Hashgraph-like Consensus

A lightweight Rust library for making binary decisions in peer-to-peer or gossipsub networks. Perfect for group governance, voting systems, or any scenario where you need distributed agreement.

Features

• Fast - Reaches consensus in O(log n) rounds
• Byzantine fault tolerant - Correct even if up to 1/3 of peers are malicious
• Pluggable storage - In-memory by default; implement ConsensusStorage for persistence
• Pluggable signing - Default ECDSA-secp256k1 via EthereumConsensusSigner; implement ConsensusSignatureScheme for Ed25519, HSMs, or any custom scheme
• Network-agnostic - Works with both Gossipsub (fixed 2-round) and P2P (dynamic rounds) topologies
• Event-driven - Subscribe to consensus outcomes via a broadcast event bus
• Cryptographic integrity - Votes are signed and chained in a hashgraph structure

Based on the Hashgraph-like Consensus Protocol RFC.

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
hashgraph-like-consensus = { git = "https://github.com/vacp2p/hashgraph-like-consensus" }

Quick Start

use hashgraph_like_consensus::{
    scope::ScopeID,
    service::DefaultConsensusService,
    signing::{ConsensusSignatureScheme, EthereumConsensusSigner},
    types::CreateProposalRequest,
};
use alloy::signers::local::PrivateKeySigner;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let signer = EthereumConsensusSigner::new(PrivateKeySigner::random());
    let service = DefaultConsensusService::new(signer.clone());
    let scope = ScopeID::from("example-scope");

    // Create a proposal
    let proposal = service
        .create_proposal(
            &scope,
            CreateProposalRequest::new(
                "Upgrade contract".into(),   // name
                b"Switch to v2".to_vec(),     // payload (bytes)
                signer.identity().to_vec(),  // owner
                3,                           // expected voters
                60,                          // expiration (seconds from now)
                true,                        // liveness: silent peers count as YES at timeout
            )?,
        )
        .await?;

    // Cast a vote — the service uses its held signer.
    let vote = service.cast_vote(&scope, proposal.proposal_id, true).await?;
    println!("Recorded vote {}", vote.vote_id);

    Ok(())
}

Core Concepts

Scopes and Proposals

A scope groups related proposals together and carries default configuration (network type, threshold, timeout). Proposals inherit scope defaults unless overridden individually.

Scope (group / channel)
  +-- ScopeConfig (defaults for all proposals)
  +-- Proposals
       +-- Proposal 1 -> Session (inherits scope config)
       +-- Proposal 2 -> Session (inherits scope config)
       +-- Proposal 3 -> Session (overrides scope config)

Network Types

Architecture

ConsensusService is the single entry point. All consensus business logic lives there. It is generic over three pluggable backends:

• ConsensusStorage — where sessions and votes are persisted (in-memory, database, etc.)
• ConsensusEventBus — how consensus events are delivered (broadcast channel, message queue, etc.)
• ConsensusSignatureScheme — how votes are signed and verified (ECDSA-secp256k1 by default, or your own scheme)

Use service.storage() for reads, queries, and cleanup. Use service.event_bus() for event subscription.

Service shape: one service vs. per-scope services

The default pattern is one ConsensusService, many scopes — the service multiplexes proposals across independent decision streams. All scopes share one storage backend and one event bus; subscribers see (Scope, ConsensusEvent) pairs from every scope.

For per-scope concerns (per-conversation in de-mls, per-channel in chat apps, per-room in collaboration tools) you can construct one service per scope. Storage backends are Clone and Arc-backed internally, so multiple services can share the same backing data while each owns an independent event bus:

use hashgraph_like_consensus::{
    events::BroadcastEventBus,
    scope::ScopeID,
    service::ConsensusService,
    signing::EthereumConsensusSigner,
    storage::InMemoryConsensusStorage,
};
use alloy::signers::local::PrivateKeySigner;

// Shared storage across all conversations.
let storage = InMemoryConsensusStorage::<ScopeID>::new();

// This peer's signer — built once and cloned into each conversation's service.
let signer = EthereumConsensusSigner::new(PrivateKeySigner::random());

// One service per conversation, each with its own event bus.
let conv_a: ConsensusService<_, _, _, EthereumConsensusSigner> =
    ConsensusService::new_with_components(
        storage.clone(),                // shared backing data
        BroadcastEventBus::default(),   // private bus for this conversation
        signer.clone(),                 // same identity in every conversation
        10,
    );

let conv_b: ConsensusService<_, _, _, EthereumConsensusSigner> =
    ConsensusService::new_with_components(
        storage.clone(),
        BroadcastEventBus::default(),
        signer.clone(),
        10,
    );

// Each conversation's subscribers only see its own events — no filtering needed.
let mut events_a = conv_a.event_bus().subscribe();
let mut events_b = conv_b.event_bus().subscribe();

The same shape works for DB-backed storage: build one Pool/connection-bearing storage value, clone it for each per-scope service.

