Get started

Build upon Madara

In this section, we will guide you through the building process so you can start hacking on the Madara stack. We will go from running your chain locally to interacting with it using smart contracts.

Let's start

Madara offers two setup methods tailored to your preferences:

  • Karnot CLI: A CLI tool managed by Karnot (opens in a new tab) which automates and simplifies Madara's setup and installation. This is suitable for users who prefer a user-friendly approach.
  • Building from Source: Build Madara from its source code, allowing finer control over Madara's settings and behavior, suited for more advanced users or those with specific customization needs.

Using Karnot CLI

Developed by the Karnot team, the Karnot CLI streamlines app chain deployment by automating configuration and setup.

The following repository outlines how to initialize and deploy your Madara node using Karnot CLI.
https://github.com/karnotxyz/karnot-cli

Clone the Madara CLI repository: https://github.com/karnotxyz/karnot-cli

git clone https://github.com/karnotxyz/madara-cli

Build the CLI

cd madara-cli
cargo build --release

Initialize a new app chain

./target/release/madara init

Fund the DA account (if applicable)

Run the app chain

./target/release/madara run

Explore StarkCompass

  • Access the web interface at: http://localhost:4000
  • Use ./target/release/madara explorer for advanced insights.

Cloning the Madara repository

Install dependencies

We first need to make sure you have everything needed to complete this tutorial.

DependencyVersionInstallation
Rustrustc 1.69.0-nightlycurl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
rustup toolchain install nightly

Build the chain

We will spin up a Cairo Rollup from the Madara Stack source code. You could also use docker images, but this way we get to keep the option to modify component behavior if we need to do so. The Madara stack source code is a mono repo which can be found here (opens in a new tab)

cd ~
git clone git@github.com:keep-starknet-strange/madara.git

Then let's build the chain in release mode

cd madara
cargo build --release

Setup the chain

You first need to set up the node, which means you need to load the genesis state into your file system.

For a detailed review of values in the genesis state, refer to the following documentation (opens in a new tab).

Run the following command inside the repo root to do the setup. This fetches the config files from the configs folder and loads them into your file system.

Loading files into the default path

cargo run --release -- setup --chain=dev --from-local ./configs

Loading files into a specific path

cargo run --release -- setup --chain=dev --from-local ./configs --base-path=/path/to/folder

Start the chain

Now, you can start the node. You can use the --dev flag to automatically include all these flags

FlagPurpose
--force-authoringEnables block authoring even if the node is offline.
--aliceUses pre-defined Alice session keys (this is more relevant in a decentralized setup) and starts in the validator mode i.e. the node can create new blocks
--tmpRuns a temporary node. This option creates a temporary directory to store the blockchain configuration, including the node database, node key, and the keystore.
--rpc-externalListens to all RPC interfaces. By default, the node only listens to local RPC calls. If you set this command-line option, keep in mind that not all RPC methods are safe to be exposed publicly. Use an RPC proxy server to filter out dangerous methods. For more information about RPC methods that shouldn't be publicly exposed, see Remote Procedure Calls. Use --unsafe-rpc-external to suppress the warning if you understand the risks.
--rpc-methods=UnsafeExpose all RPC methods
cargo run --release -- --dev

If you used the base-path command in the setup phase to load genesis files in a custom directory, use the following command

cargo run --release -- --dev --base-path=/path/to/folder

Interact with the chain

By default, your chain will be running on port 9944. Madara supports the complete Starknet spec, which means any tool that interacts with Starknet using an RPC should just work with Madara if you use http://localhost:9944 (or your relevant URL) as the RPC.

Head to the tooling section to see a detailed overview of how to use the different Starknet tools with Madara.

SharinganConfigure