Gov Action Lifetime

2025: The Completion of Cardano’s Original Roadmap

This year marks the completion of Cardano’s original development roadmap. Since the beginning, Cardano’s progress has been guided by its three founding entities. These entities defined the roadmap and set the network’s parameters based on rigorous research. Parameters are the settings that define how the blockchain operates.

Over the years, some parameters have been adjusted. In some cases, the changes were part of the original plan—like the gradual phasing out of the “D” parameter. Other times, adjustments were made in response to community feedback, such as lowering the Min_Pool_Cost. However, in every case, the founding entities had the final say over whether and when a change was made.

That era is coming to a close. With the approval of the Plomin Hard Fork, governance is transitioning into the hands of the community. From now on, every ada holder will have a voice in shaping the network and managing its treasury. Alongside this shift, the 30+ parameters that control Cardano’s performance, security, and economics are being joined by 20+ new governance parameters designed specifically to support decentralized decision-making. One of these new parameters, called gov_action_lifetime, or Gov Action Validity, helps ensure that governance decisions are both clear and time-sensitive. Here’s why that matters and what it means for the network.

What is it

In a nutshell, gov_action_lifetime sets the length of time that a governance action—like a proposal to change a parameter or allocate funds from a treasury—remains open for voting. Think of it as an expiration date on any proposed change. Once the clock runs out, that governance action either needs to be voted on and approved, or it becomes invalid and void – with one exception.

If you’ve ever left cookie dough in the fridge too long, you know what happens when something expires: you must use it or lose it! Similarly, with gov_action_lifetime, the community has a certain window to review and vote on proposals, ensuring decisions happen in a timely manner.

The one exception to this is governance actions that do not change anything on the blockchain: Info Actions. Info Actions are a way to perform temperature checks on the blockchain or give guidance for how something should function or be thought of in the real world. It’s a bit like an informal, non-binding poll, which can nevertheless be influential. While Info Actions do expire in the same time-frame, preventing further voting, their “pass” or “fail” interpretation is entirely up to its author since it does not directly change the network. An example of an info action is the naming of the Plomin Hard fork itself. This naming was proposed as an Info Action, as a way to honor an influential community member who was lost too soon. Votes were received, showing support for the action, although the action had no particular threshold to define “Passing.” Naming a Hard Fork is not something that is encoded on the blockchain, but the Action had its intended effect of leading to widespread acceptance and recognition of the new name.

Why Put an Expiration Date on Governance?

Imagine a system with no time limits on proposals. People might throw out a dozen ideas, then let them sit for months—or even years—before taking action. That would clutter the decision-making process and create confusion: “Hey, is that old idea from last spring still valid?” “Did it pass or not?”

By introducing a set lifetime, Cardano keeps governance focused and organized.

• Clarity: Everyone knows exactly how long they have to discuss and vote on a proposal.
• Accountability: Proposals don’t sit around gathering dust. If you propose something, you’re motivated to see it through before it expires.
• Efficiency: Once the time window closes, the community can move on to new ideas without leftover loose ends.

How It Works

The exact length of gov_action_lifetime is determined by the network’s governance rules - which could themselves be voted on and changed in the future!. The initial/current value of gov_action_lifetime is set to 6 epochs (30 days). The intent is to give people enough time to:

1. Review the proposal: Read up on the details, pros, and cons.
2. Discuss and debate: Chat on forums, Twitter spaces, or at local Cardano meetups.
3. Vote: Cast a yes or no using community tools like gov.tools, the Cardano cli, or crafting and submitting their voting transaction directly to the blockchain for the more technical folks.

Once that time is up, if the vote passes, the action can move forward—like changing a protocol parameter or allocating funds. If it doesn’t pass or get a quorum, the action is no longer valid. Anyone who still believes in the idea can reintroduce it, but they start fresh under a new gov_action_lifetime window.

An Example

Picture a proposal to allocate 80 million ada from the Cardano treasury to fund innovation through the Cardano Project Catalyst program for 1 year. The proposer sets everything up, the community sees it, and the gov_action_lifetime countdown begins—6 epochs (30 days).

• Days 1–15: The community talks it over online. Some folks love it, some raise concerns, and some are undecided.
• Days 16–24: The debate continues, and voting starts. People read up on the final details and cast their votes through a governance app.
• Day 25–30: The countdown is almost over. Last-minute votes come in.
• Day 31: The clock hits zero. If the proposal reaches the required threshold (a certain percentage of yes votes), it passes and moves into the implementation phase. If not, it expires—and the community can focus on other ideas.

Why You MightCare

If you’re a Cardano user, gov_action_lifetime shapes how quickly big decisions can be made. That affects the pace of innovation and the stability of the platform you rely on.

If you’re a stake pool operator, you get to vote on major software upgrades, parameters in the security category and parameters that affect the Constitution Committee (one of voting bodies). Understanding how proposals expire means you’ll know when to cast your vote and rally your delegators to participate.

If you’re a developer or project builder, a well-defined timeframe for proposals helps you plan your own roadmap. If a protocol change that affects your dApp is on the table, you’ll know exactly how long you have to adapt and provide feedback.

Looking Ahead

Cardano’s governance model is designed to be flexible. Over time, the community might decide to shorten or lengthen gov_action_lifetime—for instance, if people feel they need more time to discuss complex proposals or want to fast-track simpler ones. These kinds of tweaks are part of the reason Cardano’s on-chain governance approach is so powerful: it adapts to real-world needs, rather than being stuck in place.

Wrap Up

Like many other Cardano parameters, gov_action_lifetime might sound like a minor detail, but it plays a big role in keeping the governance processes clean, fair, and efficient. By placing an expiration date on proposals, Cardano ensures that important decisions aren’t left to languish forever, promoting an active and engaged community. After all, good governance isn’t just about what we decide—it’s about making sure our decisions happen at the right time, in the right way, for the benefit of everyone.