Cost of scope indexing. Scope is the partition key in storage; the overhead is negligible.

• In-memory: the outer HashMap<Scope, _> adds roughly 50 bytes per scope plus a small inner allocation. At 1000 scopes that's tens of kilobytes total.
• Database: the scope_id column you'd want anyway for any multi-tenant table becomes a partition key. Point lookups (get_session) are identical speed to a flat namespace; list_scope_sessions and delete_scope become indexed range scans instead of full-table filters.

What the Library Does vs. What You Do

This library handles consensus calculation — vote validation, hashgraph chain verification, threshold math, and liveness rules. It does not handle orchestration. Your application is responsible for:

API Reference

Creating a Service

use hashgraph_like_consensus::{
    service::{ConsensusService, DefaultConsensusService},
    signing::EthereumConsensusSigner,
};
use alloy::signers::local::PrivateKeySigner;

let signer = EthereumConsensusSigner::new(PrivateKeySigner::random());

// In-memory storage + broadcast events + this peer's signer. 10 sessions per scope.
let service = DefaultConsensusService::new(signer.clone());

// Custom session limit (still the Ethereum default scheme).
let service = DefaultConsensusService::new_with_max_sessions(signer.clone(), 20);

// Fully custom: plug in your own storage, event bus, signer, and signature scheme.
let service: ConsensusService<MyScope, MyStorage, MyEvents, MyScheme> =
    ConsensusService::new_with_components(my_storage, my_event_bus, my_signer, 10);

signer is held inside the service and used for every outgoing vote — see Casting and Processing Votes. Access via service.signer() if you need its identity bytes (e.g. for proposal owner fields).

Configuring a Scope

use hashgraph_like_consensus::{
    scope::ScopeID,
    scope_config::NetworkType,
    service::DefaultConsensusService,
};
use std::time::Duration;

let service = DefaultConsensusService::default();
let scope = ScopeID::from("team_votes");

// Initialize with the builder
service
    .scope(&scope)
    .await?
    .with_network_type(NetworkType::P2P)
    .with_threshold(0.75)
    .with_timeout(Duration::from_secs(120))
    .with_liveness_criteria(false)
    .initialize()
    .await?;

// Update later (single field)
service
    .scope(&scope)
    .await?
    .with_threshold(0.8)
    .update()
    .await?;

Built-in presets are also available:

// High confidence (threshold = 0.9)
service.scope(&scope).await?.strict_consensus().initialize().await?;

// Low latency (threshold = 0.6, timeout = 30 s)
service.scope(&scope).await?.fast_consensus().initialize().await?;

Working with Proposals

// Create a proposal
let proposal = service
    .create_proposal(&scope, CreateProposalRequest::new(
        "Upgrade contract".into(),
        b"Switch to v2".to_vec(),
        owner_address,
        3,     // expected voters
        60,    // expiration (seconds from now)
        true,  // liveness: silent peers count as YES at timeout
    )?)
    .await?;

// Process a proposal received from the network
service.process_incoming_proposal(&scope, proposal).await?;

Casting and Processing Votes

// Cast your vote (yes = true, no = false) using the service's held signer.
let vote = service.cast_vote(&scope, proposal_id, true).await?;

// Cast a vote and get the updated proposal (useful for gossiping).
let proposal = service
    .cast_vote_and_get_proposal(&scope, proposal_id, true)
    .await?;

// Process a vote received from the network (uses the service's scheme to verify).
service.process_incoming_vote(&scope, vote).await?;

Reading State (via Storage)

All reads go through service.storage():

use hashgraph_like_consensus::storage::ConsensusStorage;

// Get the consensus result for a proposal (Ok(true) = YES, Ok(false) = NO)
let result: bool = service.storage().get_consensus_result(&scope, proposal_id).await?;

// Get a proposal by ID
let proposal = service.storage().get_proposal(&scope, proposal_id).await?;

// List active proposals (empty Vec if none)
let active: Vec<Proposal> = service.storage().get_active_proposals(&scope).await?;

// List finalized proposals (proposal_id -> result)
let reached: HashMap<u32, bool> = service.storage().get_reached_proposals(&scope).await?;

// Delete all state for a scope (e.g. when a user leaves a group)
service.storage().delete_scope(&scope).await?;

Handling Timeouts

The library does not schedule timeouts automatically. Your application must set up a timer for each proposal and call handle_consensus_timeout when it fires. Without this, proposals with offline voters will stay Active forever and the silent-peer liveness logic will never run.

When handle_consensus_timeout is called, silent peers (those who never voted) are counted toward quorum so that the liveness_criteria_yes flag can take effect:

• liveness_criteria_yes = true — silent peers are counted as YES votes. A proposal passes unless there are enough explicit NO votes to block it.
• liveness_criteria_yes = false — silent peers are counted as NO votes. A proposal fails unless there are enough explicit YES votes to carry it.

