# jamesob/tinychain

A pocket-sized implementation of Bitcoin

Repository: https://github.com/jamesob/tinychain
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tinychain
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2021-04-23T18:10:24+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3315, "days_push": 1958, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1445, forks 123 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:45.092820+00:00)

## What it is
A compact, single-file Python implementation of Bitcoin's Nakamoto consensus algorithm, designed for learning rather than production use. It runs multi-node networks via Docker and includes a CLI client for wallets and transactions.

## Use cases
- understand how bitcoin's consensus algorithm works
- learn blockchain internals by reading code
- run a toy cryptocurrency network locally
- teach nakamoto consensus to developers
- experiment with mining and transactions in a minimal chain

## When to choose
- you want a small, readable codebase to learn how Bitcoin works
- you need a teaching or reference implementation of proof-of-work consensus
- you want to run a minimal multi-node blockchain locally with Docker

## When to avoid
- you need a real, secure, or performant cryptocurrency
- you want production Bitcoin node software
- you need advanced features like SegWit, Lightning, or full script support

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: maintenance
- function: blockchain, networking, cryptography, cli
- domain: blockchain, education, developer-tools
- platform: python, cross-platform
- tags: bitcoin, nakamoto-consensus, educational, toy-implementation, single-file, cryptocurrency, docker

## Member repositories
- jamesob/tinychain (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:45.092820+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:36:14.124276+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/jamesob/tinychain (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:45.092820+00:00, sha 0c58b012a4d1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.