Install tools for development

Before you can start developing smart contracts, you need to setup the environment.

Rust and Cargo

First, install rustup, which will install both Rust and Cargo on your machine. Then use rustup to install the Wasm target, which is used for compilation:

$rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

Cargo Concordium

Cargo Concordium is the tool for developing smart contracts for the Concordium blockchain. It can be used for compiling and testing smart contracts, and enables features such as building contract schemas.

To install cargo-concordium run:

$cargo install --locked cargo-concordium

For a description of how to use the cargo-concordium run:

$cargo concordium --help

VSCode extension

The VSCode extension can help you develop Concordium smart contracts. The extension sets up the editor for development, installs the cargo-concordium smart contract development tool for all supported platforms, and provides commands in the editor for the essential workflows, such as building and testing smart contracts.

You can watch a video about how to use the VSCode extension.

Concordium software

The tool to deploy and interact with smart contracts is concordium-client. It is distributed as part of the Concordium software package.

Note

To deploy smart contract modules and interact with the chain, make sure that you are running a node.