Direct answer · §04 Trusted setup

If I change my circuit, do I have to re-run the ceremony?

Short answer

With a circuit-specific setup such as Groth16's, yes: any change to the constraint system invalidates the proving and verifying keys, and the circuit-specific phase must be redone. With a universal setup, no — the same SRS covers any circuit up to its size bound, and only the circuit-specific preprocessing is recomputed. This asymmetry is often the deciding factor for systems expected to iterate after launch. See Section 04.

By MarketComp Updated 2026-09-12 v1.3 About the authors Changelog

Cite this page

MarketComp (2026). If I change my circuit, do I have to re-run the ceremony?. The ZK Field Manual (Version 1.3). MarketComp. https://zkpick.com/faq/if-i-change-my-circuit-do-i-have-to-re-run-the-ceremony/

@misc{zkfieldmanual-if-i-change-my-circuit-do-i-have-to-re-r,
  title        = {If I change my circuit, do I have to re-run the ceremony? — The ZK Field Manual},
  author       = {MarketComp},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.3},
  howpublished = {\url{https://zkpick.com/faq/if-i-change-my-circuit-do-i-have-to-re-run-the-ceremony/}},
  note         = {Accessed: YYYY-MM-DD}
}