C ABI#

Use the C ABI to embed Net in a C or C++ program or to build a language binding not covered by the Rust, TypeScript, Python, or Go SDKs. The caller manages memory, threads, polling, and return codes explicitly.

cargo build --release --features ffi,net
# include the headers your program uses, then link -lnet

Surface#

The ABI is split across eleven headers, all compiled into one library, libnet (shared or static). Together they cover the event bus, mesh transport, capability announce/discover, channels, nRPC, RedEX/CortEX storage, blob and directory transfer, federated queries, daemon operations, and the Deck operator surface.

Include only the headers your application needs; there is one library to link either way. The language SDKs manage lifetimes, errors, and asynchronous iteration for you; prefer one of them unless you need the C boundary.

Pages#

1. Quickstart — ingest and poll with the memory rules.
2. Headers and linking — the one library, the generated headers, and the net.h / net.go.h choice per translation unit.
3. Memory and threading — ownership, polling cursors, and thread-safety guarantees.
4. Errors — return codes and the NET_ERR_* table.

Capability and nRPC coverage#

The C ABI exposes capability discovery and nRPC directly. net.go.h declares net_mesh_announce_capabilities, net_mesh_find_best_node_scoped, and net_mesh_subscribe_channel_with_token; net_rpc.h declares the net_rpc_call* variants. The CLI is optional.

Protected services#

net_org.h carries organization capability auth. Its call verbs are net_org_call (unary) and net_org_call_streaming / net_org_call_client_stream / net_org_call_duplex for the three streaming shapes, plus the subnet-exported caller verb net_org_call_exported. The provider side registers with net_org_serve (unary) or net_org_serve_streaming / net_org_serve_client_stream / net_org_serve_duplex. The org surface carries its own ABI stamp — NET_ORG_ABI_VERSION is 0x0002 — so call net_org_check_abi_version(NET_ORG_ABI_VERSION) at init and hard-fail on a mismatch, and #include "net_rpc.h" beside net_org.h, because the streaming verbs hand out and drive the shared nRPC handle types.

Its companion net_subnet.h (the same library — everything is in libnet) carries the provider and gateway side: net_subnet_serve_exported against a NAMED export, plus net_subnet_install_gateway_credentials, net_subnet_declare_boundaries, and net_subnet_apply_control_fact. Subnet failures return NET_ORG_ERR_SUBNET with the stable subnet:<kind> wire string on out_err (reference).

C application code constructs no authority objects: the export name is resolved against the checked map the node holds, and trust anchors, attachment, control channel, and named exports are all supplied in the JSON net_mesh_new already takes (subnet_authorities, subnet_attachment, subnet_control_channel, subnet_exports). A standalone C program can stand up a subnet gateway on its own.