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ICP CLI

Command-Line Help for `icp`

This document contains the help content for the icp command-line program.

Command Overview:

icp

Usage: icp [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Subcommands:
  • build — Build canisters
  • canister — Perform canister operations against a network
  • cycles — Mint and manage cycles
  • deploy — Deploy a project to an environment
  • environment — Show information about the current project environments
  • identity — Manage your identities
  • network — Launch and manage local test networks
  • new — Create a new ICP project from a template
  • project — Display information about the current project
  • sync — Synchronize canisters
  • token — Perform token transactions
Options:

  • --project-root-override <PROJECT_ROOT_OVERRIDE> — Directory to use as your project root directory. If not specified the directory structure is traversed up until an icp.yaml file is found

  • --debug — Enable debug logging

    Default value: false

  • --identity-password-file <FILE> — Read identity password from a file instead of prompting

icp build

Build canisters

Usage: icp build [OPTIONS] [CANISTERS]...

Arguments:
  • <CANISTERS> — Canister names (if empty, build all canisters in environment)
Options:
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

icp canister

Perform canister operations against a network

Usage: icp canister <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • call — Make a canister call
  • create — Create a canister on a network
  • delete — Delete a canister from a network
  • install — Install a built WASM to a canister on a network
  • list — List the canisters in an environment
  • metadata — Read a metadata section from a canister
  • settings — Commands to manage canister settings
  • start — Start a canister on a network
  • status — Show the status of canister(s)
  • stop — Stop a canister on a network
  • top-up — Top up a canister with cycles

icp canister call

Make a canister call

Usage: icp canister call [OPTIONS] <CANISTER> <METHOD> [ARGS]

Arguments:

  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified

  • <METHOD> — Name of canister method to call into

  • <ARGS> — String representation of canister call arguments

    If not provided, an interactive prompt will be launched to help build the arguments.

Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister create

Create a canister on a network

Usage: icp canister create [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:

  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

  • --controller <CONTROLLER> — One or more controllers for the canister. Repeat --controller to specify multiple

  • --compute-allocation <COMPUTE_ALLOCATION> — Optional compute allocation (0 to 100). Represents guaranteed compute capacity

  • --memory-allocation <MEMORY_ALLOCATION> — Optional memory allocation in bytes. If unset, memory is allocated dynamically

  • --freezing-threshold <FREEZING_THRESHOLD> — Optional freezing threshold in seconds. Controls how long a canister can be inactive before being frozen

  • --reserved-cycles-limit <RESERVED_CYCLES_LIMIT> — Optional reserved cycles limit. If set, the canister cannot consume more than this many cycles

  • -q, --quiet — Suppress human-readable output; print only canister IDs, one per line, to stdout

  • --cycles <CYCLES> — Cycles to fund canister creation (in raw cycles)

    Default value: 2000000000000

  • --subnet <SUBNET> — The subnet to create canisters on

icp canister delete

Delete a canister from a network

Usage: icp canister delete [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister install

Install a built WASM to a canister on a network

Usage: icp canister install [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:

  • -m, --mode <MODE> — Specifies the mode of canister installation

    Default value: auto

    Possible values: auto, install, reinstall, upgrade

  • --wasm <WASM> — Path to the WASM file to install. Uses the build output if not explicitly provided

  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister list

List the canisters in an environment

Usage: icp canister list [OPTIONS]

Options:
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

icp canister metadata

Read a metadata section from a canister

Usage: icp canister metadata [OPTIONS] <CANISTER> <METADATA_NAME>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
  • <METADATA_NAME> — The name of the metadata section to read
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister settings

Commands to manage canister settings

Usage: icp canister settings <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • show — Show the status of a canister
  • update — Change a canister’s settings to specified values
  • sync — Synchronize a canister’s settings with those defined in the project

icp canister settings show

Show the status of a canister.

By default this queries the status endpoint of the management canister. If the caller is not a controller, falls back on fetching public information from the state tree.

