p8k.mleku.dev - Project Summary

Overview

A complete Go package providing bindings to libsecp256k1 without CGO. Uses dynamic library loading via purego to call C functions directly.

Project Structure

p8k.mleku.dev/
├── libsecp256k1.so      # Bundled library for Linux AMD64 (1.8 MB)
├── secp.go              # Core library with context management and ECDSA
├── schnorr.go           # Schnorr signature (BIP-340) module
├── ecdh.go              # ECDH key exchange module
├── recovery.go          # Public key recovery module
├── utils.go             # High-level convenience functions
├── secp_test.go         # Comprehensive test suite
├── examples/
│   ├── ecdsa/           # ECDSA example
│   ├── schnorr/         # Schnorr signature example
│   ├── ecdh/            # ECDH key exchange example
│   └── recovery/        # Public key recovery example
├── bench/               # Comparative benchmark suite
│   ├── bench_test.go    # Benchmarks vs BTCEC and P256K1
│   ├── Makefile         # Convenient benchmark targets
│   ├── README.md        # Benchmark documentation
│   └── run_benchmarks.sh # Automated benchmark runner
├── go.mod               # Module definition
├── go.sum               # Dependency checksums
├── Makefile             # Build automation
├── README.md            # Main documentation
├── QUICKSTART.md        # Quick reference guide
├── API.md               # Complete API documentation
├── LIBRARY.md           # Bundled library documentation
└── LICENSE              # MIT License

Features Implemented

Core Functionality (secp.go)

✓ Dynamic library loading for Linux, macOS, Windows ✓ Context creation and management with automatic cleanup ✓ Context randomization ✓ Public key generation from private keys ✓ Public key serialization (compressed/uncompressed) ✓ Public key parsing ✓ ECDSA signature creation ✓ ECDSA signature verification ✓ DER signature encoding/decoding ✓ Compact signature encoding/decoding ✓ Signature normalization

Schnorr Module (schnorr.go)

✓ Keypair creation for Schnorr ✓ X-only public key extraction ✓ Schnorr signature creation (BIP-340) ✓ Schnorr signature verification (BIP-340) ✓ X-only public key parsing/serialization ✓ Conversion from regular to x-only public keys

ECDH Module (ecdh.go)

✓ EC Diffie-Hellman shared secret computation

Recovery Module (recovery.go)

✓ Recoverable signature creation ✓ Recoverable signature serialization ✓ Recoverable signature parsing ✓ Public key recovery from signatures

Utility Functions (utils.go)

✓ Private key generation ✓ One-line key generation helpers ✓ One-line signing helpers ✓ One-line verification helpers ✓ Key validation functions ✓ All operations with automatic context management

Testing (secp_test.go)

✓ Context creation tests ✓ Public key generation tests ✓ Serialization tests ✓ ECDSA signing and verification tests ✓ DER encoding tests ✓ Compact encoding tests ✓ Signature normalization tests ✓ Schnorr signature tests ✓ ECDH tests ✓ Recovery tests ✓ Performance benchmarks

Examples

✓ Complete ECDSA example ✓ Complete Schnorr signature example ✓ Complete ECDH example ✓ Complete recovery example

Documentation

✓ Comprehensive README with installation and usage ✓ Quick reference guide (QUICKSTART.md) ✓ Complete API documentation (API.md) ✓ Inline code documentation ✓ Example programs

Build System

✓ Makefile with targets for test, build, examples, etc. ✓ Automated library installation helper ✓ Example building and running

Technical Details

No CGO Required

• Uses purego library for dynamic loading
• Opens libsecp256k1.so/.dylib/.dll at runtime
• Registers C function symbols dynamically
• Zero C compiler dependency

Library Loading

• Automatic platform detection (Linux/macOS/Windows)
• Tries multiple common library paths
• Clear error messages on failure
• Optional module detection (graceful degradation)

Memory Management

• Automatic context cleanup via finalizers
• Safe byte slice handling
• No memory leaks
• Proper resource cleanup

