diff --git a/cli/cmd/compose.yaml.tpl b/cli/cmd/compose.yaml.tpl
index 71dc6215d..a0657d007 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/compose.yaml.tpl
+++ b/cli/cmd/compose.yaml.tpl
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ services:
     container_name: halo
     image: omniops/halovisor:{{.HaloTag}}
     restart: unless-stopped
+    environment: [{{ if .GenesisBinary}}COSMOVISOR_CUSTOM_GENESIS={{.GenesisBinary}}{{ end }}]
     ports:
       - 26656:26656   # CometBFT Consensus P2P
       - 26657:26657   # CometBFT Consensus RPC
diff --git a/cli/cmd/initnodes.go b/cli/cmd/initnodes.go
index 5408132f7..6d1a9944b 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/initnodes.go
+++ b/cli/cmd/initnodes.go
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ import (
 	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/e2e/app/geth"
+	haloapp "github.com/omni-network/omni/halo/app"
 	halocmd "github.com/omni-network/omni/halo/cmd"
 	halocfg "github.com/omni-network/omni/halo/config"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/buildinfo"
 	cprovider "github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/cchain/provider"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/errors"
+	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/feature"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/log"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/netconf"
 
@@ -37,13 +39,14 @@ const (
 )
 
 type InitConfig struct {
-	Network netconf.ID
-	Home    string
-	Moniker string
-	Clean   bool
-	Archive bool
-	Debug   bool
-	HaloTag string
+	Network          netconf.ID
+	Home             string
+	Moniker          string
+	Clean            bool
+	Archive          bool
+	Debug            bool
+	HaloTag          string
+	HaloFeatureFlags feature.Flags
 }
 
 func (c InitConfig) Verify() error {
@@ -131,6 +134,7 @@ func InitNodes(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig) error {
 		TrustedSync: !cfg.Archive, // Don't state sync if archive
 		AddrBook:    true,
 		HaloCfgFunc: func(haloCfg *halocfg.Config) {
+			haloCfg.FeatureFlags = cfg.HaloFeatureFlags
 			haloCfg.EngineEndpoint = "http://omni_evm:8551"
 			haloCfg.EngineJWTFile = "/geth/jwtsecret"
 			if cfg.Archive {
@@ -158,7 +162,18 @@ func InitNodes(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "init halo")
 	}
 
-	err = writeComposeFile(ctx, cfg)
+	var upgrade string
+	// For non-archive nodes, we want to detect the latest upgrade and start
+	// the local node with this binary, so that the consensus snapshot pulled
+	// from the network is compatible with the local binary.
+	if !cfg.Archive {
+		upgrade, err = detectCurrentUpgrade(ctx, cfg.Network)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "detect upgrade")
+		}
+	}
+
+	err = writeComposeFile(ctx, cfg, upgrade)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "write compose file")
 	}
@@ -166,6 +181,43 @@ func InitNodes(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// detectCurrentUpgrade detects the current upgrade applied on the network.
+// Note it only detects known upgrades. It return empty string if no known upgrade is applied.
+func detectCurrentUpgrade(ctx context.Context, network netconf.ID) (string, error) {
+	rpcServer := network.Static().ConsensusRPC()
+	rpcCl, err := rpchttp.New(rpcServer, "/websocket")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "create rpc client")
+	}
+	cprov := cprovider.NewABCI(rpcCl, network)
+
+	// Cosmos doesn't provide an API to simply query current applied upgrade.
+	// So we iterate through knowns and check which is active.
+	for _, upgrade := range haloapp.AllUpgrades() {
+		plan, ok, err := cprov.AppliedPlan(ctx, upgrade)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", errors.Wrap(err, "fetching applied plan")
+		} else if !ok {
+			continue
+		} else if upgrade != plan.Name {
+			return "", errors.New("unexpected upgrade plan name", "expected", upgrade, "actual", plan.Name)
+		}
+
+		log.Info(ctx, "Detected activated network upgrade", "upgrade_name", plan.Name, "upgrade_height", plan.Height)
+
+		return upgrade, nil
+	}
+
+	// No known upgrade detected.
+	if network != netconf.Devnet { // This is only expected for devnet
+		return "", errors.New("failed to detect known network upgrade (use latest cli version)")
+	}
+
+	log.Info(ctx, "No known network upgrade detected")
+
+	return "", nil
+}
+
 // maybeDownloadGenesis downloads the genesis files via cprovider the network if they are not already set.
 func maybeDownloadGenesis(ctx context.Context, network netconf.ID) error {
 	if network.IsProtected() {
@@ -191,7 +243,7 @@ func maybeDownloadGenesis(ctx context.Context, network netconf.ID) error {
 	return netconf.SetEphemeralGenesis(network, execution, consensus)
 }
 
