Geth (go-ethereum) is a Go implementation of Ethereum - a gateway into the decentralized web.

Golang execution layer implementation of the Ethereum protocol.

Geth has been a core part of Ethereum since the very beginning. Geth was one of the original Ethereum implementations making it the most battle-hardened and tested client.

Geth is an Ethereum execution client meaning it handles transactions, deployment and execution of smart contracts and contains an embedded computer known as the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Running Geth alongside a consensus client turns a computer into an Ethereum node.

## Executable

`geth` is the main Ethereum CLI client. It is the entry point into the Ethereum network (main-, test- or private net), capable of running as a full node (default), archive node (retaining all historical state) or a light node (retrieving data live). It can be used by other processes as a gateway into the Ethereum network via JSON RPC endpoints exposed on top of HTTP, WebSocket and/or IPC transports.

## Downloads and building

Automated builds are available for stable releases and the unstable master branch. Binary archives are published at https://geth.ethereum.org/downloads/.

Building `geth` requires both a Go (version 1.23 or later) and a C compiler.