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Introduction to the CLI

The aelf-command tool is a Command Line Interface (CLI) for interacting with an aelf node. This guide shows you its key features and how to use them.

Features​

  • Configuration Management: Set and get settings like endpoint, account, data directory, and password.
  • Interactive Prompts: Helps new users by asking for missing parameters.
  • Account Management: Create or load accounts with a private key or mnemonic.
  • Wallet Information: Show details like private key, address, public key, and mnemonic.
  • Encryption: Save account info in keyStore format.
  • Blockchain Interaction:
    • Get the chain's best height.
    • Get block information by height or block hash.
    • Get transaction results by transaction ID.
    • Send transactions or call read-only methods on smart contracts.
    • Deploy smart contracts.
    • Use REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) for JavaScript interactions with the chain.
  • User Interface: Uses chalk and ora for better visuals.
  • Chain Status: Get the current status of the chain.
  • Proposal Management: Create proposals on any contract method.
  • Transaction Deserialization: Read results from transactions.
  • Socket.io Server: Start a server for dApps.

Installation​

To install the aelf-command tool globally, use npm:

npm install aelf-command -g

Using aelf-command​

First Step​

Create a new account or load an existing account using a private key or mnemonic.

Create a New Wallet

aelf-command create

Example output:

Your wallet info is:
Mnemonic:            great mushroom loan crisp ... door juice embrace
Private Key:         e038eea7e151eb451ba2901f7...b08ba5b76d8f288
Public Key:          0478903d96aa2c8c0...6a3e7d810cacd136117ea7b13d2c9337e1ec88288111955b76ea
Address:             2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H
✔ Save account info into a file? … no / yes
✔ Enter a password … ********
✔ Confirm password … ********
✔
Account info has been saved to "/Users/young/.local/share/aelf/keys/2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr...Gi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H.json"

Load Wallet from Private Key

aelf-command load e038eea7e151eb451ba2901f7...b08ba5b76d8f288

Example output:

Your wallet info is:
Private Key:         e038eea7e151eb451ba2901f7...b08ba5b76d8f288
Public Key:          0478903d96aa2c8c0...6a3e7d810cacd136117ea7b13d2c9337e1ec88288111955b76ea
Address:             2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H
✔ Save account info into a file? … no / yes
✔ Enter a password … ********
✔ Confirm password … ********
✔
Account info has been saved to "/Users/young/.local/share/aelf/keys/2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr...Gi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H.json"

Show Wallet Info

aelf-command wallet -a 2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H

Example output:

Your wallet info is:
Private Key:         e038eea7e151eb451ba2901f7...b08ba5b76d8f288
Public Key:          0478903d96aa2c8c0...6a3e7d810cacd136117ea7b13d2c9337e1ec88288111955b76ea
Address:             2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H

Examples​

Interactive Console​
aelf-command console -a 2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H
✔ Enter the URI of an AElf node: http://127.0.0.1:8000
✔ Enter the password you typed when creating a wallet … ********
✔ Succeed!
Welcome to aelf interactive console. Ctrl + C to terminate the program. Double tap Tab to list objects

   ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
   ║                                                           ║
   ║   NAME       | DESCRIPTION                                ║
   ║   AElf       | imported from aelf-sdk                     ║
   ║   aelf       | the instance of an aelf-sdk, connect to    ║
   ║              | http://127.0.0.1:8000                      ║
   ║   _account   | the instance of an AElf wallet, address    ║
   ║              | is                                         ║
   ║              | 2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR…   ║
   ║              | 5oGin1sys6H                                ║
   ║                                                           ║
   ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Default Parameters​
aelf-command console
✔ Enter the URI of an AElf node: http://127.0.0.1:8000
✔ Enter a valid wallet address, if you don't have, create one by aelf-command create … 2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H
✔ Enter the password you typed when creating a wallet … ********
✔ Succeed!
Welcome to aelf interactive console. Ctrl + C to terminate the program. Double tap Tab to list objects

   ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
   ║                                                           ║
   ║   NAME       | DESCRIPTION                                ║
   ║   AElf       | imported from aelf-sdk                     ║
   ║   aelf       | the instance of an aelf-sdk, connect to    ║
   ║              | http://13.231.179.27:8000                  ║
   ║   _account   | the instance of an AElf wallet, address    ║
   ║              | is                                         ║
   ║              | 2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR…   ║
   ║              | 5oGin1sys6H                                ║
   ║                                                           ║
   ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Help​

To get help, use:

aelf-command -h

Output example:

Usage: aelf-command [command] [options]

Options:
  -v, --version                                            output the version number
  -e, --endpoint <URI>                                     The URI of an aelf node. Eg: http://127.0.0.1:8000
  -a, --account <account>                                  The address of aelf wallet
  -p, --password <password>                                The password of encrypted keyStore
  -d, --datadir <directory>                                The directory that contains the aelf related files. Defaults to {home}/.local/share/aelf
  -h, --help                                               output usage information

Commands:
  call [contract-address|contract-name] [method] [params]     Call a read-only method on a contract.
  send [contract-address|contract-name] [method] [params]     Execute a method on a contract.
  get-blk-height                                              Get the current block height of specified chain
  get-chain-status                                            Get the current chain status
  get-blk-info [height|block-hash] [include-txs]              Get a block info
  get-tx-result [tx-id]                                       Get a transaction result
  console                                                     Open a node REPL
  create [options] [save-to-file]                             Create a new account
  wallet                                                      Show wallet details which include private key, address, public key and mnemonic
  load [private-key|mnemonic] [save-to-file]                  Load wallet from a private key or mnemonic
  proposal [proposal-contract] [organization] [expired-time]  Send a proposal to an origination with a specific contract method
  deploy [category] [code-path]                               Deprecated! Please use  `aelf-command send` , check details in aelf-command `README.md`
  config <flag> [key] [value]                                 Get, set, delete or list aelf-command config
  event [tx-id]                                               Deserialize the result returned by executing a transaction
  dapp-server [options]                                       Start a dAPP SOCKET.IO server

To get help for a sub-command, such as call, use:

aelf-command call -h

Output example:

Usage: aelf-command call [options] [contract-address|contract-name] [method] [params]

Call a read-only method on a contract.

Options:
  -h, --help  output usage information

Examples:

aelf-command call <contractName|contractAddress> <method> <params>
aelf-command call <contractName|contractAddress> <method>
aelf-command call <contractName|contractAddress>
aelf-command call

For the interactive console:

aelf-command console -h

Output example:

Usage: aelf-command console [options]

Open a node REPL

Options:
  -h, --help  output usage information

Examples:

aelf-command console