The only case where timeout produces no result is a tie (equal YES and NO weight after counting silent peers), which marks the session as failed.

// Schedule a timeout (typically via tokio::time::sleep)
tokio::time::sleep(config.consensus_timeout()).await;

match service.handle_consensus_timeout(&scope, proposal_id).await {
    Ok(true)  => println!("Consensus: YES"),
    Ok(false) => println!("Consensus: NO"),
    Err(ConsensusError::InsufficientVotesAtTimeout) => {
        println!("Tied — no consensus");
    }
    Err(e) => eprintln!("Error: {e}"),
}

During normal voting (before timeout), the quorum gate still requires ceil(2n/3) actual votes — silent peers are not counted until timeout.

Subscribing to Events

use hashgraph_like_consensus::events::ConsensusEventBus;
use hashgraph_like_consensus::types::ConsensusEvent;

let mut rx = service.event_bus().subscribe();

tokio::spawn(async move {
    while let Ok((scope, event)) = rx.recv().await {
        match event {
            ConsensusEvent::ConsensusReached { proposal_id, result, timestamp } => {
                println!("Proposal {} -> {}", proposal_id, if result { "YES" } else { "NO" });
            }
            ConsensusEvent::ConsensusFailed { proposal_id, timestamp } => {
                println!("Proposal {} failed to reach consensus", proposal_id);
            }
        }
    }
});

Statistics

let stats = service.get_scope_stats(&scope).await;
println!(
    "Active: {}, Reached: {}, Failed: {}",
    stats.active_sessions, stats.consensus_reached, stats.failed_sessions
);

Advanced Usage

Custom Storage

Implement the ConsensusStorage trait to persist proposals to a database. You only need to implement the primitive methods — query helpers like get_consensus_result, get_active_proposals, and get_reached_proposals are provided as default implementations for free.

use hashgraph_like_consensus::storage::ConsensusStorage;

// Required primitives (you implement these):
//   save_session, get_session, remove_session,
//   list_scope_sessions, replace_scope_sessions,
//   update_session, update_scope_sessions,
//   stream_scope_sessions, list_scopes,
//   get_scope_config, set_scope_config, update_scope_config,
//   delete_scope
//
// Free query helpers (default implementations):
//   get_consensus_result, get_proposal, get_proposal_config,
//   get_active_proposals, get_reached_proposals

Custom Event Bus

Implement ConsensusEventBus for alternative event delivery:

use hashgraph_like_consensus::events::ConsensusEventBus;

pub trait ConsensusEventBus<Scope> {
    type Receiver;
    fn subscribe(&self) -> Self::Receiver;
    fn publish(&self, scope: Scope, event: ConsensusEvent);
}

Custom Signature Scheme

The default EthereumConsensusSigner uses ECDSA-secp256k1 with 20-byte Ethereum addresses, matching the historical behavior of the crate. To integrate Ed25519, an HSM, or any other scheme, implement ConsensusSignatureScheme:

use hashgraph_like_consensus::signing::{
    ConsensusSchemeError, ConsensusSignatureScheme,
};

pub trait ConsensusSignatureScheme: Send + Sync {
    /// Identity bytes written into `Vote::vote_owner` (address, public key, etc.).
    fn identity(&self) -> &[u8];

    /// Sign a payload. Returns raw signature bytes (length scheme-specific).
    fn sign(&self, payload: &[u8])
        -> impl Future<Output = Result<Vec<u8>, ConsensusSchemeError>> + Send;

    /// Static verification — no instance needed. The service calls this for
    /// every incoming vote.
    fn verify(identity: &[u8], payload: &[u8], signature: &[u8])
        -> Result<bool, ConsensusSchemeError>;
}

The same type plays both roles: a value carries private state for signing, and the type itself is used statically by the service for verification. All peers on a network must agree on the scheme type. Pick it at service construction:

use hashgraph_like_consensus::{
    events::BroadcastEventBus,
    scope::ScopeID,
    service::ConsensusService,
    storage::InMemoryConsensusStorage,
};

type MyService = ConsensusService<
    ScopeID,
    InMemoryConsensusStorage<ScopeID>,
    BroadcastEventBus<ScopeID>,
    MyScheme,  // <- your ConsensusSignatureScheme impl
>;

See tests/custom_scheme_tests.rs for a working non-Ethereum example.

Utility Functions

The utils module provides low-level helpers for advanced use cases:

The generic Signer parameter on build_vote / validate_proposal / validate_vote selects which ConsensusSignatureScheme to use; pick it via turbofish or inference at the call site.

Building

# Build
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test

# Generate docs
cargo doc --open

Note: Requires a working protoc (Protocol Buffers compiler) since the library generates code from .proto files at build time.

License

MIT