> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.marinade.finance/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.marinade.finance/marinade-protocol/protocol-overview/marinade-liquid/bot-operations.md).
# Bot operations
The Marinade Liquid stake pool is driven by an off-chain **crank** that calls the program's permissionless instructions. It handles updating the mSOL price, applying the delegation strategy, and matching staking with unstaking orders.
## What the Crank Does
| Operation | When |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Update the mSOL price from the pool's stake accounts | At each epoch boundary, once rewards have landed |
| Stake queued deposits and unstake to fill delayed unstake orders | Continuously through the epoch |
| Delegate, split, merge and rebalance the pool's stake accounts | At the epoch boundary, following the delegation strategy |
Validator selection for the pool is driven by Marinade's **Stake Auction Marketplace**, not by a fixed validator list.
***
## Can Anyone Run It?
The program instructions the crank calls are **permissionless**, so the pool can always be kept operational even if Marinade's own crank is down.
{% hint style="info" %}
One caveat since liquid-staking-program v2.1.0: `merge_stakes` no longer lets the caller choose the destination account. Merges now target a canonical per-validator PDA, which the crank creates ahead of merging if it does not yet exist. Any third-party cranker has to follow the same order.
{% endhint %}
***
## Source
The crank binary Marinade operates is internal, but every instruction it calls is in the public program above and every delegation input is reproducible from the strategy repositories.
---
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