#21635·chainlink

[CRE] Confidential workflow execution

Author: nadahalliCreated Mar 23, 2026Updated Apr 8, 2026

Adds support for executing workflow WASM binaries inside TEE enclaves instead of locally on the node. The workflow engine detects confidential workflows via on-chain attributes and delegates execution to an enclave via a new LOOP capability.

Corresponding confidential-compute PR: https://github.com/smartcontractkit/confidential-compute/pull/279 Corresponding chainlink-common PR: https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-common/pull/1899 Corresponding chainlink-common follow-up PR: https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-common/pull/1948

Split from #21603 into reviewable pieces.

PR chain

PRs 1, 2, 4 are independent and can merge in any order. PR 5 depends on 1, 2, 4.

  • #21638 [1/4] Gateway handler for confidential relay
  • #21639 [2/4] Relay DON node handler
  • #21640 [3/5] Launcher fix Closed. Relay DON configured as workflow DON instead (CC E2E config change).
  • #21641 [3/4] ConfidentialModule, config, DB migration, syncer routing
  • #21642 [4/4] Wire into CRE, system test support

Components

  • Gateway handler: Fans out enclave requests to relay DON nodes, F+1 quorum aggregation
  • Relay DON handler: Validates Nitro attestation, proxies to VaultDON and capabilities
  • ConfidentialModule: Strategy pattern replacing local WASM execution with enclave dispatch
  • Syncer routing: Detects confidential workflows via attributes, routes to ConfidentialModule
  • Config/DB: New TOML config for relay, DB column for workflow attributes

Source: smartcontractkit/chainlink