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+# Agrarian
+
+Agrarian is a C++ cryptocurrency-style codebase with a deterministic `depends/` build system for reproducible native and cross-compilation builds.
+
+---
+
+## Repository Structure
+
+- `depends/` – deterministic third-party dependency build system
+- `src/` – core source code (includes subprojects like `secp256k1/` and `univalue/`)
+- `contrib/` – helper scripts, tooling, packaging, and CI utilities
+- `share/` – auxiliary build and metadata scripts
+
+---
+
+## System Requirements (Ubuntu)
+
+Install required build tools:
+
+```bash
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y \
+  build-essential pkg-config autoconf automake libtool \
+  bsdmainutils python3 curl git
+```
+
+For Windows cross-compilation support:
+
+```bash
+sudo apt install -y mingw-w64
+```
+
+---
+
+## Building Dependencies (Deterministic Depends System)
+
+All dependency builds are executed from within the `depends/` directory.
+
+### Native Linux
+
+```bash
+cd depends
+make -j"$(nproc)"
+```
+
+### Windows Cross-Compile (64-bit)
+
+```bash
+cd depends
+make HOST=x86_64-w64-mingw32 -j"$(nproc)"
+```
+
+### Windows Cross-Compile (32-bit)
+
+```bash
+cd depends
+make HOST=i686-w64-mingw32 -j"$(nproc)"
+```
+
+Artifacts are placed under:
+
+```
+depends/<host-triplet>/
+```
+
+Temporary build directories:
+
+```
+depends/work/
+depends/built/
+```
+
+These directories should not be committed to version control.
+
+---
+
+## Building Agrarian
+
+Standard autotools workflow:
+
+```bash
+./autogen.sh
+./configure
+make -j"$(nproc)"
+```
+
+To see configuration options:
+
+```bash
+./configure --help
+```
+
+---
+
+## Running Tests
+
+If enabled:
+
+```bash
+make check
+```
+
+Refer to scripts under `contrib/` for additional CI or functional test flows.
+
+---
+
+## Development Guidelines
+
+- Do not commit `depends/work/`, `depends/built/`, or host prefix directories.
+- Ensure executable permissions (100755) are intentional for shell scripts.
+- Keep diffs minimal in `depends/` to maintain reproducibility.
+
+---
+
+## License
+
+See the `COPYING` file for license details.
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