> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.northstar.sonicsvm.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.northstar.sonicsvm.org/faq.md).

# FAQ

## Why an Ephemeral Rollup instead of a rollup-as-a-service?

NorthStar sessions are **single-tenant** by design. Each session is its own isolated execution context, with its own slot cadence, its own fee schedule, and atomic settle-back to Solana. Rollup-as-a-service products give you a shared chain you operate on; NorthStar gives you your own chain on demand, then takes it back.

## How is settle-back atomic?

When a session closes, the Portal program treats the commit of all delegated accounts as one multi-write operation. Either every account's final ER state lands on L1, or nothing changes. See [settle-back guarantees](/concepts/settle-back.md) and the [security model](/architecture/security.md).

## What's "bounded autonomy"?

The agent-sandbox primitive: an autonomous agent (AI or deterministic) runs inside a session that has hard limits on **which accounts** it can touch, **how long** it can run, and **how much** it can spend on fees. If any limit is reached, the session terminates and accounts settle back. No surprise bills, no escaped writes, no rollback drama.

## Mainnet timeline?

Devnet is live today (current page is documentation against devnet). Q2 2026 is the tentative rollout timeline for Mainnet.

## Can I run any Solana program inside a NorthStar session?

If the program ships a `delegate_to_portal` hook on its writable accounts — yes. If not (e.g. Jupiter, Raydium), the program itself can't be delegated, but you can still use NorthStar to **separate the agent's reasoning** (in the session, against delegation-aware programs) **from external execution** (on L1, via standard composability). See the [Mach Sandbox architecture](https://github.com/mirrorworld-universe/mach-amm) for the canonical example.

## What's the difference between a session and a "rollup"?

A session **is** a rollup — but a single-tenant, ephemeral one. It's a private execution context that exists for the session's TTL, then ceases to exist. The closer mental model is "rent a private chain for an hour" rather than "deploy on a chain that lives forever."

## How fast is real-time confirmation, exactly?

The mature platform's capability is sub-perceptual confirmation (think milliseconds). Today's deployed devnet path measures higher because the validator's slot duration defaults to 50ms. Per-session slot duration overrides + an SDK helper for TPU-direct submission are tracked in the pipeline. See [Real-time confirmation](/architecture/real-time.md) for the architecture.

## What happens if my session expires?

Session accounts force-undelegate; final ER state settles to L1. The session PDA stays on chain (Portal doesn't currently expose `CloseSession` to free it). If you re-open at the same `grid_id`, you'll need a different `grid_id` or a fresh owner keypair (the per-owner `fee_vault` is shared, and Portal's current `OpenSession` doesn't reuse it).

## How are fees programmable?

Each session opens with a `FeeStructure` parameter — pick the fee level, pick the fee token, pick the operator's revenue split. See [Programmable Economics](https://github.com/mirrorworld-universe/northstar-docs/blob/main/build/fees/README.md) for the schema.

## Where do I get help?

* Issues + bug reports: [github.com/mirrorworld-universe](https://github.com/mirrorworld-universe).
* Architecture questions: this docs site.
* Roadmap visibility: the public Linear project linked above.


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