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Get started with Cardano CLI

Quick Start: Try Without Local Setup

Want to start experimenting right away without installing anything locally? You can use Demeter.run to access a cloud-based development environment with cardano-node, cardano-cli pre-installed and a jupyter notebook tutorial you can follow along:

Code in Cardano Workspace

Alternatively, if you prefer to set up your local environment, continue with the instructions below.

Setting up environment variables​

CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH​

Cardano CLI uses the node-to-client protocol to communicate with the node. This requires setting an environment variable for the node socket path. Ensure you use the path declared when starting the node.

export CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH=~/node.socket
note

This guide assumes you have installed cardano-node into your system. If not you can refer to Installing cardano-node guide for instructions on how to do that.

CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID​

Each network has a unique identifier (--mainnet or --testnet-magic NATURAL). This is used by the node-to-client protocol to ensure communication with a node on the desired network. It is useful to set up an environment variable for the network ID. Alternatively, you can provide the flag --testnet-magic <network-id> with each command that interacts with the node.

  • Mainnet
export CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID=mainnet
  • Pre-production testnet
export CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID=1
  • Preview testnet
export CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID=2
  • SanchoNet testnet
export CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID=4

Generating keys and addresses​

info

For a complete overview of Cardano address types, read CIP-19.

Generate a payment key pair and an address​

To generate a key pair, run:

cardano-cli address key-gen \
--verification-key-file payment.vkey \
--signing-key-file payment.skey

This creates two files:

  • payment.vkey (verification key / public key): Used to derive your wallet address. This is what you share to receive funds. The file looks like this:
{
    "type": "PaymentVerificationKeyShelley_ed25519",
    "description": "Payment Verification Key",
    "cborHex": "582056a29cba161c2a534adae32c4359fda6f90a3f6ae6990491237b28c1caeef0c4"
}
  • payment.skey (signing key / private key): Used to sign and approve transactions. Keep this file secure and never expose it publicly. The file looks like this:
{
    "type": "PaymentSigningKeyShelley_ed25519",
    "description": "Payment Signing Key",
    "cborHex": "58208c61d557e1b8ddd82107fa506fab1b1565ec76fe96e8fb19a922d5460acd5a5b"
}

Build an address​

This address will not have staking rights. It cannot delegate or receive rewards because it does not have a stake part associated with it, only a payment part (see CIP-19).

cardano-cli address build \
--payment-verification-key-file payment.vkey \
--out-file paymentNoStake.addr
cat paymentNoStake.addr
addr_test1vzdtyyt48yrn2fa3wvh939rat0gyv6ly0ljt449sw8tppzq84xstz
info

Testnet addresses start with 'addr_test' and mainnet addresses with 'addr'.

Generate a stake key pair​

cardano-cli latest stake-address key-gen \
--verification-key-file stake.vkey \
--signing-key-file stake.skey

Build the address with payment and stake parts​

The resulting address will be associated with the payment and stake credentials:

cardano-cli address build \
--payment-verification-key-file payment.vkey \
--stake-verification-key-file stake.vkey \
--out-file payment.addr
cat payment.addr
addr_test1qzdtyyt48yrn2fa3wvh939rat0gyv6ly0ljt449sw8tppzrcc3g0zu63cp6rnjumfcadft63x3w8ds4u28z6zlvra4fqy2sm8n

Query the balance of an address​

cardano-cli query utxo --address $(< paymentNoStake.addr)
                           TxHash                                 TxIx        Amount
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
262c7891f932cde390bcc04c25805f3f422c1a5687d5d47f6681e68bb384fe6d     0        10000000000 lovelace + TxOutDatumNone
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