move validator run slot ticker (#15479)

* moving the ticker from chain start to right before the main loop and also after the wait for activation edge case

* fixing unit test

* adding in a unit test

* adding in comment based on potuz's feedback

validator/client/iface/validator.go

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ type Validator interface {
 	DeleteGraffiti(ctx context.Context, pubKey [fieldparams.BLSPubkeyLength]byte) error
 	Host() string
 	FindHealthyHost(ctx context.Context) bool
+	SetTicker()
 }
 
 // SigningFunc interface defines a type for the function that signs a message

validator/client/runner.go

@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ func newRunner(ctx context.Context, v iface.Validator, monitor *healthMonitor) (
 		v.Done()
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to update proposer settings")
 	}
-
 	return &runner{
 		validator:     v,
 		healthMonitor: monitor,
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ func (r *runner) run(ctx context.Context) {
 	v := r.validator
 	cleanup := v.Done
 	defer cleanup()
-
+	v.SetTicker()
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -169,6 +168,9 @@ func onAccountsChanged(ctx context.Context, v iface.Validator, current [][48]byt
 		err := v.WaitForActivation(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithError(err).Warn("Could not wait for validator activation")
+		} else {
+			log.Debug("Resetting slot ticker after waiting for validator activation.")
+			v.SetTicker()
 		}
 	}
 }

validator/client/testutil/mock_validator.go

@@ -333,3 +333,6 @@ func (*FakeValidator) Host() string {
 func (fv *FakeValidator) FindHealthyHost(_ context.Context) bool {
 	return fv.CanChangeHost
 }
+
+func (fv *FakeValidator) SetTicker() {
+}

validator/client/validator.go

@@ -310,7 +310,6 @@ func (v *validator) WaitForChainStart(ctx context.Context) error {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "could not save genesis validators root")
 		}
 
-		v.setTicker()
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -328,11 +327,25 @@ func (v *validator) WaitForChainStart(ctx context.Context) error {
 		)
 	}
 
-	v.setTicker()
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (v *validator) setTicker() {
+func (v *validator) SetTicker() {
+	// If a ticker already exists, stop it before creating a new one
+	// to prevent resource leaks.
+
+	// note to reader:
+	// This function chooses to adapt to the existing slot ticker instead of changing how it works
+	// The slot ticker will currently start from genesis time but tick based on the current time.
+	// This means that sometimes we need to reset the ticker to avoid replaying old ticks on a slow consumer of the ticks.
+	// i.e.,
+	// 1. tick starts at 0
+	// 2. loop stops consuming on slot 10 due to accounts changed tigger with no active keys
+	// 3. new active keys are added in slot 20 resolving wait for activation
+	// 4. new tick starts ticking from slot 20 instead of slot 10
+	if v.ticker != nil {
+		v.ticker.Done()
+	}
 	// Once the ChainStart log is received, we update the genesis time of the validator client
 	// and begin a slot ticker used to track the current slot the beacon node is in.
 	v.ticker = slots.NewSlotTicker(time.Unix(int64(v.genesisTime), 0), params.BeaconConfig().SecondsPerSlot)

validator/client/validator_test.go

@@ -192,7 +192,6 @@ func TestWaitForChainStart_SetsGenesisInfo(t *testing.T) {
 
 			assert.DeepEqual(t, genesisValidatorsRoot[:], savedGenValRoot, "Unexpected saved genesis validators root")
 			assert.Equal(t, genesis, v.genesisTime, "Unexpected chain start time")
-			assert.NotNil(t, v.ticker, "Expected ticker to be set, received nil")
 
 			// Make sure there are no errors running if it is the same data.
 			client.EXPECT().WaitForChainStart(
@@ -236,7 +235,6 @@ func TestWaitForChainStart_SetsGenesisInfo_IncorrectSecondTry(t *testing.T) {
 
 			assert.DeepEqual(t, genesisValidatorsRoot[:], savedGenValRoot, "Unexpected saved genesis validators root")
 			assert.Equal(t, genesis, v.genesisTime, "Unexpected chain start time")
-			assert.NotNil(t, v.ticker, "Expected ticker to be set, received nil")
 
 			genesisValidatorsRoot = bytesutil.ToBytes32([]byte("badvalidators"))