Developer Onboarding

Welcome to the InterCooperative Network (ICN) developer onboarding program. This structured curriculum will take you from zero to productive ICN contributor, whether you’re new to Rust or an experienced systems programmer.

What is ICN?

ICN is a decentralized coordination substrate for cooperative organizations. Unlike blockchains that focus on trustless consensus, ICN focuses on:

Trust-based coordination: Social relationships inform system behavior
Cooperative economics: Mutual credit, clearing, and fair value exchange
Federation: Independent cooperatives working together across boundaries
Privacy and sovereignty: Members control their own data and identity

The system is built in Rust using an actor-based architecture, with components for identity, trust, networking, gossip synchronization, ledger accounting, smart contracts, and inter-cooperative federation.

Choose Your Track

Foundations Track (5-6 weeks)

New to Rust or haven’t used it in production
Familiar with programming concepts from other languages
Want to learn Rust idioms through real-world ICN code

Accelerated Track (3-4 weeks)

Comfortable with Rust ownership, lifetimes, and async
Experience with distributed systems or P2P networking
Want to focus on ICN architecture and contribute quickly

Curriculum Overview

Core Modules (0-10)

Module	Topic	What You’ll Learn
0	Setup	Build environment, tooling, project structure
1	Rust Fundamentals	Ownership, error handling, async patterns
2	Architecture	Layer stack, crate responsibilities, integration points
3	Runtime & Actors	Supervisor, actor lifecycle, shutdown coordination
4	Identity & Trust	DIDs, keystore, trust graphs, key rotation
5	Network & Gossip	QUIC transport, mDNS, topic subscriptions
6	Ledger & Contracts	Mutual credit, Merkle-DAG, CCL execution
7	Gateway & SDK	REST API, WebSocket, JWT auth, SDK usage
8	Web UI	Pilot UI, data flow, session handling
9	Operations	Deployment, monitoring, production hardening
10	Contributing	Tests, CI, PR workflow, git conventions

Advanced Module

Module	Topic	What You’ll Learn
11	Federation	Inter-coop agreements, clearing, netting, attestations

Hands-on Workshops

Each module has a corresponding workshop with practical exercises:

Workshop	Focus Area
Workshop 0	Local Build and Repo Orientation
Workshop 1	Rust Fundamentals Exercises
Workshop 2	Architecture Deep Dive
Workshop 3	Runtime & Actor Patterns
Workshop 4	Identity & Trust Operations
Workshop 5	Network & Gossip Protocol
Workshop 6	Ledger & Contract Development
Workshop 7	Gateway API & SDK Usage
Workshop 8	Web UI Development
Workshop 9	Operations & Deployment
Workshop 10	Contributor Workflow
Workshop 11	Federation Patterns

Learning Path

Foundations Track (6 weeks)

Week 1: Setup + Rust Fundamentals
Week 2: Architecture + Runtime
Week 3: Identity + Network
Week 4: Ledger
Week 5: Gateway + UI
Week 6: Ops + Contributing + Capstone

Accelerated Track (4 weeks)

Week 1: Setup → Runtime
Week 2: Identity → Ledger
Week 3: Gateway + UI
Week 4: Ops + Contributing + Capstone

Supporting Materials

Syllabus - Course outline and pacing
Patterns - Common code patterns reference
Assessments - Quick knowledge checks
Capstone - Final integrative project
Reading Map - Module-to-code cross-references

Quick Start

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/InterCooperative-Network/icn.git
cd icn/icn
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test --workspace --lib

# Start the daemon (requires initialized identity)
export ICN_PASSPHRASE="your-passphrase"
./target/debug/icnctl id init
./target/debug/icnd

# Format and lint before contributing
cargo fmt --all
cargo clippy --workspace

Current Status

18 phases complete - Core infrastructure fully built
2,400+ tests - Comprehensive test coverage
26 crates - Modular architecture
Live on K3s - Running in production cluster since December 2025

Getting Help

Issues: Open a GitHub issue for bugs or questions
Discussions: GitHub Discussions for design conversations
Contributing: See CONTRIBUTING.md for PR guidelines

Full Curriculum

For the complete onboarding curriculum including all modules, workshops, and supporting materials:

View Full Onboarding Curriculum on GitHub

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