Build a Node from Source

Tidecoin Core uses CMake. Operators usually build from source when they need a specific commit, local patches, or a platform package that is not available as a release binary.

This page is the operator build guide. It is not the contributor workflow; tests, fuzzing, coverage, and code-review build matrices belong in Developers / Build from Source.

Minimal build

From the Tidecoin Core repository root:


cmake -B build
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"

Binaries are written under:


build/bin/

Common binaries:

Binary	Purpose
`tidecoind`	Headless node daemon.
`tidecoin-cli`	RPC command-line client.
`tidecoin-qt`	GUI wallet and node, when GUI support is built.
`tidecoin-wallet`	Wallet utility.
`tidecoin-tx`	Transaction utility.
`tidecoin-util`	Utility command.

Baseline prerequisites

Install the platform build toolchain before configuring CMake.

Requirement	Notes
C++ compiler	GCC or Clang with C++20 support.
CMake	Tidecoin’s docs require CMake 3.22 or newer.
Python 3	Needed for several build and test helpers.
pkg-config/pkgconf	Used to locate system libraries.
Boost	Core dependency.
libevent	Networking and HTTP server dependency.

Use the platform-specific upstream docs for exact package names:

Platform	Source doc
Linux/Unix	`../tidecoin/doc/build-unix.md`
macOS	`../tidecoin/doc/build-osx.md`
Windows with MSVC	`../tidecoin/doc/build-windows-msvc.md`
Windows cross-compile	`../tidecoin/doc/build-windows.md`
BSDs	`../tidecoin/doc/build-freebsd.md`, `build-openbsd.md`, `build-netbsd.md`

Optional features

Configure only what the deployment needs:

Feature	Dependency	Typical CMake control
Wallet	SQLite	`-DENABLE_WALLET=ON` or `OFF`.
GUI	Qt 6 and qrencode	`-DBUILD_GUI=ON` or `OFF`.
ZMQ notifications	libzmq	`-DWITH_ZMQ=ON` when building with ZMQ support.
IPC/multiprocess	Cap’n Proto and libmultiprocess tooling	`-DENABLE_IPC=ON` or disable when not needed.
Tests	Python and test dependencies	Build and run through CMake/CTest.

For a headless infrastructure node, a common build is:


cmake -B build -DBUILD_GUI=OFF
cmake --build build --target tidecoind tidecoin-cli -j"$(nproc)"

For a node without wallet RPCs:


cmake -B build -DBUILD_GUI=OFF -DENABLE_WALLET=OFF
cmake --build build --target tidecoind tidecoin-cli -j"$(nproc)"

Verify the build

Basic local checks:


build/bin/tidecoind -version
build/bin/tidecoin-cli -version

If tests were built:


ctest --test-dir build -j"$(nproc)"

For deployment, install binaries into a controlled prefix or package them with your normal host-management tooling. Do not run production nodes directly from a developer working tree unless that is an intentional operational choice.

Cross-compilation and reproducible builds

Tidecoin inherits Bitcoin Core’s depends-style cross-compilation flow and Guix release-build tooling. Operators normally do not need these paths unless they are producing release artifacts or internal packages.

Use:

Need	Source
Cross-compiling for Windows	`../tidecoin/doc/build-windows.md`
MSVC builds	`../tidecoin/doc/build-windows-msvc.md`
Reproducible release builds	`../tidecoin/contrib/guix/README.md`
Release process	`../tidecoin/doc/release-process.md`

Source of truth

Topic	Source
Build system	`../tidecoin/CMakeLists.txt`, `../tidecoin/doc/build-*.md`
Dependencies	`../tidecoin/doc/dependencies.md`, `../tidecoin/depends/`
ZMQ build option	`../tidecoin/doc/zmq.md`
IPC build option	`../tidecoin/doc/multiprocess.md`