Definition
An archive node is a blockchain network node that stores and serves the complete historical state of the chain, including all past blocks, state transitions, and intermediate states, not just the data required for current consensus and validation. It functions as a full, queryable historical record of on-chain state, enabling access to precise past balances, contract storage, and other state data at any block height.
In Simple Terms
An archive node is a blockchain node that keeps every detail of the chain’s history, not only the latest state. It maintains a full record of all past states so that any account balance, contract data, or other on-chain information can be inspected exactly as it was at any previous block.
Context and Usage
Archive nodes are discussed in the context of data availability, historical state access, and specialized infrastructure for analytics, compliance, and protocol research. They are contrasted with nodes that prune or compress historical state while still participating in consensus. In systems using sharding or other scaling techniques, archive nodes may be defined per shard or domain, reflecting how historical on-chain data is partitioned and retained across the network.