---
id: trie
version: "3.1.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# trie — Python implementation of the Ethereum Trie structure

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 313.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package provides a Python implementation of the Hexary Trie, the data structure used by Ethereum for storing account state and transaction data. It supports standard key-value operations (set, get, delete, exists) and can be used like a Python dictionary. The trie maintains a cryptographic root hash that changes deterministically when data is modified, making it useful for verifying state consistency across distributed systems.

The package depends on eth-utils, hexbytes, rlp, sortedcontainers, and eth-hash to handle Ethereum-specific serialization, hashing, and data structures. It includes traversal APIs for inspecting internal trie structure and a fog-based walker for efficiently exploring large tries without loading all nodes into memory.

Use it for:

- Building Ethereum client implementations or state verification tools that need to reconstruct and validate blockchain state
- Storing and querying hierarchical key-value data with cryptographic proofs of correctness
- Implementing smart contract state backends or local blockchain simulators
- Auditing or debugging Ethereum state by traversing trie structure and verifying node integrity
- Prototyping distributed ledger systems that require deterministic, hashable state trees

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Implements the Ethereum Merkle Trie data structure for efficient key-value storage and retrieval with cryptographic root hashing.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, uses a permissive MIT license, and installs with low friction. Install it if you are working with Ethereum state structures, building blockchain tooling, or need a production-grade Merkle Trie implementation in Python.

## Install

pip install trie
uv add trie
poetry add trie

## Installing trie

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel. Active maintenance with recent commits and stable production status across Python 3.8–3.13.

License in practice: MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart:

from trie import HexaryTrie
t = HexaryTrie(db={})
t.set(b'my-key', b'some-value')
value = t.get(b'my-key')
root = t.root_hash

Verify before relying:

- Performance characteristics (insertion/lookup speed, memory overhead) for large tries
- Database backend compatibility beyond in-memory dict
- Concurrency or thread-safety guarantees

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 313.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

ethereum trie implementation, merkle tree python, hexary trie, blockchain data structure, ethereum state storage, trie key-value store, cryptographic hash tree, ethereum, merkle-tree, cryptography

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