Usage: icp canister settings show [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — canister name or principal to target. When using a name, an enviroment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as
  • -i, --id-only — Only print the canister ids
  • --json — Format output in json
  • -p, --public — Show the only the public information. Skips trying to get the status from the management canister and looks up public information from the state tree

icp canister settings update

Change a canister’s settings to specified values

Usage: icp canister settings update [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:

  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

  • -f, --force — Force the operation without confirmation prompts

  • --add-controller <ADD_CONTROLLER> — Add one or more principals to the canister’s controller list

  • --remove-controller <REMOVE_CONTROLLER> — Remove one or more principals from the canister’s controller list.

    Warning: Removing yourself will cause you to lose control of the canister.

  • --set-controller <SET_CONTROLLER> — Replace the canister’s controller list with the specified principals.

    Warning: This removes all existing controllers not in the new list. If you don’t include yourself, you will lose control of the canister.

  • --compute-allocation <COMPUTE_ALLOCATION>

  • --memory-allocation <MEMORY_ALLOCATION>

  • --freezing-threshold <FREEZING_THRESHOLD>

  • --reserved-cycles-limit <RESERVED_CYCLES_LIMIT>

  • --wasm-memory-limit <WASM_MEMORY_LIMIT>

  • --wasm-memory-threshold <WASM_MEMORY_THRESHOLD>

  • --log-visibility <LOG_VISIBILITY>

  • --add-log-viewer <ADD_LOG_VIEWER>

  • --remove-log-viewer <REMOVE_LOG_VIEWER>

  • --set-log-viewer <SET_LOG_VIEWER>

  • --add-environment-variable <ADD_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE>

  • --remove-environment-variable <REMOVE_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE>

icp canister settings sync

Synchronize a canister’s settings with those defined in the project

Usage: icp canister settings sync [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister start

Start a canister on a network

Usage: icp canister start [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister status

Show the status of canister(s).

By default this queries the status endpoint of the management canister. If the caller is not a controller, falls back on fetching public information from the state tree.

Usage: icp canister status [OPTIONS] [CANISTER]

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — An optional canister name or principal to target. When using a name, an enviroment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as
  • -i, --id-only — Only print the canister ids
  • --json — Format output in json
  • -p, --public — Show the only the public information. Skips trying to get the status from the management canister and looks up public information from the state tree

icp canister stop

Stop a canister on a network

Usage: icp canister stop [OPTIONS] <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp canister top-up

Top up a canister with cycles

Usage: icp canister top-up [OPTIONS] --amount <AMOUNT> <CANISTER>

Arguments:
  • <CANISTER> — Name or principal of canister to target When using a name an environment must be specified
Options:
  • --amount <AMOUNT> — Amount of cycles to top up
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp cycles

Mint and manage cycles

Usage: icp cycles <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • balance — Display the cycles balance
  • mint — Convert icp to cycles

icp cycles balance

Display the cycles balance

Usage: icp cycles balance [OPTIONS]

Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp cycles mint

Convert icp to cycles

Usage: icp cycles mint [OPTIONS]

Options:
  • --icp <ICP> — Amount of ICP to mint to cycles
  • --cycles <CYCLES> — Amount of cycles to mint. Automatically determines the amount of ICP needed
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp deploy

Deploy a project to an environment

Usage: icp deploy [OPTIONS] [NAMES]...

Arguments:
  • <NAMES> — Canister names
Options:

  • -m, --mode <MODE> — Specifies the mode of canister installation

    Default value: auto

    Possible values: auto, install, reinstall, upgrade

  • --subnet <SUBNET> — The subnet to use for the canisters being deployed

  • --controller <CONTROLLER> — One or more controllers for the canisters being deployed. Repeat --controller to specify multiple

  • --cycles <CYCLES> — Cycles to fund canister creation (in cycles)

    Default value: 2000000000000

  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used

icp environment

Show information about the current project environments

Usage: icp environment <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • list — Display a list of enviroments

icp environment list

Display a list of enviroments

Usage: icp environment list

icp identity

Manage your identities

Usage: icp identity <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • default — Display the currently selected identity
  • import — Import a new identity
  • list — List the identities
  • new — Create a new identity
  • principal — Display the principal for the current identity

icp identity default

Display the currently selected identity

Usage: icp identity default [NAME]

Arguments:
  • <NAME> — Identity to set as default. If omitted, prints the current default

icp identity import

Import a new identity

Usage: icp identity import [OPTIONS] <--from-pem <FILE>|--read-seed-phrase|--from-seed-file <FILE>> <NAME>

