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Cowboy is a Layer 1 blockchain built for autonomous agents. Actors are written in Python, executed in a deterministic Rust-based VM, and can schedule native timers, call off-chain services (LLMs, HTTP, MCP), and read/write encrypted distributed storage — all with protocol-level guarantees and a dual-metered gas model that prices compute and storage independently.

Quickstart

Boot a local devnet and deploy your first actor in a few commands

Key Innovations

What makes Cowboy different from other L1s

Architecture Deep Dive

The technical design of the protocol end-to-end

Repository Layout

Tour the monorepo: node, pvm, runner, cbfs, and more

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Core Features

Actors are Python programs executed in a deterministic VM with fuel metering. The cowboy_sdk (CIP-6) provides an @actor decorator, persistent self.storage, asynchronous messaging, and a continuation FSM for off-chain jobs.Learn more: Actor VM · Minimal Actor
Protocol-level timer support enables truly autonomous agents. Actors schedule their own execution via a hierarchical calendar queue with dynamic gas bidding (CIP-1).Learn more: Timers & Scheduler
Compute (Cycles) and data (Cells) are priced independently with separate EIP-1559 fee markets. You pay fairly for what you actually use (CIP-3).Learn more: Fee Model
Request LLM inference, HTTP calls, or MCP tool use from a runner network. Results are submitted on-chain with N-of-M, TEE, or ZK verification. VRF-based runner selection keeps it decentralized (CIP-2).Learn more: Off-Chain Compute
Large data lives in CBFS — a client-side-encrypted filesystem with Reed-Solomon erasure coding, QUIC transport, and a FUSE mount. Actors and runners attach volumes through delegated capability tokens (CIP-4 / CIP-9).Learn more: State Storage · Runner Storage
Cowboy uses the same secp256k1 keypairs and 20-byte address scheme as Ethereum. Your existing keys, wallets, and signing tooling work without modification.Learn more: Key Format

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Getting Started

1

Understand the Basics

Read What is Cowboy? and Key Innovations to grasp the core concepts.
2

Run a Local Devnet

Follow the Quickstart to boot a validator + runner with Docker Compose.
3

Deploy an Actor

Use the cowboy CLI to deploy actors/hello/main.py and call its handlers.
4

Build Something Real

Study node/examples/llm_chat/ for an end-to-end actor that uses the CIP-6 SDK and calls out to a runner.

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For Different Audiences

Application Developers

Protocol Researchers

Node Operators

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A 30-Minute Path

New to Cowboy? We recommend this learning path:
  1. What is Cowboy? — 5 min
  2. Key Innovations — 10 min
  3. Architecture Overview — 10 min
  4. Quickstart — boot a devnet, ~10 min hands-on
From there, dive into the Architecture section for any pillar (VM, fees, scheduler, off-chain) that interests you.

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Protocol Status

Current Version: v0.1 (Devnet) Network Status: Active development — devnet at rpc-01.mesa.cowboylabs.net:4000

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Community & Contributing

GitHub

Source code, issues, and pull requests

Contributing Guide

How to propose changes and submit CIPs
Cowboy is an open protocol. We welcome contributions from developers (code, SDK, tools), researchers (CIPs, analysis), and writers (docs, tutorials).
Ready to build? Jump to the Quickstart or explore the Repository Layout.