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document removal of libbitcoinconsensus #85

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Dec 5, 2024
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document removal of libbitcoinconsensus #85

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46 changes: 18 additions & 28 deletions consensus-libraries.adoc
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,34 +1,6 @@
:page-title: Consensus libraries
:page-nav_order: 70
:page-parent: Consensus and Validation
== libbitcoinconsensus

The libbitcoinconsensus library is described in the 0.10.0 release notes:

[quote]
____
Consensus library

Starting from 0.10.0, the Bitcoin Core distribution includes a consensus library.

The purpose of this library is to make the verification functionality that is
critical to Bitcoin's consensus available to other applications, e.g. to language
bindings such as [python-bitcoinlib](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-bitcoinlib) or
alternative node implementations.

This library is called `libbitcoinconsensus.so` (or, `.dll` for Windows).
Its interface is defined in the C header [bitcoinconsensus.h](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/0.10/src/script/bitcoinconsensus.h).

In its initial version the API includes two functions:

- `bitcoinconsensus_verify_script` verifies a script. It returns whether the indicated input of the provided serialized transaction
correctly spends the passed scriptPubKey under additional constraints indicated by flags
- `bitcoinconsensus_version` returns the API version, currently at an experimental `0`

The functionality is planned to be extended to e.g. UTXO management in upcoming releases, but the interface
for existing methods should remain stable.
____

== libbitcoinkernel

The https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/24303[libbitcoinkernel^] project seeks to modularise Bitcoin Cores' consensus engine and make it easier for developers to reason about when they are modifying code which could be consensus-critical.
Expand All @@ -51,3 +23,21 @@ In theory this should get us something which Bitcoin Core can use much faster (i
Part of libbitcoinkernel has been merged in via Carl Dong's https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/24304[`bitcoin-chainstate` PR^].
It also has its own project https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/projects/18[board^] to track progress.

== libbitcoinconsensus

The libbitcoinconsensus library has been deprecated since Bitcoin Core v27.0, with the Release Note:

[quote]
____
libbitcoinconsensus is deprecated and will be removed for v28. This library has
existed for nearly 10 years with very little known uptake or impact. It has
become a maintenance burden.

The underlying functionality does not change between versions, so any users of
the library can continue to use the final release indefinitely, with the
understanding that Taproot is its final consensus update.

In the future, libbitcoinkernel will provide a much more useful API that is
aware of the UTXO set, and therefore be able to fully validate transactions and
blocks. (#29189)
____
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