Crate derec_library 

DeRec Library

This crate provides an implementation of the DeRec protocol, a decentralized secret recovery mechanism that protects sensitive data by distributing shares of the secret among a set of Helpers.

Instead of relying on a single backup location, DeRec uses threshold secret sharing so that a secret can be reconstructed only when a sufficient number of Helpers collaborate.

Protocol flows

The library implements the core protocol flows defined by DeRec:

• primitives::pairing — establishes a secure communication channel between an Owner and a Helper
• primitives::sharing — generates and distributes secret shares to Helpers
• primitives::verification — periodically checks that Helpers are still storing the correct share
• primitives::recovery — reconstructs the secret using shares retrieved from Helpers

These flows correspond to the lifecycle of a protected secret:

Pairing → Sharing → Verification (periodic) → Recovery (if needed)

Design

The library provides a high-level API for implementing DeRec-compatible applications. Each flow is implemented as a separate module exposing the functions required to produce and process protocol messages.

Protocol messages themselves are defined using protobuf and are exposed through the derec_proto crate. Most applications should interact with the higher-level APIs instead of manipulating protobuf messages directly.

Error handling

All public APIs return Result<T>, which wraps the crate-wide Error type. This type aggregates errors originating from the individual protocol flows while preserving their specific error semantics.

Target environments

The library is designed to work in both:

• native Rust environments
• WebAssembly environments (via bindings exposed by individual modules)

WebAssembly bindings are primarily intended for integration with TypeScript applications.

Modules

derec_message

Outer-envelope (DeRecMessage) parsing, building, and trace-id plumbing.

primitives

protocol

Higher-level protocol orchestrator for the DeRec protocol.

protocol_version

transport

Library-level transport endpoint type + validation.

types

Cross-layer shared types

Enums

Error

Functions

generate_replica_id

Generate a fresh replica identity using the OS CSPRNG.

Type Aliases

Result