Iroh 1.0: dial keys, not IPs — networking library hits stable release

The iroh project has shipped version 1.0, its first stable release, after more than four years of open development and 65 pre-1.0 versions. The idea is compressed into four words: dial keys, not IPs. Instead of connecting to an address that can change without warning and may sit behind a firewall, applications connect to a cryptographic key that the device itself controls.

What the release contains

Iroh describes itself as a dial-any-device networking library. In the 1.0 announcement, the team lists the capabilities built on that single abstraction: an implementation of QUIC multipath, so a connection can hold several routes and hot swap between them as conditions change; QUIC NAT traversal for direct connections with encrypted connection details; local-first configuration for finding devices without internet access; and a build that compiles to WebAssembly and runs in the browser. Custom transports can be plugged in as well, including Bluetooth Low Energy, WiFi Aware, Tor, and LoRa, which the team says is still under construction.

The same key is used for security, identity, permissions and attribution — and, because it stays the same wherever the device moves, as the address. The project calls the result a secure localhost.

Performance and language support

Connections are also more efficient, according to the team: it is normal for 95% of the data in a connection to pass directly between devices. Fewer hops through the cloud lowers egress costs, and fewer hops through routers makes the network more efficient overall.

Alongside the Rust crate, version 1.0 brings official support for Python, Node.js, Swift and Kotlin. FFI support had been paused earlier because of maintenance overhead with API churn, and the team had promised to restore it with a stable 1.0 API.

Stability and relay support

Iroh 1.0 asserts stability for both the wire protocol and the language APIs: a v1 endpoint will be able to communicate with another v1 endpoint regardless of minor version or language. Any change that affects the wire stability of iroh will always coincide with a major release.

On support: the 0.35 minor line will receive no further releases, with public relay operation continuing through 31 December 2026; canary (0.9x) and release-candidate builds are no longer supported, and their relays stop on 30 September 2026. The project says its public relays have seen more than 200 million endpoints created in the last 30 days alone, and that iroh is running on millions of devices today.