iroh
SHA-256IP addresses break, dial keys instead. Iroh is a modular Rust networking stack that lets you connect by public key, with automatic hole-punching and relay fallback.
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v1.0.0 · 4.8 MB
Dial by public key, not IP address. Modular Rust networking with automatic hole-punching and relay fallback.
Core Features
- Connect using stable public keys; IP address changes are invisible to applications
- Automatic NAT hole-punching for direct connections, falling back to public relays
- Built on QUIC providing authenticated encryption, concurrent streams, and datagram support
- Three ready-to-use protocols: blobs (BLAKE3 content-addressed transfer), gossip (publish-subscribe overlays), docs (eventually-consistent key-value store)
- Continuous performance monitoring at perf.iroh.computer
What It Can't Do
- •Currently Rust-only; FFI bindings (iroh-ffi) are under development. Public relay servers may introduce latency and should be evaluated for privacy-sensitive use cases. Hole-punching success depends on network conditions; in restrictive NATs the relay path may always be used.
Use Cases
- Peer-to-peer file sync and content distribution
- Decentralized messaging and social networks
- Direct secure communication between IoT devices
Detailed Introduction
Iroh is a next-generation networking library for Rust that replaces fragile IP addresses with stable public key identifiers. Built on QUIC, it provides authenticated encryption, concurrent streams, and datagram transport out of the box. Unlike traditional stacks (e.g., libp2p), iroh focuses on simplicity: dial by public key, automatic hole-punching for direct connections, and a fallback to public relays when direct connection fails. The project offers three composable protocols—blobs (content-addressed transfer), gossip (pub-sub overlays), and docs (eventually-consistent key-value store)—making it a complete toolkit for building peer-to-peer applications. Its performance is continuously measured at perf.iroh.computer. With 9.4K GitHub stars and dual Apache-2.0/MIT licensing, iroh is a mature choice for developers who want a lightweight, modern P2P stack without the overhead of libp2p.
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Getting Started
Download installer
Click the button above to download the installer for your system
Install the software
Double-click the downloaded installer and follow the prompts
Ensure Rust toolchain is installed, then run cargo add iroh
Create an endpoint with Endpoint::bind(), connect to a peer by their public key and ALPN
Exchange data over QUIC streams; implement ProtocolHandler on the accepting side, then compile and run
- Ensure Rust toolchain is installed, then run cargo add iroh
- Create an endpoint with Endpoint::bind(), connect to a peer by their public key and ALPN
- Exchange data over QUIC streams; implement ProtocolHandler on the accepting side, then compile and run
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SHA256 Checksum
9a3113360f882b510b55e18dfaed57899d8c350d0108ea8827daf42ce3353a3cThis checksum is extracted from the GitHub Release page. Verify file integrity after download.
All SHA-256 checksums on this platform are extracted from the project's official GitHub Release page, without any modification. You can independently verify them on the GitHub Releases page.
Open Source Transparency
View GitHub SourceUninstall Info
Remove the iroh dependency from your Cargo.toml and run cargo update. If you cloned the repo, delete the directory.
No Extra Dependencies
Ready to use after download. No additional runtime required.
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