# Commonware

*The BFT infrastructure powering Tempo's consensus.*

Commonware is open-source, modular Rust blockchain infrastructure — an 'anti-framework' of reusable primitives built around the Simplex BFT consensus protocol. Within the Tempo ecosystem it operates at the infrastructure layer: Tempo uses Commonware's Simplex consensus for fast sub-second BFT finality, and is both a core contributor to and the lead investor (a $25M strategic round) in the project.

## At a glance

- **Type:** infrastructure
- **Category:** developer-tools
- **Status:** active
- **Website:** https://commonware.xyz

## Key facts

- **Founder:** Patrick O'Grady is the founder of Commonware. _(confidence 95%)_
- **What it is:** Open-source, modular Rust blockchain infrastructure — a developer 'anti-framework' of reusable primitives spanning consensus, networking, storage, cryptography, and runtime. _(confidence 95%)_
- **Consensus protocol:** Commonware's consensus is built on Simplex (Simplex BFT / Simplex Consensus), a fast Byzantine-fault-tolerant agreement protocol. _(confidence 97%)_
- **Main repository:** The public codebase is the commonwarexyz/monorepo GitHub repository of Commonware Library primitives and examples. _(confidence 88%)_
- **Role on Tempo:** Tempo uses Commonware's Simplex consensus to achieve fast, sub-second BFT finality. _(confidence 96%)_
- **Tempo relationship:** Tempo builds with the Commonware Library, is a core contributor, and led Commonware's $25M strategic investment round (announced November 2025). _(confidence 95%)_

## Related entities

- [Simplex BFT](https://tempo.dataos.so/entity/simplex-bft) — powered by
- [Tempo](https://tempo.dataos.so/entity/tempo) — integrates

## Sources

1. [https://commonware.xyz/blogs/introducing-commonware](https://commonware.xyz/blogs/introducing-commonware)
2. [https://commonware.xyz/blogs/commonware-the-anti-framework](https://commonware.xyz/blogs/commonware-the-anti-framework)
3. [https://docs.rs/commonware-consensus/latest/commonware_consensus/](https://docs.rs/commonware-consensus/latest/commonware_consensus/)
4. [https://github.com/commonwarexyz/monorepo](https://github.com/commonwarexyz/monorepo)
5. [https://docs.tempo.xyz/learn/tempo/performance](https://docs.tempo.xyz/learn/tempo/performance)
6. [https://commonware.xyz/blogs/welcome-tempo](https://commonware.xyz/blogs/welcome-tempo)

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Last reviewed: 7 Jun 2025  
Canonical: https://tempo.dataos.so/entity/commonware  
Source: tempowiki (https://tempo.dataos.so) — an independent, sourced reference for the Tempo ecosystem. Not affiliated with Tempo, Stripe, or Paradigm.