NoteEmission` API, owner enshrined in notes and state variables, new state-variable traits (`Owned`, `SinglePrivateMutable`, `PublicImmutable` with `is_initialized` public), wallet capabilities/scopes, full tx batchability. Reduces aztec-nr boilerplate and makes the wallet/SDK surface coherent for external builders.
4. **PXE restructuring** — JobCoordinator for managing PXE work, reorg-resistant log sync with pagination and concurrent nullifier/tag searching, IndexedDB store cleared on schema-version change, AztecNode proxy methods removed from PXE, PXE JSON-RPC dropped.
5. **New `aztec` CLI + dockerless install** — unified CLI replacing fragmented tooling, `aztec-up` installs without Docker via a native binary path, multi-version management, `aztec profile` with gate counts and flamegraphs, contract debug logs in tx output, auto-generated CLI reference docs. Removes the Docker dependency from first-touch onboarding.

## Reconciliation — what we committed to last quarter

N/A — establishing baseline. Future reports will reconcile against the explicit Q2 commitments listed below.

## What we’re shipping next quarter

### v5 payload with compatible node and smart contract framework — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** First release with public, measurable latency and throughput targets; sets the yardstick for the path to Beta.
- **Definition of done:** Internal sepolia network running at 2 TPS on the proposed chain for at least 5 days with ≤ 1 reorg on an internal Sepolia network; Testnet upgraded to the same version; Payload for the mainnet upgrade reviewed, published to Ethereum, and approved by AZUP process.

### Pipelined block building — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** Decouples block construction from L1 inclusion timing — the precondition for the \< 12s latency target in Q4.
- **Definition of done:** Build-ahead enabled in nightly with measured latency improvement against the pipelining baseline; p50 latency between TX lands in mempool to `txReceipt` \< 24s. See [governance/AZIPs/azip-6-pipelining.md at main · AztecProtocol/governance · GitHub](https://github.com/AztecProtocol/governance/blob/main/AZIPs/azip-6-pipelining.md)

### Optimistic proving — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** Witness generation becomes the binding constraint above ~2 TPS; optimistic proving is the prerequisite for the 10 TPS roadmap.
- **Definition of done:** Checkpoint sub-trees prove as soon as available on an internal network; resource-utilization improvement measured against the current prover-fleet baseline.

### Slashing updates — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** Brings the slashing model into line with the new checkpoint architecture and removes a known-incorrect condition.
- **Definition of done:** Slashing conforms to [AZIP-7: Update slashing rules by spalladino · Pull Request #16 · AztecProtocol/governance · GitHub](https://github.com/AztecProtocol/governance/pull/16) .

### Constrained delivery — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** Today every note-delivery mode depends on sender cooperation; constrained delivery lets a contract force a sender to make notes available to their recipient. It is the only known mechanism gap blocking trustless private interactions.
- **Definition of done:** Registry contract deployed and tested; key-management decisions landed and documented; constrained encryption proven in circuit; example token contract using constrained delivery; v5 backport PR passing CI.

### OPFS/SQLite backend for PXE — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** IndexedDB has proven unreliable. Migration to SQLite (via OPFS) will improve robustness and performance of PXE, which directly affects UX.
- **Definition of done:** Default backend for PXE is SQLite.

### Governance can’t brick rollups — by 2026-06-24

- **Why it matters for Aztec:** Presently, Governance can brick any rollup within the amount of time it takes a proposal to get executed. That window of time is shorter than what it would take a user to exit in the worst case. This fixes that.
- **Definition of done:** See [governance/AZIPs/azip-2.md at main · AztecProtocol/governance · GitHub](https://github.com/AztecProtocol/governance/blob/main/AZIPs/azip-2.md)

## Risks, dependencies, and asks

- **Risk - late AZIPs.** Even “config only” changes should have a cut off date.
- **Dependency - address/keys redesign.** Protocol changes need to land here ASAP to ensure safe inclusion to v5.
- **Ask - Protocol spec prioritization.** It has been started, Labs has put cycles in. Needs focus from Foundation to finish.

## Out of scope this quarter

- **No-setup partial notes** — deferred to Q3+; no team is currently blocked.
- **Proactive wallet-sdk development** — reactive only; all major teams now use wallet-sdk, improvements driven by incoming reports.