Rust-native building blocks for the Cardano blockchain ecosystem
Rust
203
761 commits
updated Sep 20, 2026
README
Rust-native building blocks for the Cardano blockchain ecosystem
Introduction
Pallas is an expanding collection of modules that re-implements common Ouroboros / Cardano logic in native Rust. This crate doesn't provide any particular application, it is meant to be used as a base layer to facilitate the development of higher-level use-cases, such as explorers, wallets, etc (who knows, maybe even a full node in a far away future).
Getting Started
For most use-cases, depend on the umbrella pallas crate — it re-exports every
building block under a single, organized module tree:
cargo add pallas
The hierarchy mirrors the project's domains (network, ledger, crypto, etc.) so you can pull in a single dependency and reach for what you need:
pallas
├── network — Ouroboros networking stack
├── network2 — P2P-first networking stack (feature `network2`)
├── ledger
│ ├── primitives — multi-era CBOR primitives
│ ├── traverse — multi-era traversal helpers
│ ├── addresses — Cardano address codec
│ └── validate — phase-1 / phase-2 transaction validation
├── crypto — cryptographic primitives
├── codec — CBOR codec (minicbor)
├── interop
│ ├── utxorpc — UTxO RPC interop
│ └── hardano — Haskell-node interop (feature `hardano`)
└── txbuilder — ergonomic transaction builder
Feature Flags
The umbrella crate exposes the following Cargo features:
| Feature | Enables |
|---|---|
hardano | Haskell-node interop (pallas::interop::hardano) |
phase2 | Plutus script validation in pallas::ledger::validate |
network2 | Opt in to the new P2P networking stack (pallas::network2) |
relaxed | Relaxed validation modes across primitives and crypto |
unstable | Aggregates feature gates that are not yet stable |
Unboxing
If you'd rather depend on a subset, every building block is published as its own crate on crates.io. Pick only what you need:
cargo add pallas-network pallas-traverse
The crates are grouped below by domain.
Core
Foundational primitives with no Cardano-specific semantics. Every higher layer in the workspace depends on them.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-codec | Shared CBOR encoding / decoding using minicbor lib |
| pallas-crypto | Shared Cryptographic primitives |
| pallas-math | Shared mathematics functions |
Network
Wire-level implementation of the Ouroboros mini-protocols used to communicate with other Cardano nodes.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-network | Network stack providing multiplexer and mini-protocol implementations |
| pallas-network2 | P2P-first rewrite of the Ouroboros networking stack |
Ledger
Cardano's on-chain data model: how transactions, blocks, addresses, and ledger state are represented, traversed, and validated across eras.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-primitives | Ledger primitives and cbor codec for the different Cardano eras |
| pallas-traverse | Utilities to traverse over multi-era block data |
| pallas-addresses | Encode / decode Cardano addresses of any type |
| pallas-validate | Phase-1 and optional phase-2 (Plutus) transaction validation |
Interop
Adapters for systems built outside Pallas — file formats, RPC schemas, etc.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-hardano | Interoperability with implementation-specific artifacts of the Haskell Cardano node |
| pallas-configs | Genesis config structs matching the Haskell node (Byron / Shelley / Alonzo / Conway) |
| pallas-utxorpc | Interoperability with the UTxO RPC specification |
Utils
Optional, self-contained conveniences. Each crate stands alone; pull one in only when you need that specific affordance.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-bech32 | Bech32 conventions for Cardano (CIP-5 prefixes, CIP-14 fingerprints) |
| pallas-txbuilder | Ergonomic transaction builder |
Examples
The examples/ directory contains runnable demonstrations of
common integration patterns:
| Example | Description |
|---|---|
| block-decode | Decode a Byron-era block from CBOR |
| block-download | Download a single block from a remote node by chain point |
| crawler | Consume the chain-sync mini-protocol with pluggable block/tx filters |
| n2n-miniprotocols | Node-to-node mini-protocols over TCP |
| n2c-miniprotocols | Node-to-client mini-protocols over a local Unix socket |
| p2p-initiator | Initiate a P2P connection using pallas-network2 |
| p2p-responder | Accept incoming P2P connections using pallas-network2 |
| p2p-discovery | Peer discovery using pallas-network2 |
| wallet | Wallet key generation, BIP-39 mnemonics, address derivation |
Minimum Supported Rust Version
Pallas's MSRV is Rust 1.88. CI verifies the entire workspace builds with
that toolchain on every change. The floor is set by transitive dependencies
(currently serde_with / darling); edition 2024, used by pallas-network2,
contributes a hard floor of 1.85.
Bumping the MSRV is treated as a breaking change: it happens only in minor
version bumps (or in 0.x / 1.0.0-alpha.x while we are pre-stable), is
called out in the changelog, and aims to stay roughly within the most recent
three stable Rust releases.
Etymology
Pallas: (Greek mythology) goddess of wisdom and useful arts and prudent warfare;
License
Pallas is distributed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0.
Security
If you discover a security vulnerability, please follow the disclosure process described in SECURITY.md. Do not open a public GitHub issue.
