Development Overview
rusty-kaspa
rusty-kaspa is the Rust implementation of the Kaspa full node. It is the primary node software powering the Kaspa network, replacing the original Go implementation (kaspad), which is now deprecated.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Language | Rust |
| License | ISC |
| GitHub stars | 795+ |
| Latest version | v1.1.0 (March 4, 2026) |
Components
rusty-kaspa is more than just a full node. The project includes:
- Full node — the core Kaspa node that participates in consensus, validates transactions, and maintains the BlockDAG
- wRPC — WebSocket RPC interface for communicating with the node
- WASM SDK — WebAssembly SDK for building browser and Node.js applications
- CLI wallet — command-line wallet for managing KAS
- Web wallet — browser-based wallet
- Stratum bridge — mining pool protocol bridge
- Simpa — simulation and analysis tools
v1.1.0 Highlights
The latest release (March 4, 2026) includes:
- VSPC API v2
- IBD (Initial Block Download) improvements
- Compressed level parents for more efficient storage
Building from Source
rusty-kaspa builds on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Build dependencies include:
- Rust — the Rust toolchain
- Protobuf — Protocol Buffers compiler
- LLVM — for certain compilation targets
- wasm-pack — for building the WASM SDK
The Original Go Implementation
The original Kaspa node was written in Go (kaspad). It has been deprecated in favor of rusty-kaspa, which offers better performance, more active development, and a broader set of integrated tools.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome. Development happens openly on GitHub, and the project uses the KIP process for protocol-level changes. The ISC license is permissive, allowing broad use and modification.