Hiero Block Node 0.10.0 — A Modular Transformation 🚀

Hiero Block Node 0.10.0 introduces our modular, plugin-based architecture, giving teams a cleaner path to extend functionality while boosting flexibility, scalability, testability, and long-term maintainability. This redesign also paves the way for a vibrant ecosystem of community and third-party plugins.

New Features & Highlights

• Multi-Stream Publisher – BN now ingests streams from multiple sources simultaneously and automatically promotes the fastest one, cutting end-to-end latency for subscribers.
• Seamless Stream Switching – Subscribers can transition between live and historical streams (and back again) with zero disruption.
• S3 Cold Archive Plugin – Optional cloud storage for long-term, cold-archive redundancy (not meant to serve blocks directly).
• Messaging Facility – Core plugin delivering low-latency, high-throughput internal messaging, powered by the LMAX Disruptor.
• Refined Protobuf API – All BN API definitions now live in-repo, reorganized into clear, well-scoped services and cleaned up and updated for smoother integration.
• Testing Improvements – Expanded end-to-end coverage across key plugins, including block access, publisher, subscriber, verification, and server-health checks.
• CI / CD – Updated workflows to build and publish container images and Helm charts, making it easy to deploy the latest BN release.

What's Changed

🚀 Enhancements

• feat: Implement Cloud Archive Plugin by @jasperpotts in #1043

🐛 Bug Fixes

• chore: Cherry pick 1136 by @AlfredoG87 in #1140

🔨 Tests

• chore: Removal of SmokeTests Artifacts and GHA WF by @AlfredoG87 in #1061
• fix: hard shutdown of the producer causes exception when another is connected by @georgi-l95 in #1055
• test: Add subscriber plugin Tests by @georgi-l95 in #1076

📝 Documentation

• docs: Removed accidentally copied docs, and cleaned up obsolete naming in primary docs. by @jsync-swirlds in #1044
• chore: Update MAINTAINERS.md by @hendrikebbers in #1085

🔧 Improvements

• chore: Setup local copies of block node protobuf by @Nana-EC in #891
• chore: Cherry pick #1147 into release/0.10 branch for 0.10.0-rc3 and final RC version. by @AlfredoG87 in #1153

🔥 Breaking Changes

• refactor: refactor to plugins and services by @jasperpotts in #890

• protobuf changes: clients need to update their api definitions prior to use this version, also in some cases refactor current usage.

• New Metrics dashboards are currently being updated and expected to be re-introduced over the next releases, however the platform remains functional and logs and metrics are being ingested and are visible when deploying with helm charts or running dev dev stack.

⬆️ Dependency Upgrades

• build(deps): bump org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api from 5.11.4 to 5.12.2 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1014
• build(deps): bump stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action from 5.1.0 to 5.2.0 by @dependabot in #1045
• build(deps): bump swirldsVersion from 0.61.2 to 0.61.3 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1050
• build(deps): bump io.grpc:protoc-gen-grpc-java from 1.71.0 to 1.72.0 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1048
• build(deps): bump info.picocli:picocli from 4.7.6 to 4.7.7 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1047
• build(deps): bump grpcIoVersion from 1.71.0 to 1.72.0 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1046
• build(deps): bump pbjVersion from 0.11.0 to 0.11.1 in /hiero-dependency-versions by @dependabot in #1049
• build(deps): bump step-security/harden-runner from 2.11.1 to 2.12.0 by @dependabot in #1054
• build(deps): bump google-github-actions/auth from 2.1.8 to 2.1.9 by @dependabot in #1066
• build(deps): bump docker/build-push-action from 6.15.0 to 6.16.0 by @dependabot in #1065
• build(deps): bump actions/setup-python from 5.5.0 to 5.6.0 by @dependabot in #1063
• build(deps): upgrading Java to 21.0.7+6 due to an issue with M4 Apple Silicon. by @AlfredoG87 in #1098

Full Changelog: v0.9.0...v0.10.0