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Governance Proposal Submission Guide

ZIGChain governance is the backbone of the network’s decentralized decision-making. Through governance, ZIG holders who have staked their tokens with active validators can influence the future of the protocol — from adjusting key parameters to deciding how community funds are allocated.

If you’re new to governance, we recommend first reading the Governance documentation for better understanding of the proposal lifecycle and components, voting rules, and special cases.

Once you’re familiar with the concepts, this guide will help you take the next step: actually creating and submitting a proposal on-chain.

In this guide, we focus on the practical side of governance — walking through each step from drafting a proposal to submitting it on-chain. By the end, you’ll know how to transform an idea into a formal proposal ready for the community to review and vote on.

Detailed Steps for Submitting a Proposal​

1️⃣ Draft a Proposal​

To draft a proposal, follow these steps:

1.1 Run the Draft Command

Use the following command to start the proposal draft process:

zigchaind tx gov draft-proposal

1.2 Select Proposal Type

You’ll be prompted to select the type of proposal. The interface displays common options such as:

? Select proposal type:
  ▸ text
    community-pool-spend
    software-upgrade
    cancel-software-upgrade
    other

Output example:

Draft Proposal

If the type of proposal you need is not listed (for example, if you are modifying module parameters), select other. This will display all supported message types accepted by the governance module, such as:

? Select proposal message type:
  ▸ /cosmos.auth.v1beta1.MsgUpdateParams
    /cosmos.bank.v1beta1.MsgSend
    /cosmos.distribution.v1beta1.MsgSetWithdrawAddress

Output example:

Select Message Type

Tip: Use the arrow keys to navigate and Enter to select.

1.3 Provide Metadata
After selecting, you'll be asked to fill in the required fields, such as:

  • Title
  • Summary
  • Description
  • Other fields (As requested by the interface.)

Output example:

Provide Metadata

1.4 Review the Generated Files

After completing the prompts, two files will be created:

  • draft_proposal.json: Contains the actual message(s) to be executed if the proposal passes.
  • draft_metadata.json: Contains a human-readable summary including title, description, summary.

Output examples:

  • draft_proposal.json

Draft Proposal Json file

  • draft_metadata.json

Draft Metadata Json file

2️⃣ Update Metadata Field​

The draft_proposal.json must include a reference to the metadata. This link is not added automatically, so you need to set it manually. There are several ways to do this:

  • Inline raw metadata – insert the contents of draft_metadata.json directly into the metadata field.
  • Base64-encoded string – encode the file contents in base64 and paste the result into the field.
  • IPFS reference – upload the metadata file to IPFS and set the metadata field to the IPFS URI.

⚠️ The metadata field must be a JSON-encoded string and is limited to 255 characters.

3️⃣ Configure Authority Field (If Required)​

Certain proposal types, especially those altering module parameters, require an authority field. This must match the address of the governance module account.

The default governance module account address is:

zig10d07y265gmmuvt4z0w9aw880jnsr700jmgkh5m

4️⃣ Making Updates Before Submission (If Necessary)​

Updating Module Parameters​

When proposing parameter changes, you must prepare the draft_proposal.json carefully.

⚠️ Important: Always include the full set of current parameters. Only change the values you intend to update, and leave all others exactly as they are. If you omit or leave parameters empty, they may be overwritten with empty values when the proposal is executed.

1. Check Current Parameters

Query the module to retrieve its current parameters before editing.

Example:

zigchaind query staking params \
--chain-id zigchain-1 --node https://public-zigchain-rpc.numia.xyz

Output example:

Query params


2. Update the Proposal File

Open draft_proposal.json and paste the full parameter set from the query output.

Modify only the values you want to change, ensuring all other parameters remain unchanged.

vim draft_proposal.json

Output example:

Proposal Updated

Expedited Proposals​

To mark a proposal as expedited, set the expedited field to true:

jq '.expedited = true' draft_proposal.json > tmp.json && mv tmp.json draft_proposal.json

For more details, see the Governance documentation

5️⃣ Submit the Proposal​

Once your proposal is ready, use the following command to submit it:

zigchaind tx gov submit-proposal draft_proposal.json \
  --from $ACCOUNT \
  --chain-id zigchain-1 \
  --node https://public-zigchain-rpc.numia.xyz \
  --gas-prices 0.0025uzig \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.3

Output example:

Submit Proposal

If you see the error:

expected gov account as only signer for proposal message

It means that the authority in your proposal doesn't match the actual governance module account. Double-check the value and try again.

5️⃣ Confirm Proposal Creation​

Once submitted, retrieve your proposal id:

zigchaind query gov proposals \
--chain-id zigchain-1 --node https://public-zigchain-rpc.numia.xyz

Or fetch a specific one:

zigchaind query gov proposal $PROPOSAL_ID \
--chain-id zigchain-1 --node https://public-zigchain-rpc.numia.xyz

This confirms your proposal was registered on-chain.

Output example:

Proposal Submitted

References​