Reth for Developers

Reth can be used as a library to build custom Ethereum nodes, interact with blockchain data, or create specialized tools for blockchain analysis and indexing.

What is the Reth SDK?

The Reth SDK allows developers to:

• Use components of the Reth node as libraries
• Build custom Ethereum execution nodes with modified behavior (e.g. payload building)
• Access blockchain data directly from the database
• Create high-performance indexing solutions
• Extend a new with new RPC endpoints and functionality
• Implement custom consensus mechanisms
• Build specialized tools for blockchain analysis

Quick Start

Add Reth to your project

Ethereum

[dependencies]
# Ethereum meta crate
reth-ethereum = { git = "https://github.com/paradigmxyz/reth" }

Opstack

[dependencies]
reth-op = { git = "https://github.com/paradigmxyz/reth" }

Key Concepts

Node Architecture

Reth is built with modularity in mind. The main components include:

• Primitives: Core data type abstractions like Block
• Node Builder: Constructs and configures node instances
• Database: Efficient storage using MDBX and static files
• Network: P2P communication and block synchronization
• Consensus: Block validation and chain management
• EVM: Transaction execution and state transitions
• RPC: JSON-RPC server for external communication
• Transaction Pool: Pending transaction management

Dependency Management

Reth is primarily built on top of the alloy ecosystem, which provides the necessary abstractions and implementations for core ethereum blockchain data types, transaction handling, and EVM execution.

Type System

Reth uses its own type system to handle different representations of blockchain data:

• Primitives: Core types like B256, Address, U256
• Transactions: Multiple representations for different contexts (pooled, consensus, RPC)
• Blocks: Headers, bodies, and sealed blocks with proven properties
• State: Accounts, storage, and state transitions

Building Custom Nodes

The node builder pattern allows you to customize every aspect of node behavior:

use reth_ethereum::node::{EthereumNode, NodeBuilder};
 
// Build a custom node with modified components
let node = NodeBuilder::new(config)
     // install the ethereum specific node primitives
    .with_types::<EthereumNode>()
    .with_components(|components| {
        // Customize components here
        components
    })
    .build()
    .await?;

Architecture Overview

Nodes Built with Reth

Several production networks have been built using Reth's node builder pattern:

Next Steps

• Node Components: Deep dive into each component
• Type System: Understanding Reth's type system
• Custom Nodes: Building production nodes
• Examples: Real-world implementations

Resources

• API Documentation
• GitHub Repository