Contributors
(top 30 of 64)
Languages
Rust
100.0%
Rust-native building blocks for the Cardano blockchain ecosystem
Rust
203
761 commits
updated Sep 20, 2026
README
Rust-native building blocks for the Cardano blockchain ecosystem
Introduction
Pallas is an expanding collection of modules that re-implements common Ouroboros / Cardano logic in native Rust. This crate doesn't provide any particular application, it is meant to be used as a base layer to facilitate the development of higher-level use-cases, such as explorers, wallets, etc (who knows, maybe even a full node in a far away future).
Getting Started
For most use-cases, depend on the umbrella pallas crate — it re-exports every
building block under a single, organized module tree:
cargo add pallas
The hierarchy mirrors the project's domains (network, ledger, crypto, etc.) so you can pull in a single dependency and reach for what you need:
pallas
├── network — Ouroboros networking stack
├── network2 — P2P-first networking stack (feature `network2`)
├── ledger
│ ├── primitives — multi-era CBOR primitives
│ ├── traverse — multi-era traversal helpers
│ ├── addresses — Cardano address codec
│ └── validate — phase-1 / phase-2 transaction validation
├── crypto — cryptographic primitives
├── codec — CBOR codec (minicbor)
├── interop
│ ├── utxorpc — UTxO RPC interop
│ └── hardano — Haskell-node interop (feature `hardano`)
└── txbuilder — ergonomic transaction builder
Feature Flags
The umbrella crate exposes the following Cargo features:
| Feature | Enables |
|---|---|
hardano | Haskell-node interop (pallas::interop::hardano) |
phase2 | Plutus script validation in pallas::ledger::validate |
network2 | Opt in to the new P2P networking stack (pallas::network2) |
relaxed | Relaxed validation modes across primitives and crypto |
unstable | Aggregates feature gates that are not yet stable |
Unboxing
If you'd rather depend on a subset, every building block is published as its own crate on crates.io. Pick only what you need:
cargo add pallas-network pallas-traverse
The crates are grouped below by domain.
Core
Foundational primitives with no Cardano-specific semantics. Every higher layer in the workspace depends on them.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-codec | Shared CBOR encoding / decoding using minicbor lib |
| pallas-crypto | Shared Cryptographic primitives |
| pallas-math | Shared mathematics functions |
Network
Wire-level implementation of the Ouroboros mini-protocols used to communicate with other Cardano nodes.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-network | Network stack providing multiplexer and mini-protocol implementations |
| pallas-network2 | P2P-first rewrite of the Ouroboros networking stack |
Ledger
Cardano's on-chain data model: how transactions, blocks, addresses, and ledger state are represented, traversed, and validated across eras.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-primitives | Ledger primitives and cbor codec for the different Cardano eras |
| pallas-traverse | Utilities to traverse over multi-era block data |
| pallas-addresses | Encode / decode Cardano addresses of any type |
| pallas-validate | Phase-1 and optional phase-2 (Plutus) transaction validation |
Interop
Adapters for systems built outside Pallas — file formats, RPC schemas, etc.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-hardano | Interoperability with implementation-specific artifacts of the Haskell Cardano node |
| pallas-configs | Genesis config structs matching the Haskell node (Byron / Shelley / Alonzo / Conway) |
| pallas-utxorpc | Interoperability with the UTxO RPC specification |
Utils
Optional, self-contained conveniences. Each crate stands alone; pull one in only when you need that specific affordance.
| Crates | Description |
|---|---|
| pallas-bech32 | Bech32 conventions for Cardano (CIP-5 prefixes, CIP-14 fingerprints) |
| pallas-txbuilder | Ergonomic transaction builder |
Examples
The examples/ directory contains runnable demonstrations of
common integration patterns:
| Example | Description |
|---|---|
| block-decode | Decode a Byron-era block from CBOR |
| block-download | Download a single block from a remote node by chain point |
| crawler | Consume the chain-sync mini-protocol with pluggable block/tx filters |
| n2n-miniprotocols | Node-to-node mini-protocols over TCP |
| n2c-miniprotocols | Node-to-client mini-protocols over a local Unix socket |
| p2p-initiator | Initiate a P2P connection using pallas-network2 |
| p2p-responder | Accept incoming P2P connections using pallas-network2 |
| p2p-discovery | Peer discovery using pallas-network2 |
| wallet | Wallet key generation, BIP-39 mnemonics, address derivation |
Minimum Supported Rust Version
Pallas's MSRV is Rust 1.88. CI verifies the entire workspace builds with
that toolchain on every change. The floor is set by transitive dependencies
(currently serde_with / darling); edition 2024, used by pallas-network2,
contributes a hard floor of 1.85.
Bumping the MSRV is treated as a breaking change: it happens only in minor
version bumps (or in 0.x / 1.0.0-alpha.x while we are pre-stable), is
called out in the changelog, and aims to stay roughly within the most recent
three stable Rust releases.
Etymology
Pallas: (Greek mythology) goddess of wisdom and useful arts and prudent warfare;
License
Pallas is distributed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0.
Security
If you discover a security vulnerability, please follow the disclosure process described in SECURITY.md. Do not open a public GitHub issue.
Contributors
(top 30 of 64)
Languages
Rust
100.0%