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Cascette-rs

Cascette-rs is an open-source Rust implementation of Blizzard's NGDP (Next Generation Distribution Pipeline), the system used to distribute World of Warcraft game data via content delivery networks (CDNs). It is designed for use in World of Warcraft emulation, tooling, and research projects.

Unlike typical CASC parsers, Cascette-rs implements the full NGDP stack, including network protocols, CDN access, and caching mechanisms — making it suitable for syncing, downloading, and analyzing WoW game data.

Purpose​

Cascette-rs is primarily a developer tool aimed at emulation developers, tooling authors, and researchers who need to interact with WoW's distribution pipeline and asset formats. It is not a server emulator, but a backend utility for tasks such as patch fetching, data extraction, and analysis.

Use Cases​

  • Automating patch and data downloads for WoW emulation projects.
  • Building custom launchers or patchers for private servers.
  • Developing tools for data inspection and reverse engineering of WoW data formats.
  • Academic or hobbyist protocol research on Blizzard's NGDP ecosystem.

Features​

✅ Completed Features​

  • Ribbit Protocol — Full implementation of Blizzard's Ribbit protocol (V1 and V2), with signature verification and support for all endpoints.
  • TACT Protocol — Fully featured HTTP/HTTPS clients for querying version manifests and CDN data.
  • BPSV Format — Complete parser and builder for the BPSV (Binary Patch System Version) format with zero-copy optimizations.
  • CDN Operations — Parallel downloads, streaming support, retry logic, and rate-limiting for stable and efficient data retrieval.
  • Caching — Transparent caching layer with TTL (time-to-live) support to reduce redundant network requests.
  • CLI Tool — Command-line interface for fetching builds, querying versions, and downloading data directly.

🚧 Planned Features​

  • CASC Storage — Local CASC storage implementation (planned for v0.2.0), allowing direct interaction with local data blobs.
  • TVFS (TACT Virtual File System) — Planned for v0.2.0 to provide high-level virtual file system access to game files.

Project Status​

Cascette-rs is an actively developed Rust project, with a feature-complete network stack and CLI tool. Local file system integration (CASC and TVFS) is under active development and targeted for upcoming releases.