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Cowboy is a Layer 1 blockchain protocol designed for autonomous agents and verifiable off-chain computation. It introduces native support for timers, Python-based smart contracts, and a dual-metered gas model that fairly prices computation and storage independently.

30-Minute Quick Start

Get up and running with your first Cowboy actor in 30 minutes

Key Innovations

Explore what makes Cowboy unique in the blockchain landscape

Architecture Deep Dive

Understand the technical design of the protocol

Developer Guide

Start building with the Python SDK and examples

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Core Features

Protocol-level timer support enables truly autonomous agents. Actors can schedule their own execution using a hierarchical calendar queue with dynamic gas bidding.Learn more: Timers & Scheduler
Write smart contracts in Python with full determinism guarantees. The Actor VM provides a sandboxed execution environment with precise resource metering.Learn more: Actor VM
Separate pricing for computation (Cycles) and data (Cells) with independent EIP-1559 style fee markets. Pay fairly for what you actually use.Learn more: Fee Model
Run AI models, fetch external data, or perform heavy computations off-chain with cryptographic verification. VRF-based runner selection ensures decentralization.Learn more: Off-Chain Compute

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Getting Started

1

Understand the Basics

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

Follow the Quick Start

Deploy your first actor with our Quick Start Guide.
3

Explore Examples

Study real-world examples via the Quick Start.
4

Build Your Application

Use the Python SDK to create your autonomous agent or dApp.

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For Different Audiences

Developers

Protocol Researchers

Node Operators

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The 30-Minute Path

New to Cowboy? We recommend this learning path:
  1. What is Cowboy? - 5 minutes
  2. Key Innovations - 5 minutes
  3. Actor VM Overview - 8 minutes
  4. Fee Model Overview - 7 minutes
  5. Developer Examples - 5 minutes
Total time: ~30 minutes to understand the core protocol and see working code

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Protocol Status

Current Version: v0.1 (Testnet)
Milestone Target: 2025-11-02
Network Status: Active development

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Community & Support

GitHub

View source code, report issues, and contribute

Discord

Join the community for support and discussion

Twitter

Follow for updates and announcements

Whitepaper

Read the complete technical specification

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Contributing

Cowboy is an open protocol. We welcome contributions from:
  • Developers: Submit PRs, improve documentation, build tools
  • Researchers: Propose protocol improvements via CIPs
  • Writers: Improve documentation, create tutorials
See our Contributing Guide to get started.
Ready to build? Start with the Quick Start Guide or review the Repository Layout.