rune-512 0.1.1

A Python implementation of the Rune-512 encoding and decoding algorithm.

Rune-512: Compact Binary Encoding

Rune-512 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme designed to safely and compactly embed arbitrary binary data in environments with strict character limits but also support a wide range of Unicode characters, such as social media bios (like Bluesky, Twitter).

It uses a carefully selected 512-character symbolic unicode alphabet that is not visually distracting and can represent data more densely than traditional encodings like Base64, packing 9 bits of data into a single character.

For example, here's 32 random bytes:

ᛝ⠅┯⡊⡋⢜⢴⣗▮⢌▟⣣┘▊⡼╋⢱⣜▧⣎━▋◰╾╧□⠜◡⢎⣙⠴▀

Here's the string "the fox jumped over the lazy dog":

ᛝ⠟ ⡋⡑◣┦◻⢥┇⡖⠑⢡┇◗╊◞┪┹⢦◈◠┍⡬⢅⣇┤⡻⠶⠡⠨⡳⢿◣⡂◎◱⢩▵⣡⢊⣛⡉⣖⠔┭⣣○⣛┃⢒┯⡫╧⠲▊◃▲⣷⠹⢠

Features

• Compact: Encodes 9 bits per character, offering significant space savings over Base64.
• Reliable: Uses a CRC-16 checksum to detect data corruption.
• Safe: The alphabet consists of Unicode codepoints with wide compatibility across common platforms.
• Easy to Use: Provides a simple command-line interface and a straightforward Python library.

Installation

Install rune-512 from PyPI:

pip install rune-512

Usage

Command-Line Interface

The package provides a CLI for easy encoding and decoding from your terminal.

Encoding

To encode a string:

python -m rune_512 encode "hello world"
# Output: ᛝ⠻◈□┫⣆▍◈⠻╯⣤▱┠

To encode a hex string, use the --hex flag:

python -m rune_512 encode --hex "deadbeef"
# Output: ᛝ⣄⢯╺╭◮◠

You can also pipe data from stdin:

echo "some data" | python -m rune_512 encode
# Output: ᛝ⠘⡴◍╻⣖⢤⠙⠰╴⣂

Decoding

To decode a rune-512 string:

python -m rune_512 decode "ᛝ⠻◈□┫⣆▍◈⠻╯⣤▱┠"
# Output: hello world

To decode to a hex string, use the --hex flag:

python -m rune_512 decode --hex "ᛝ⣄⢯╺╭◮◠"
# Output: deadbeef

Python Library

You can also use rune-512 directly in your Python code.

from rune_512 import encode, decode

# Simple payload
payload = b'hello world'
encoded = encode(payload)
print(f"Encoded: {encoded}")

decoded = decode(encoded)
print(f"Decoded: {decoded.decode()}")

# More complex payload
complex_payload = b'\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\x09\x0a\x0b\x0c\x0d\x0e\x0f'
encoded_complex = encode(complex_payload)
print(f"Encoded complex: {encoded_complex}")

decoded_complex = decode(encoded_complex)
assert decoded_complex == complex_payload

How It Works

A rune-512 encoded string consists of three parts:

1. Magic Prefix (ᛝ): A special character that identifies the string as rune-512 encoded data.
2. Header: A 17-bit section containing a 16-bit CRC-16/XMODEM checksum of the original payload and a parity bit for padding disambiguation.
3. Payload: The binary data, packed into 9-bit chunks.

Each 9-bit chunk is mapped to a character in the 512-character alphabet. This structure ensures that the data is both compact and verifiable.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.