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AGENTS.md

Instructions for AI coding assistants working with this repository.

Project Overview

Tidecoin is a post-quantum cryptocurrency built on Bitcoin Core v30. It replaces ECDSA entirely with NIST-standardized post-quantum signature schemes. The network has been operational since December 27, 2020.

This is NOT Bitcoin Core. While the codebase inherits from Bitcoin Core v30, all classical cryptographic signing has been replaced. Do not suggest ECDSA, Schnorr, Taproot, or secp256k1 solutions — none of these exist in Tidecoin.

Build

cmake -B build
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

Test

# Unit tests
ctest --test-dir build

# Functional tests
build/test/functional/test_runner.py

Architecture

Cryptographic Schemes

Five NIST-standardized PQ signature schemes (defined in src/pq/pq_scheme.h):

Scheme Prefix Standard
Falcon-512 0x07 Draft FIPS 206
Falcon-1024 0x08 Draft FIPS 206
ML-DSA-44 0x09 FIPS 204
ML-DSA-65 0x0A FIPS 204
ML-DSA-87 0x0B FIPS 204

Falcon-512 is the default and has been used since genesis.

Key Directories

Path Purpose
src/pq/ PQ crypto implementations (Falcon, ML-DSA, ML-KEM, PQHD KDF)
src/pq/falcon-512/ PQClean Falcon-512 (integer emulation, NOT native float)
src/pq/falcon-1024/ PQClean Falcon-1024
src/pq/ml-dsa-*/ ML-DSA implementations
src/pq/ml-kem-512/ ML-KEM-512 for P2P transport encryption
src/crypto/yespower/ YespowerTIDE proof-of-work
src/wallet/pqhd.h PQHD wallet structures
src/kernel/chainparams.cpp Chain parameters and genesis config
src/validation.cpp Consensus rules and subsidy schedule

Key Concepts

  • PQHD Wallet: Post-Quantum Hierarchical Deterministic wallet using SHA-512 KDF with hardened-only derivation. Replaces BIP-32.
  • Legacy vs Strict Falcon: Pre-AuxPoW uses relaxed norm bounds (header 0x39). Post-AuxPoW activates strict PQClean verification.
  • AuxPoW: Merged mining infrastructure (chain ID 8). Currently disabled on mainnet. Gates activation of multi-scheme support, witness v1, OP_SHA512, and strict PQ verification.
  • ML-KEM-512 Transport: V2 P2P encryption uses post-quantum key encapsulation instead of X25519. Enabled by default.

Binaries

Binary Purpose
tidecoind Full node daemon
tidecoin-qt GUI wallet
tidecoin-cli RPC client
tidecoin-wallet Wallet utility
tidecoin-tx Transaction utility
tidecoin-util General utility

Coding Conventions

  • Follow existing Bitcoin Core style: 4-space indentation in C++, snake_case for functions and variables, CamelCase for classes.
  • PQ crypto code in src/pq/ follows PQClean conventions.
  • All new features must have unit tests (src/test/) and functional tests (test/functional/) where applicable.
  • Do not introduce floating-point arithmetic in cryptographic code. Falcon uses integer emulation (fpr = uint64_t) for constant-time operation.
  • Do not add ECDSA, secp256k1, Schnorr, or Taproot code.

Documentation