# Pruning to Create a Working Blockchain

Thanks to BSV's use of Merkle trees, the full contents of a block (unbounded in size) is hashed down to a single 32-byte value which is included as part of the block header. To validate a block, nodes must check that the block's Merkle root is correct. The only way to do this is to take every single transaction in the block and hash them to create the full Merkle tree structure. Once the block is validated, the node can then freely prune unneeded content without damaging the integrity of the remaining parts. As such, a miner's Working Blockchain is generated by taking the full content of each block and cutting it back to only that which they determine is needed to most effectively validate future actions.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://hub.bsvblockchain.org/higher-learning/bsv-academy/bsv-enterprise/resources-and-tools/the-working-blockchain/pruning-to-create-a-working-blockchain.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.