spo_vote

Interactive Bash script for creating, signing, and submitting a Cardano SPO governance vote with cardano-cli.

This repository is intended for SPO environments running Cardano infrastructure on Linux.

Features

• prompts for a governance action TxRef in txhash#index format
• optionally uses a configured payment address
• shows spendable UTXOs in ADA for easier selection
• creates and signs the vote transaction before submission confirmation
• supports installation into standard system paths

Requirements

The script expects these commands to be available on PATH:

• gum
• jq
• cardano-cli

It also expects access to:

• a cold verification key
• a cold signing key
• a payment signing key

You can verify command dependencies with:

./install.sh check

Optional helper for installing gum:

./scripts/install-gum.sh

This helper supports:

• Linux x86_64
• Linux arm64

It is only for gum. You still need to install jq and cardano-cli yourself.

Installation

One-line install from GitHub:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lacepool/spo_vote/main/install.sh | bash

This installer:

• installs spo_vote to /usr/local/bin/spo_vote
• installs a default config to /etc/spo_vote.conf if one does not already exist
• creates /var/lib/spo-vote/keys, /var/lib/spo-vote/tx, and /tmp/spo-vote
• leaves dependency installation to you

Common local installation from a checked-out repo:

sudo ./install.sh install

This installs:

• executable: /usr/local/bin/spo_vote
• config: /etc/spo_vote.conf

The default config layout assumes:

• persistent data: /var/lib/spo-vote
• temporary files: /tmp/spo-vote

For staged installs or packaging:

DESTDIR=/tmp/package-root ./install.sh install

To remove the installed script and config:

sudo ./install.sh uninstall

Configuration

Copy and adjust the example config:

sudo cp spo_vote.conf.example /etc/spo_vote.conf
sudo editor /etc/spo_vote.conf

The script loads config from the first available location:

1. SPO_VOTE_CONFIG
2. spo_vote.conf next to the script
3. /etc/spo_vote.conf

Typical config values:

• NETWORK
• WORKDIR
• TMP_DIR
• KEYS_DIR
• TX_DIR
• COLD_VKEY
• COLD_SKEY
• PAYMENT_SKEY
• PAYMENT_ADDRESS

Set NETWORK to mainnet, preprod, or preview.

If PAYMENT_ADDRESS is set, the script will not prompt for it.

You can verify the installed config exists with:

./install.sh check-config

Usage

Run:

spo_vote

The script will:

1. ask for the governance action TxRef as txhash#index
2. use the configured payment address or prompt for one
3. ask for the vote choice: yes, no, or abstain
4. query UTXOs for the payment address
5. let you choose a UTXO, displayed as ADA | txhash#index
6. build and sign the transaction
7. show a final confirmation prompt before submission

Notes

• the script requires an interactive TTY because it uses gum
• generated transaction files are written under the configured TX_DIR
• temporary files such as the vote file and queried UTXOs are written under the configured TMP_DIR
• the script performs runtime checks for required commands and key files before doing any work

Development

Useful commands:

bash -n spo_vote.sh
bash -n install.sh
./install.sh check
DESTDIR=/tmp/package-root ./install.sh install