ndn-rs Wiki

Notice: primarily AI-authored, not yet proven correct. This codebase is primarily authored by an AI coding assistant. A recent spec-compliance audit (docs/notes/spec-compliance-audit-2026-04-20.md) found numerous wire-format and protocol-semantics errors, including BLOCKER-tier issues that any conforming NDN peer would reject. Remediation is in progress in the open — see the spec-compliance summary and testbed/EXPECTED_FAILURES.md. Do not cite ndn-rs as a reference implementation of NDN. For a reference, use NFD / ndn-cxx / NDNts / ndnd / python-ndn.

ndn-rs is a Rust NDN forwarder stack that models Named Data Networking as composable data pipelines with trait-based polymorphism — embeddable as a library, scalable from Cortex-M to multi-core routers.

Pre-release. The workspace reads 0.1.0 but no tag has been published yet — this wiki documents main. Pull ghcr.io/quarmire/ndn-fwd:latest or build from source. See the draft release notes for planned scope.

NDN replaces host-addressed networking with named data: consumers request content by name (Interest), the network locates and returns it (Data), and every Data packet is cryptographically signed at birth — enabling in-network caching and security that travels with the data.

Navigating This Wiki

Crate Map

Dependencies flow strictly downward. ndn-tlv and ndn-packet compile no_std.

%%{init: {"layout": "elk"}}%%
flowchart TD
    subgraph Binaries
        fwd["ndn-fwd"]
        tools["ndn-tools"]
        bench["ndn-bench"]
    end

    subgraph Engine & App
        engine["ndn-engine"]
        app["ndn-app"]
        ipc["ndn-ipc"]
        config["ndn-config"]
        discovery["ndn-discovery"]
    end

    subgraph Pipeline & Security
        strategy["ndn-strategy"]
        security["ndn-security"]
    end

    subgraph Faces
        faces["ndn-faces\n(UDP, TCP, SHM, Ethernet, ...)"]
    end

    subgraph Foundation
        store["ndn-store"]
        transport["ndn-transport"]
        packet["ndn-packet\n(no_std)"]
        tlv["ndn-tlv\n(no_std)"]
    end

    fwd --> engine
    fwd --> config
    tools --> app
    bench --> app
    engine --> strategy
    engine --> security
    engine --> store
    engine --> faces
    app --> ipc
    ipc --> engine
    discovery --> engine
    strategy --> transport
    faces --> transport
    store --> packet
    transport --> packet
    packet --> tlv

    embedded["ndn-embedded\n(no_std)"] -.-> tlv

    subgraph Research["Extensions"]
        sim["ndn-sim"]
        compute["ndn-compute"]
        sync["ndn-sync"]
        wasm_strat["ndn-strategy-wasm"]
    end

    sim -.-> engine
    compute -.-> engine
    sync -.-> app
    wasm_strat -.-> strategy

    style tlv fill:#79c0ff,color:#000
    style packet fill:#79c0ff,color:#000
    style embedded fill:#7ee787,color:#000

{
  "columns": [
    { "label": "Foundation", "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-tlv"}, {"id": "ndn-packet"}, {"id": "ndn-store"},
        {"id": "ndn-transport"}, {"id": "ndn-embedded"}
    ]},
    { "label": "Faces", "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-faces"}, {"id": "ndn-faces"},
        {"id": "ndn-faces"}, {"id": "ndn-faces"}
    ]},
    { "label": "Pipeline & Strategy", "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-engine"}, {"id": "ndn-strategy"}, {"id": "ndn-security"}
    ]},
    { "label": "Engine & App", "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-engine"}, {"id": "ndn-app"}, {"id": "ndn-ipc"},
        {"id": "ndn-config"}, {"id": "ndn-discovery"}
    ]},
    { "label": "Binaries", "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-fwd"}, {"id": "ndn-tools"}, {"id": "ndn-bench"}
    ]}
  ],
  "satellites": {
    "label": "Research  (depend on engine / app / strategy)",
    "nodes": [
        {"id": "ndn-sim"}, {"id": "ndn-compute"},
        {"id": "ndn-sync"}, {"id": "ndn-strategy-wasm"}
    ]
  },
  "edges": [
    ["ndn-tlv",       "ndn-packet"],
    ["ndn-tlv",       "ndn-embedded"],
    ["ndn-packet",    "ndn-store"],
    ["ndn-packet",    "ndn-transport"],
    ["ndn-transport", "ndn-faces"],
    ["ndn-transport", "ndn-faces"],
    ["ndn-transport", "ndn-faces"],
    ["ndn-transport", "ndn-faces"],
    ["ndn-faces",    "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-faces",  "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-faces", "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-faces",     "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-store",       "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-engine",    "ndn-strategy"],
    ["ndn-engine",    "ndn-security"],
    ["ndn-strategy",    "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-security",    "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-engine",    "ndn-ipc"],
    ["ndn-engine",    "ndn-discovery"],
    ["ndn-engine",      "ndn-fwd"],
    ["ndn-engine",      "ndn-tools"],
    ["ndn-engine",      "ndn-bench"],
    ["ndn-app",         "ndn-ipc"],
    ["ndn-app",         "ndn-tools"],
    ["ndn-app",         "ndn-bench"],
    ["ndn-config",      "ndn-fwd"]
  ],
  "satellite_edges": [
    ["ndn-sim",           "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-compute",       "ndn-engine"],
    ["ndn-sync",          "ndn-app"],
    ["ndn-strategy-wasm", "ndn-strategy"]
  ]
}