-func writeComposeFile(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig) error {
+func writeComposeFile(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig, upgrade string) error {
 	composeFile := filepath.Join(cfg.Home, "compose.yaml")
 
 	if cmtos.FileExists(composeFile) {
@@ -223,11 +275,13 @@ func writeComposeFile(ctx context.Context, cfg InitConfig) error {
 		GethTag       string
 		GethVerbosity int
 		GethArchive   bool
+		GenesisBinary string
 	}{
 		HaloTag:       cfg.HaloTag,
 		GethTag:       geth.Version,
 		GethVerbosity: verbosity,
 		GethArchive:   cfg.Archive,
+		GenesisBinary: upgrade,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "execute template")
diff --git a/halo/app/upgrades.go b/halo/app/upgrades.go
index 49e3964a5..f80bb6246 100644
--- a/halo/app/upgrades.go
+++ b/halo/app/upgrades.go
@@ -25,6 +25,16 @@ var upgrades = []Upgrade{
 	},
 }
 
+// AllUpgrades returns the names of all known upgrades.
+func AllUpgrades() []string {
+	var resp []string
+	for _, u := range upgrades {
+		resp = append(resp, u.Name)
+	}
+
+	return resp
+}
+
 // NextUpgrade returns the next upgrade name after the provided previous upgrade..
 func NextUpgrade(prev string) (string, error) {
 	if prev == "" { // Return the first upgrade
diff --git a/scripts/join/join_test.go b/scripts/join/join_test.go
index bb3108c51..5f3876b17 100644
--- a/scripts/join/join_test.go
+++ b/scripts/join/join_test.go
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	clicmd "github.com/omni-network/omni/cli/cmd"
+	"github.com/omni-network/omni/e2e/manifests"
+	"github.com/omni-network/omni/e2e/types"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/errors"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/ethclient"
+	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/feature"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/log"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/netconf"
 	"github.com/omni-network/omni/lib/tutil"
@@ -25,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 
 	rpchttp "github.com/cometbft/cometbft/rpc/client/http"
 
+	"github.com/BurntSushi/toml"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 )
@@ -61,10 +65,11 @@ func TestJoinNetwork(t *testing.T) {
 	networkID := netconf.ID(*network)
 	haloTag := haloTag(t)
 	cfg := clicmd.InitConfig{
-		Network: networkID,
-		Home:    home,
-		Moniker: t.Name(),
-		HaloTag: haloTag,
+		Network:          networkID,
+		Home:             home,
+		Moniker:          t.Name(),
+		HaloTag:          haloTag,
+		HaloFeatureFlags: maybeGetFeatureFlags(ctx, networkID),
 	}
 
 	tutil.RequireNoError(t, ensureHaloImage(cfg.HaloTag))
@@ -348,3 +353,20 @@ func getContainerStats(ctx context.Context) (stats, error) {
 
 	return resp, nil
 }
+
+func maybeGetFeatureFlags(ctx context.Context, network netconf.ID) feature.Flags {
+	if network.IsProtected() {
+		return make([]string, 0) // Protected networks never have feature flags
+	} else if network == netconf.Devnet {
+		panic("cannot join devnet")
+	}
+
+	var manifest types.Manifest
+	_, err := toml.Decode(string(manifests.Staging()), &manifest)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Error(ctx, "failed to parse the manifest", err)
+		return make([]string, 0)
+	}
+
+	return manifest.FeatureFlags
+}