API Design

• Two-tier API: Low-level (context-based) and high-level (utility functions)
• Named return values throughout
• Comprehensive error handling
• Clear error messages
• Type safety

Performance

• Direct C function calls via purego
• Minimal overhead compared to CGO
• Benchmarks included
• Context reuse for batch operations

Constants Defined

// Context flags
ContextNone, ContextVerify, ContextSign, ContextDeclassify

// EC flags
ECCompressed, ECUncompressed

// Sizes
PublicKeySize              = 64
CompressedPublicKeySize    = 33
UncompressedPublicKeySize  = 65
SignatureSize              = 64
CompactSignatureSize       = 64
PrivateKeySize             = 32
SharedSecretSize           = 32
SchnorrSignatureSize       = 64
RecoverableSignatureSize   = 65

All C Functions Bound

Core Functions

• secp256k1contextcreate
• secp256k1contextdestroy
• secp256k1contextrandomize
• secp256k1ecpubkey_create
• secp256k1ecpubkey_serialize
• secp256k1ecpubkey_parse
• secp256k1ecdsasign
• secp256k1ecdsaverify
• secp256k1ecdsasignatureserializeder
• secp256k1ecdsasignatureparseder
• secp256k1ecdsasignatureserializecompact
• secp256k1ecdsasignatureparsecompact
• secp256k1ecdsasignature_normalize

Schnorr Module

• secp256k1schnorrsigsign32
• secp256k1schnorrsigverify
• secp256k1keypaircreate
• secp256k1xonlypubkey_parse
• secp256k1xonlypubkey_serialize
• secp256k1keypairxonly_pub
• secp256k1xonlypubkeyfrompubkey

ECDH Module

• secp256k1_ecdh

Recovery Module

• secp256k1ecdsarecoverablesignatureserialize_compact
• secp256k1ecdsarecoverablesignatureparse_compact
• secp256k1ecdsasign_recoverable
• secp256k1ecdsarecover

Usage

Basic Example

import "p8k.mleku.dev"

// Generate keys
privKey, _ := secp.GeneratePrivateKey()
pubKey, _ := secp.PublicKeyFromPrivate(privKey, true)

// Sign message
msgHash := sha256.Sum256([]byte("Hello"))
sig, _ := secp.SignMessage(msgHash[:], privKey)

// Verify signature
valid, _ := secp.VerifyMessage(msgHash[:], sig, pubKey)

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run benchmarks
make bench

# Build and run examples
make run-examples

# Build everything
make build

Requirements

• Go 1.25.3 or later
• libsecp256k1 installed on system
• Linux, macOS, or Windows

Installation

# Install the package
go get p8k.mleku.dev

# Install libsecp256k1
make install-secp256k1  # Or use your package manager

Benefits Over CGO

1. No C Compiler: No need for GCC/Clang during builds
2. Faster Builds: No C compilation step
3. Cross-Compilation: Easier to cross-compile
4. Pure Go: Better integration with Go tooling
5. Runtime Linking: Can use system-installed libraries
6. Bundled Library: Linux AMD64 includes pre-built library (zero installation!)

System Requirements

Linux AMD64: ✅ Bundled library included (libsecp256k1.so v5.0.0, 1.8 MB) - works out of the box!

Other Platforms:

• Go 1.25.3 or later
• libsecp256k1 installed on system
• macOS, Windows, or other Linux architectures

Thread Safety

Context objects are NOT thread-safe. Each goroutine should have its own context. Utility functions are safe to use concurrently.

License

MIT License

Credits

Bindings to libsecp256k1 by Bitcoin Core developers.

Status

✅ All core functionality implemented ✅ All modules implemented (Schnorr, ECDH, Recovery) ✅ Comprehensive tests written ✅ Examples provided ✅ Comprehensive benchmark suite (vs BTCEC & P256K1) ✅ Documentation complete ✅ Bundled library for Linux AMD64 (zero installation!) ✅ Compiles without errors ✅ Ready for production use