Local Development

This guide covers the day-to-day development workflow with icp-cli.

The Development Cycle

Local development follows a simple loop:

Edit code → Build → Deploy → Test → Repeat

Start the local network in the background:

icp network start -d

Verify it’s running:

icp network ping

After editing your source code, deploy the changes:

icp deploy

This rebuilds and redeploys all canisters. Deploy specific canisters:

icp deploy my-canister

Tip: icp deploy always builds first. If you want to verify compilation before deploying, run icp build separately.

Call methods on your canister:

icp canister call my-canister method_name '(arguments)'

Example:

icp canister call backend get_user '("alice")'

List canisters configured in this environment (the local environment is the default, targeting your local network):

icp canister list

View the effective project configuration:

icp project show

Deploy all canisters:

icp deploy

Deploy specific canisters:

icp deploy frontend
icp deploy backend

Build without deploying (for verification):

icp build           # Build all
icp build frontend  # Build specific canister

To start fresh with a clean network:

# Stop the current network
icp network stop

# Start a new network (previous state is discarded)
icp network start -d

Then redeploy your canisters:

icp deploy

Check network status:

icp network status

View network details as JSON:

icp network status --json

Stop the network when done:

icp network stop

Build fails with “command not found”

A required tool is missing. See the Installation Guide for:

Network connection fails

Check if the network is running:

icp network ping

If not responding, restart:

icp network stop
icp network start -d

Deployment fails