command-line-tool.md

Using the command line tool to interact with æternity

Introduction

All of our SDKs will ultimately feature an identical command line tool which provides a simple way to interact with æternity. Here we give a quick introduction to its use in the Python SDK. Here we show how it's used with the main sdk testnet, so you don't need to run your own node. If you want to do that then just modify the environment variable EPOCH_URL to point at your own node.

Setting up

The instructions for setting up the aecli are in the Python SDK release notes. From here on in we'll assume that you've gone through the steps there, and have put the location of aecli into your PATH variable.

export the location of the sdk-testnet node like this:

export EPOCH_URL='https://sdk-testnet.aepps.com'

Generating a wallet

In order to do anything with æternity you'll need a wallet, and some tokens. The first step is to make yourself a wallet, called mywallet:

$ aecli account create mywallet
Enter the wallet password []: 
Wallet created
Wallet address________________ ak_wmZUvZWrVibPM2PuSGhgWmMQXchEWgRTbwBp7tYUcPyBYHnpR
Wallet path___________________ /home/newby/projects/aeternity/aepp-sdk-python/mywallet
$ 

Note that we don't set a password on any of the wallets in this example.

Next you'll need some tokens. We've set up a web page at https://faucet.aepps.com/ which you can use to transfer yourself tokens, 250 at a time. Go there now and give yourself some tokens.

Now you have transferred yourself tokens, check your balance:

$ aecli account mywallet balance
Enter the wallet password []: 
Account balance_______________ 1000

Remember that you may have to wait a short while for the tokens to show up.

Assuming all went well, you are now in a position to use all of æternity's features. Even if not, you can still inspect the blockchain.

Looking at the chain

First, take a look at the head of the chain:

$ aecli chain top
Block hash____________________ bh_zy7w2hLc7rYk7vLkc4YibErtJZitTrp1CBha2s9mAkKRBxr4h
Block height__________________ 42640
State hash____________________ bs_2XAzdJyzruidUbLDwUxcWViCKxXvV7jnBqrKywjcYUtf4sz55U
Miner_________________________ ak_RTWrYQGzdq6bXEPsFn1PJp5SDBvkMNoDFxuCMwhk2t48XTdFx
Time__________________________ 2018-08-01T10:23:59.714000+00:00
Previous block hash___________ bh_srwLRbwLLzuFWnXAvd4nEHSHoVZcTPGd1VFbjwKMSwNyMCJdf
Transactions__________________ 0
$

From the previous block hash we can go backward through the chain:

$ aecli inspect block 'bh_srwLRbwLLzuFWnXAvd4nEHSHoVZcTPGd1VFbjwKMSwNyMCJdf'
Block hash____________________ bh_srwLRbwLLzuFWnXAvd4nEHSHoVZcTPGd1VFbjwKMSwNyMCJdf
Block height__________________ 42639
State hash____________________ bs_2jNh89QB4167f7v5qnB2n9JWvb1m6787gyvkZjaUK6L4EGjJux
Miner_________________________ ak_RTWrYQGzdq6bXEPsFn1PJp5SDBvkMNoDFxuCMwhk2t48XTdFx
Time__________________________ 2018-08-01T10:23:57.985000+00:00
Previous block hash___________ bh_2oD2EdZrSdcnSu7vGbaH9wHf9g8WTSuqnDk9RxB2tVRU42kvXS
Transactions__________________ 0
$ aecli inspect block 'bh_2oD2EdZrSdcnSu7vGbaH9wHf9g8WTSuqnDk9RxB2tVRU42kvXS'
Block hash____________________ bh_2oD2EdZrSdcnSu7vGbaH9wHf9g8WTSuqnDk9RxB2tVRU42kvXS
Block height__________________ 42638
State hash____________________ bs_2iPSkLFEQHKagpiFMemm5W2vNXCagbbSKtdAmG5vz51PBr3YXb
Miner_________________________ ak_2gH5J6a8gif9Yx7y73WKVB9rPUYCnpTter7PiT3qu4ZfxWhDyG
Time__________________________ 2018-08-01T10:23:52.290000+00:00
Previous block hash___________ bh_2NmrYNBUXYyvYVZEHNkS8qCsXmdBtaEXPUt15B2SPf3reS7F8S
Transactions__________________ 0
$ 

and so on. We can even watch the chain in real time with the play command:

$ aecli chain play
 >>>>> 
Block hash____________________ bh_LKALmVkVaqJyqSv9JnYWwDh9QCf8LbbpXyYarB8vP5TqJ4bvL
Block height__________________ 86223
State hash____________________ bs_yAd7PuriwAUqwLexYuLxLqAA5aNcdiAU3Sdou4eYBdbVVkAW1
Miner_________________________ ak_BpwWtzwJpfGe6AmusjQ9a5aqKF784nXkB2apoHPmNmrJTnPdn
Time__________________________ 2018-08-09T11:33:15.866000+00:00
Previous block hash___________ bh_NnH3UUz2J7LoWdUZi9A1p3KYTtzXeQJ2tQQB2yUnkhU3gj3rv
Transactions__________________ 0
 >>>>> 
Block hash____________________ bh_NnH3UUz2J7LoWdUZi9A1p3KYTtzXeQJ2tQQB2yUnkhU3gj3rv
Block height__________________ 86222
State hash____________________ bs_bPGmETN5kNt9cTCUbGjyAJ7wDYkCvgFz9V6xGQ8k3w1SpG9aR
Miner_________________________ ak_289g2REG4ZoavYGWhgz2p2Wq6FVXnsPurgM8UEe2UdXNXz5CXf
Time__________________________ 2018-08-09T11:33:11.853000+00:00
Previous block hash___________ bh_2jvmSTG1uZMwhaCW8J8Ug1Ddoy4EuQmzBFFeCDhs3CZDG8zuSW
Transactions__________________ 0

(and so on).

Naming, or, I am not a number, I am a free man!

The æternity naming system allows you to register a name for your account (or oracle).

$ aecli account mywallet name 'newby.chain' claim
Enter the wallet password []: 
Name newby.chain claimed
Transaction hash______________ th_vmucE7sFSc8QjWBAJwkh2drN3jKwtSd7KYtYzjL6Bfg1x8kyq

Let's inspect the transaction:

$ aecli inspect transaction 'th_vmucE7sFSc8QjWBAJwkh2drN3jKwtSd7KYtYzjL6Bfg1x8kyq'
Block hash____________________ bh_2nvF8jTk9aPZoq3YzaYhGhMuXL8FxptvKpyZ2p73Bjb5EAjtYH
Block height__________________ 86229
Signatures____________________ ['sg_GfYm6uBp8bGpghAptWReqb3cX6kyRQzSZdLh74LzKKtyoTninWpvhs6JMAo1CiTDmi5E7A3b2ztC3beBq3sMVoprmxRCC']
Sender account________________ None
Recipient account_____________ None
Amount________________________ None
TTL___________________________ 86238

and check out the name we registered, to ensure we have it:

$ aecli inspect name newby.chain
Status________________________ CLAIMED
Pointers______________________ {'account_pubkey': 'ak_wmZUvZWrVibPM2PuSGhgWmMQXchEWgRTbwBp7tYUcPyBYHnpR'}
TTL___________________________ 86329

Making a new account and transferring tokens to it

Let's make a second wallet, and give it some tokens. First, make the new wallet

$ aecli account ./secondwallet create
Enter the wallet password []: 
Wallet created
Wallet address________________ ak_gqYTvEBEivy2bk8MWYYNqXX2LvMRYho5i43YhPc6iiJNt6wwc
Wallet path___________________ /home/newby/projects/aeternity/aepp-sdk-python/secondwallet
$ aecli wallet secondwallet balance
Enter the wallet password []: 
Error: Block or account not found
$ aecli wallet mywallet spend 'ak_2MgcVUMneuZshmoMkNKuWqsa1GhakSKoBFhe37crpuVAWcYtRA' 125
Enter the wallet password []: 
Transaction posted to the chain
Transaction hash______________ th_29hPH2jNrZu1kfdmNhE991GaXzRD2QfJGek3xaXVbJZJWGsfQ2
Sender account________________ ak_wmZUvZWrVibPM2PuSGhgWmMQXchEWgRTbwBp7tYUcPyBYHnpR
Recipient account_____________ ak_2MgcVUMneuZshmoMkNKuWqsa1GhakSKoBFhe37crpuVAWcYtRA
$ aecli wallet secondwallet balance
Enter the wallet password []: 
Account balance_______________ 125