Arguments:
  • <NAME> — Name for the imported identity
Options:

  • --storage <STORAGE> — Where to store the private key

    Default value: keyring

    Possible values: plaintext, keyring, password

  • --from-pem <FILE> — Import from a PEM file

  • --read-seed-phrase — Read seed phrase interactively from the terminal

  • --from-seed-file <FILE> — Read seed phrase from a file

  • --decryption-password-from-file <FILE> — Read the PEM decryption password from a file instead of prompting

  • --storage-password-file <FILE> — Read the storage password from a file instead of prompting (for —storage password)

  • --assert-key-type <ASSERT_KEY_TYPE> — Specify the key type when it cannot be detected from the PEM file (danger!)

icp identity list

List the identities

Usage: icp identity list

icp identity new

Create a new identity

Usage: icp identity new [OPTIONS] <NAME>

Arguments:
  • <NAME> — Name for the new identity
Options:

  • --storage <STORAGE> — Where to store the private key

    Default value: keyring

    Possible values: plaintext, keyring, password

  • --storage-password-file <FILE> — Read the storage password from a file instead of prompting (for —storage password)

  • --output-seed <FILE> — Write the seed phrase to a file instead of printing to stdout

icp identity principal

Display the principal for the current identity

Usage: icp identity principal [OPTIONS]

Options:
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp network

Launch and manage local test networks

Usage: icp network <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • list —
  • ping — Try to connect to a network, and print out its status
  • start — Run a given network
  • status — Get status information about a running network
  • stop — Stop a background network
  • update — Update icp-cli-network-launcher to the latest version

icp network list

Usage: icp network list

icp network ping

Try to connect to a network, and print out its status

Usage: icp network ping [OPTIONS] [NAME]

Examples:

# Ping default 'local' network
icp network ping


# Ping explicit network
icp network ping mynetwork


# Ping using environment flag
icp network ping -e staging


# Ping using ICP_ENVIRONMENT variable
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network ping


# Name overrides ICP_ENVIRONMENT
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network ping local


# Wait until healthy
icp network ping --wait-healthy
Arguments:

  • <NAME> — Name of the network to use.

    Takes precedence over -e/—environment and the ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable when specified explicitly.

Options:

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Use the network configured in the specified environment.

    Cannot be used together with an explicit network name argument. The ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable is also checked when neither network name nor -e flag is specified.

  • --wait-healthy — Repeatedly ping until the replica is healthy or 1 minute has passed

icp network start

Run a given network

Usage: icp network start [OPTIONS] [NAME]

Examples:

# Use default 'local' network
icp network start


# Use explicit network name
icp network start mynetwork


# Use environment flag
icp network start -e staging


# Use ICP_ENVIRONMENT variable
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network start


# Name overrides ICP_ENVIRONMENT
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network start local


# Background mode with environment
icp network start -e staging -d
Arguments:

  • <NAME> — Name of the network to use.

    Takes precedence over -e/—environment and the ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable when specified explicitly.

Options:

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Use the network configured in the specified environment.

    Cannot be used together with an explicit network name argument. The ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable is also checked when neither network name nor -e flag is specified.

  • -d, --background — Starts the network in a background process. This command will exit once the network is running. To stop the network, use ‘icp network stop’

icp network status

Get status information about a running network

Usage: icp network status [OPTIONS] [NAME]

Examples:

# Get status of default 'local' network
icp network status


# Get status of explicit network
icp network status mynetwork


# Get status using environment flag
icp network status -e staging


# Get status using ICP_ENVIRONMENT variable
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network status


# Name overrides ICP_ENVIRONMENT
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network status local


# JSON output
icp network status --json
Arguments:

  • <NAME> — Name of the network to use.

    Takes precedence over -e/—environment and the ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable when specified explicitly.

Options:

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Use the network configured in the specified environment.

    Cannot be used together with an explicit network name argument. The ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable is also checked when neither network name nor -e flag is specified.

