Your own ZClassic full node and C23 software lab, in one program
you build from source and run on your own machine.

Start here · Your first lab · Join in · Docs · Chat

Why Z23

We're building Z23 toward a lab that helps improve itself: free software you can inspect, change, and share. Every part answers to the person running it, not to an AI vendor, a package registry, or a hosted service.

A full ZClassic node that checks every block itself, down to the zero-knowledge proofs, and keeps your private wallet. ZCL is money for paying and being paid, not an investment.	Write one C file; Z23 runs it in a sandbox, tests it, and signs it as a plugin.	Send source to other nodes. Whatever you fetch is rebuilt and re-tested on your machine and kept only if you accept it.

You and any AI you choose use the same commands. An AI can propose, build and test; it never holds your keys or decides what you accept. Z23 is pre-v1: ready to build, run and inspect, not finished. MVP tracks the eight v1 criteria with their evidence.

Start here

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/z23c/z23.git
cd z23
make doctor                                 # what this machine still needs
make -j"$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)" z23   # builds build/bin/z23
build/bin/z23                               # start the node (leave it running)
build/bin/z23 status                        # in a second terminal: how it is doing, and what to do next

You need gcc 14+ (or clang with -std=c23) and GNU make. The first build fetches pinned sources and checks each one's SHA-256; after that it builds offline. macOS, Windows and the rest are in Getting Started. For an experimental Android app, see Android ARM64.

Run a node

build/bin/z23

The node joins the network over its built-in Tor and serves its own block explorer on its own .onion address. If sync stalls, build/bin/z23 core sync diagnose says why and ops logs shows recent diagnostics. Faster first syncs: Sync.

Your first lab

cat > hello.c <<'EOF'
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) { puts("hello, lab"); return 0; }
EOF
build/bin/z23 lab run hello.c

lab run builds the file as strict C23 (with sanitizers when your compiler has them), runs it in a private sandbox with no network, and keeps a receipt. lab test checks it against your cases, and lab promote signs it as a plugin. build/bin/z23 discover help lab lists the rest.

Join in

Z23 improves itself in the open: AI workers propose changes, a different model reviews each one, and only changes with evidence land. Take the same small tasks, with or without your own AI.

• Pick a task: build/bin/z23 card lists starter tasks, and CONTRIBUTING shows how to submit one.
• Change the code: make dev-bin builds fast, make t-list lists every registered group, and make t-fast ONLY=<group> runs one. build/bin/z23 discover help walks the native command registry.
• Go deeper: How the node works · The C23 Commons · Vision · Developing · AGENTS.md
• Talk to us: Z23 Chat on Telegram

License

100% permissive: Apache-2.0, with upstream notices kept in NOTICE.