icp-cli

A command-line tool for building and deploying applications on the Internet Computer.

Quick Start

Prerequisites: Node.js (LTS)

Install:

# icp-cli and ic-wasm (required)
npm install -g @icp-sdk/icp-cli @icp-sdk/ic-wasm

# Motoko toolchain (for Motoko projects)
npm install -g ic-mops && mops toolchain init

Alternative methods: See the Installation Guide for Homebrew, shell script, Rust setup, or platform-specific instructions.

Then follow the Quickstart to deploy your first canister in under 5 minutes.

For dfx Users

If you're coming from dfx (the previous Internet Computer SDK), see the Migration Guide for command mappings, workflow differences, and how to migrate existing projects.

Documentation

📚 Full Documentation Site — Complete guides, tutorials, and reference

Or browse the markdown docs directly:

• Quickstart — Deploy a canister in under 5 minutes
• Tutorial — Learn icp-cli step by step
• Guides — How to accomplish common tasks
• Concepts — Understand how icp-cli works
• Reference — Complete CLI and configuration reference

Examples

The examples/ directory contains example projects to help you get started:

• icp-motoko/ — Motoko canister
• icp-rust/ — Rust canister
• icp-static-assets/ — Static website
• icp-environments/ — Multi-environment setup

View all examples →

Getting Help

• Documentation — Guides, concepts, and reference
• GitHub Issues — Bug reports and feature requests
• Developer Forum — Questions and discussions
• Discord — Real-time community chat in #dx-feedback

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.88.0+ (rustup.rs)

Platform	Install
macOS	xcode-select --install
Ubuntu/Debian	sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev
Fedora/RHEL	sudo dnf install gcc pkg-config openssl-devel
Arch Linux	sudo pacman -S base-devel openssl
Windows	VS build tools (see Rustup's guide)

Tests additionally depend on wasm-tools, mitmproxy, and SoftHSM2.

Build and Test

git clone https://github.com/dfinity/icp-cli.git
cd icp-cli
cargo build
cargo test

Development

# Run the CLI during development
cargo run -- <command>

# Build release binary
cargo build --release
# Binary is at target/release/icp

# Format and lint
cargo fmt && cargo clippy

# Generate CLI docs (after changing commands)
./scripts/generate-cli-docs.sh

# Update config schemas (after changing manifest types)
./scripts/generate-config-schemas.sh

Working with Documentation

# Preview documentation site locally
cd docs-site && npm install && npm run dev
# Opens at http://localhost:4321

# Prepare docs for build (runs automatically during build)
./scripts/prepare-docs.sh

Documentation structure follows the Diátaxis framework:

• docs/quickstart.md - Deploy in under 5 minutes
• docs/tutorial.md - Learn step by step
• docs/guides/ - Task-oriented how-to guides
• docs/concepts/ - Understanding-oriented explanations
• docs/reference/ - Information-oriented specifications
• docs/migration/ - Migration guides

See docs/README.md for documentation writing guidelines.

License

Apache-2.0