STARK Protocol

STARK Protocol#

The protocol proceeds in five phases:

  1. Setup — field definitions, domain construction, and Merkle tree / transcript primitives (Primitives, Building Blocks).

  2. Commit — witness commitment, intermediate polynomial computation, and quotient polynomial construction (Stage 1: Witness Commitment through Stage Q: Quotient Polynomial).

  3. Evaluate — polynomial evaluations at the challenge point and FRI polynomial batching (Polynomial Evaluations, FRI Polynomial Construction).

  4. FRI fold — iterated degree reduction via FRI commitment rounds and grinding (FRI Commitment Rounds, Grinding).

  5. Query — Merkle opening proofs, FRI consistency checks, and folding verification (STARK Protocol: Query Phase).

For the complete protocol as a single self-contained description, see The Full Protocol, Rolled Out.