# Dev Update 13 July 2026

**URL:** <https://talk.neptune.cash/t/dev-update-13-july-2026/347>\
**Category:** News and Announcements\
**Created:** [July 13, 2026, 12:02pm UTC](https://talk.neptune.cash/t/dev-update-13-july-2026/347 "2026-07-13T12:02:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aszepieniec](https://talk.neptune.cash/user_avatar/talk.neptune.cash/aszepieniec/32/5_2.png) [@aszepieniec](https://talk.neptune.cash/u/aszepieniec)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 12:02pm UTC](https://talk.neptune.cash/t/dev-update-13-july-2026/347/1 "2026-07-13T12:02:40Z")

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## 1. Last Week by the Numbers

### [neptune-core](https://github.com/Neptune-Crypto/neptune-core)

- Issues: 4 opened, 1 closed
- Pull Requests: 1 opened, 3 merged
- Commits: 30 merged into master

### [neptune-explorer](https://github.com/Neptune-Crypto/neptune-explorer)

- Pull Requests: 0 opened, 1 merged

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## 2. Stand-up Summary

### Alan Szepieniec

- **Last Week:** Analyzed open tracking items and tickets.
- **Coming Week:** Continue evaluating outstanding issues and tickets to determine proper follow-up or closure. Document architectural proposals for transaction sequencing and chaining.

### Thorkil Værge

- **Last Week:** Completed and merged the comprehensive crate separation architecture into master, resulting in the launch of version 14. Restructured the unit and integration testing suite. Fixed a mempool bug relating to state management and transaction proof upgrading.
- **Coming Week:** Continue developing a technical presentation.

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## 3. Technical Discussion

### Modular Architecture & Crate Separation

The massive core module has been successfully broken down into smaller, decoupled crates. Developers can now depend directly on isolated, lightweight modules—specifically `neptune-mutator-set`, `neptune-consensus`, `neptune-wallet`, `neptune-mempool`, and `neptune-archive`—instead of pulling in the entire monolithic codebase.

### Testing Suite Refinement

The infrastructure for testing has been completely overhauled and standardized to eliminate testing environment divergence:

- **Unit Tests:** Relocated directly inside their newly separated standalone crates.
- **Integration Tests:** Aggregated into the Neptune core module.
- **Environment Alignment:** Differences between mainnet and test environments regarding the single proof program, the Proof of Work (PoW) field header size, and initial difficulty parameters have been eliminated. Both unit and integration tests are now fully standardized on the network test setup.

### Mempool State & Proof Upgrading Fixes

A bug was resolved in the mempool handling logic concerning transaction merging. Previously, when complex transactions were combined (e.g., merging a 6-in-1-out transaction with a 2-in-1-out transaction), the node would incorrectly discard transaction proof upgrade priority data. The underlying issue was verified to be a faulty state routine during merging rather than node-spamming behavior, and a patch was successfully introduced to maintain priority visibility.

### Network and Mining Dynamics

The network experienced a ~3x surge in mining difficulty over a 5 to 10-day window. Analysis indicates this spike is due to a mining pool implementing an optimized hashing algorithm rather than a sudden influx of physical hardware. This optimization hardens network security parameters.

* * *

## 4. Updates and Announcements

- **[Version 14](https://github.com/Neptune-Crypto/neptune-core/releases/tag/v0.14.0) Released:** Following the successful integration of the modular crate architecture, version 14 has officially been tagged and released to the master branch.