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startDevnode

Starts a local Aleo devnode and waits until its REST API answers.

Spawns the aleo-devnode binary as a child process, so aleo-devnode MUST be installed and on PATH (or located via devnodePath). If a devnode is already listening on the target socket, it is asked to shut down first so the new instance can bind. The call resolves once the node serves block height, or rejects after readyTimeout.

By default the node binds 127.0.0.1:3030, keeps its ledger in memory (lost on stop), creates blocks automatically after each broadcast, and produces blocks with the well-known seeded key DEVNODE_PRIVATE_KEY (see devnodeActions for the constant).

Usage​

import { startDevnode } from '@provablehq/veil-aleo-devnode'

const devnode = await startDevnode()
// devnode.socketAddr -> '127.0.0.1:3030'

// ...broadcast transactions against http://127.0.0.1:3030...

await devnode.stop()

Persistent storage and manual block timing:

import { startDevnode } from '@provablehq/veil-aleo-devnode'

const devnode = await startDevnode({
  storagePath: '',              // '' -> default ./devnode directory
  manualBlockCreation: true,    // require an explicit advanceDevnode call to mine
})

Returns​

Promise<DevnodeInstance>

An object with socketAddr (the address the node is listening on) and stop (terminates the process gracefully with SIGTERM). Hold on to the instance for the lifetime of the node — the child process is not stopped automatically when the parent exits.

Parameters​

options​

  • Type: DevnodeStartOptions
  • Default: undefined — starts an ephemeral node on port 3030 with every other default below.

Overrides for the devnode process. Every field is optional.

options.privateKey​

  • Type: string
  • Default: DEVNODE_PRIVATE_KEY

Private key used for block creation.

options.socketAddr​

  • Type: string
  • Default: DEVNODE_ADDR ('127.0.0.1:3030')

REST API bind address (-a, --socket-addr).

options.verbosity​

  • Type: 0 | 1 | 2
  • Default: 2

Log verbosity (-v, --verbosity).

options.genesisPath​

  • Type: string

Path to a custom genesis block file (-g, --genesis-path).

options.storagePath​

  • Type: string

Directory for persistent ledger storage (-s, --storage [DIR]). Omit for an in-memory, ephemeral ledger. Pass an empty string to use the default ./devnode directory, or a path string for a custom directory.

options.clearStorage​

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

Clears the storage directory before starting (-c, --clear-storage). Requires storagePath.

options.manualBlockCreation​

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

Disables automatic block creation after a broadcast (-m, --manual-block-creation). Pair with advanceDevnode for deterministic block timing.

options.readyTimeout​

  • Type: number
  • Default: 30000

Milliseconds to wait for the REST API to become ready before rejecting.

options.devnodePath​

  • Type: string
  • Default: 'aleo-devnode'

Path to the aleo-devnode binary, resolved on PATH by default.

options.verbose​

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

Writes devnode stdout/stderr to devnode-<port>.log in the current working directory instead of discarding them.

Errors​

Rejects if the binary is missing, the process exits during startup, or the REST API is not ready within readyTimeout.