  • --json — Format output as JSON

icp network stop

Stop a background network

Usage: icp network stop [OPTIONS] [NAME]

Examples:

# Stop default 'local' network
icp network stop


# Stop explicit network
icp network stop mynetwork


# Stop using environment flag
icp network stop -e staging


# Stop using ICP_ENVIRONMENT variable
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network stop


# Name overrides ICP_ENVIRONMENT
ICP_ENVIRONMENT=staging icp network stop local
Arguments:

  • <NAME> — Name of the network to use.

    Takes precedence over -e/—environment and the ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable when specified explicitly.

Options:

  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Use the network configured in the specified environment.

    Cannot be used together with an explicit network name argument. The ICP_ENVIRONMENT environment variable is also checked when neither network name nor -e flag is specified.

icp network update

Update icp-cli-network-launcher to the latest version

Usage: icp network update

icp new

Create a new ICP project from a template

Under the hood templates are generated with cargo-generate. See the cargo-generate docs for a guide on how to write your own templates: https://docs.rs/cargo-generate/0.23.7/cargo_generate/

Usage: icp new [OPTIONS] <NAME>

Arguments:
  • <NAME> — Directory to create / project name; if the name isn’t in kebab-case, it will be converted to kebab-case unless --force is given
Options:

  • --subfolder <SUBFOLDER> — Specifies the subfolder within the template repository to be used as the actual template

  • -g, --git <GIT> — Git repository to clone template from. Can be a URL (like https://github.com/dfinity/icp-cli-project-template), a path (relative or absolute)

    Default value: https://github.com/dfinity/icp-cli-templates

  • -b, --branch <BRANCH> — Branch to use when installing from git

  • -t, --tag <TAG> — Tag to use when installing from git

  • -r, --revision <REVISION> — Git revision to use when installing from git (e.g. a commit hash)

  • -p, --path <PATH> — Local path to copy the template from. Can not be specified together with —git

  • -f, --force — Don’t convert the project name to kebab-case before creating the directory. Note that icp-cli won’t overwrite an existing directory, even if --force is given

  • -q, --quiet — Opposite of verbose, suppresses errors & warning in output Conflicts with —debug, and requires the use of —continue-on-error

  • --continue-on-error — Continue if errors in templates are encountered

  • -s, --silent — If silent mode is set all variables will be extracted from the template_values_file. If a value is missing the project generation will fail

  • --vcs <VCS> — Specify the VCS used to initialize the generated template

  • -i, --identity <IDENTITY> — Use a different ssh identity

  • --gitconfig <GITCONFIG_FILE> — Use a different gitconfig file, if omitted the usual $HOME/.gitconfig will be used

  • -d, --define <DEFINE> — Define a value for use during template expansion. E.g --define foo=bar

  • --init — Generate the template directly into the current dir. No subfolder will be created and no vcs is initialized

  • --destination <PATH> — Generate the template directly at the given path

  • --force-git-init — Will enforce a fresh git init on the generated project

  • -o, --overwrite — Allow the template to overwrite existing files in the destination

  • --skip-submodules — Skip downloading git submodules (if there are any)

icp project

Display information about the current project

Usage: icp project <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • show — Outputs the project’s effective yaml configuration

icp project show

Outputs the project’s effective yaml configuration.

The effective yaml configuration includes:

  • implicit networks

  • implicit environments

  • processed recipes

Usage: icp project show

icp sync

Synchronize canisters

Usage: icp sync [OPTIONS] [CANISTERS]...

Arguments:
  • <CANISTERS> — Canister names (if empty, sync all canisters in environment)
Options:
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp token

Perform token transactions

Usage: icp token [TOKEN] <COMMAND>

Subcommands:
  • balance —
  • transfer —
Arguments:

  • <TOKEN> — The token to execute the operation on, defaults to icp

    Default value: icp

icp token balance

Usage: icp token balance [OPTIONS]

Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

icp token transfer

Usage: icp token transfer [OPTIONS] <AMOUNT> <RECEIVER>

Arguments:
  • <AMOUNT> — Token amount to transfer
  • <RECEIVER> — The receiver of the token transfer
Options:
  • -n, --network <NETWORK> — Name of the network to target, conflicts with environment argument
  • -e, --environment <ENVIRONMENT> — Override the environment to connect to. By default, the local environment is used
  • --identity <IDENTITY> — The user identity to run this command as

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