Setting up an Arch Network Project

This guide will walk you through setting up a new Arch Network project using the arch-cli tool.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following dependencies installed:

Docker (v27.3.1 or later)
Docker Compose (v2.29.7 or later)
Node.js (v22.9.0 or later)
Solana CLI (v1.18.22 or later)
Cargo (v1.81.0 or later)

Project Setup Process

1. Initialize the CLI Environment

First, run the initialization command:

arch-cli init

This command will:

Create the necessary folder structure
Set up boilerplate code
Configure Docker settings
Create a default configuration file

2. Configuration Setup

The CLI uses a config.toml file for managing settings. This file will be automatically created during initialization.

Configuration File Location

The default locations for config.toml are:

Linux: ~/.config/arch-cli/config.toml
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/arch-cli/config.toml
Windows: C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\arch-cli\config.toml

You can specify a custom location using:

export ARCH_CLI_CONFIG=/path/to/your/config.toml

Key Configuration Settings

The config.toml file contains important settings for:

Network configuration
Bitcoin node settings
Program keys
Service ports
Arch network parameters

For reference, here's the default configuration structure:

[network]
type = "development"

[bitcoin]
docker_compose_file = "./bitcoin-docker-compose.yml"
network = "regtest"
rpc_endpoint = "http://localhost:18443"
rpc_port = "18443"
rpc_user = "bitcoin"
rpc_password = "password"
rpc_wallet = "devwallet"
services = ["bitcoin", "electrs", "btc-rpc-explorer"]

# ... Additional configuration sections ...
# See full example in documentation

3. Create a New Project

Once the CLI is initialized, you can create a new project using:

arch-cli project create --name my_app

This will:

Create a new project directory in your configured location
Set up the necessary project structure
Configure project-specific settings

Project Structure

Your project will be organized as follows:

sample/
├─ app/                    # Frontend application
│  ├─ frontend/
│  │  ├─ node_modules/    # Frontend dependencies
│  │  ├─ public/         # Static assets
│  │  ├─ src/           # Frontend source code
│  │  ├─ eslint.config.js
│  │  ├─ index.html
│  │  ├─ package-lock.json
│  │  ├─ package.json
│  │  ├─ README.md
│  │  └─ vite.config.js
├─ program/              # Backend program
│  ├─ src/
│  │  └─ lib.rs        # Rust source code
│  ├─ Cargo.lock
│  └─ Cargo.toml

Next Steps

After setting up your project:

Review the generated config.toml file
Familiarize yourself with the project structure
Begin development in your project directory

For more detailed information about specific components, refer to their respective documentation sections.

The Arch Book