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Building Lightning from source

The verified workflow uses the repository's Nix flake on Linux; the dev shell supplies Qt 6.5+ and a Rust toolchain.

git clone https://github.com/Mizerd/lightning.git
cd lightning

nix develop -c cmake -S . -B build-rust -G Ninja -DENABLE_RUST_SDK_BACKEND=ON
nix develop -c cmake --build build-rust
scripts/run-dev.sh

That is the real client: Rust SDK backend, real Matrix, E2EE, threads and calls. Release binaries are Rust-only (-DLIGHTNING_RUST_ONLY=ON).

There is also a lighter tree with the development-only mock and experimental HTTP backends, for UI work and tests without a homeserver — it is compiled out of release builds:

nix develop -c cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
nix develop -c cmake --build build

Tests

nix develop -c cargo test --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
nix develop -c ctest --test-dir build-rust --output-on-failure
nix develop -c ctest --test-dir build       --output-on-failure

Compilation and launch are not feature validation: live Matrix behaviour — interoperability, decryption, notifications, calls, physical scrolling — has to be tested against a real homeserver and reported honestly. See build-and-test.md for the long form (manual test procedures and troubleshooting), CONTRIBUTING.md for which suites to run for a change, and screenshot-demo.md for the demo mode the screenshots come from.

Faster local builds

ccache and mold are in the dev shell. A source build uses ccache automatically when it is on PATH and no compiler launcher was set (-DLIGHTNING_DISABLE_CCACHE=ON turns that off); mold is opt-in per build tree (-DCMAKE_LINKER_TYPE=MOLD). Neither changes the produced binaries, and official packages are built without them. build-performance.md has the measurements.

How it is put together

Qt 6 / QML  ──  presentation, interaction, theming, layout
     │
C++         ──  application state, Qt-facing models and controllers, lifecycle,
     │          account/room/thread isolation, navigation, notification policy
Rust bridge ──  FFI to…
     │
matrix-rust-sdk  ──  login/sync, timelines, threads, event cache, media,
                     Olm/Megolm E2EE, verification, key backup, receipts

QML owns presentation and interaction only — never protocol, credentials, crypto or persistence. C++ owns the safe Qt-facing boundary and application state. The official Rust Matrix SDK owns all Matrix protocol and cryptography. See architecture.md.