CLI Tools Reference

This page documents the command-line tools available in the Lithosphere ecosystem: the lithod node binary and the create-litho-app project scaffolding tool.

---

lithod

lithod is the core binary for running a Lithosphere blockchain node. It is built on top of the following frameworks:

Framework	Role
Cosmos SDK	Application framework providing modules for staking, governance, bank, auth, and more.
CometBFT	Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus engine (formerly Tendermint Core).
LithoVM	EVM-compatible virtual machine enabling Solidity smart contract execution on Lithosphere.

Source repository: github.com/KaJLabs/lithosphere/litho-chain

A pre-built binary is available for Linux x86_64. For other platforms, build from source using the instructions below.

---

Building from Source

Requirements

Tool	Minimum Version	Notes
Go	>= 1.22	Required for compilation.
git	any	To clone the repository.
make	any	GNU Make for the build system.

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/KaJLabs/lithosphere.git
cd lithosphere/litho-chain

# Build the binary
./build.sh

# Generate checksums for verification
./checksums.sh

After a successful build, the following outputs are produced:

Output	Description
lithod	The compiled node binary, ready to run.
checksums.txt	SHA-256 checksums for verifying binary integrity.

You can also use make install to place the binary directly in $GOPATH/bin:

make install

Verify the installation:

lithod version

---

Key Commands

Below are the essential lithod commands for node operation.

lithod init

Initialize a new node with a moniker and chain ID:

lithod init <moniker> --chain-id <chain-id>

Parameter	Description
<moniker>	A human-readable name for your node (e.g., my-node-01).
--chain-id	The identifier of the target chain (e.g., lithosphere-1).

This command creates the default directory structure at ~/.lithod/, including configuration files (app.toml, config.toml, genesis.json), the data directory, and the keyring.

lithod start

Start the node and begin syncing with the network:

lithod start

The node connects to peers, replays blocks from genesis (or a snapshot), and begins participating in consensus once fully synced.

Common flags:

Flag	Description
--home <path>	Override the default home directory (~/.lithod/).
--log_level <level>	Set log verbosity (info, debug, warn, error).
--p2p.seeds <seeds>	Comma-separated list of seed node addresses.
--rpc.laddr <addr>	RPC listen address (default: tcp://127.0.0.1:26657).

lithod version

Print the current version and build information:

lithod version

Example output:

v1.0.0

Use lithod version --long for detailed build metadata including Go version, commit hash, and build tags.

---

create-litho-app

create-litho-app is a CLI scaffolding tool for bootstrapping new Lithosphere projects. It provides an interactive setup experience that lets you choose a project template, configures dependencies automatically, and gets you to a working project in seconds.

Built with: tsup (a TypeScript bundler powered by esbuild).

---

Features

• Project template selection -- Choose from available Lithosphere project templates (e.g., full-stack dApp, smart contract workspace, API integration).

• Automatic dependency setup -- Installs all required dependencies after scaffolding.

• Sensible defaults -- Pre-configured TypeScript, linting, formatting, and testing out of the box.

• Monorepo-aware -- Generated projects integrate seamlessly with the Lithosphere monorepo structure.

---

Usage

Run the tool directly with npx -- no global installation required:

npx create-litho-app

The interactive CLI will guide you through the following steps:

1. Project name -- Enter a name for your new project.

2. Template selection -- Choose a project template from the available options.

3. Configuration -- Answer any template-specific prompts (e.g., chain ID, RPC endpoint).

4. Dependency installation -- Dependencies are installed automatically via pnpm.

Once complete, navigate into the new project directory and start developing:

cd <project-name>
pnpm dev

---

Example

$ npx create-litho-app

  Welcome to create-litho-app!

  ? Project name: my-litho-dapp
  ? Select a template: Full-Stack dApp
  ? Chain ID: 61

  Scaffolding project in ./my-litho-dapp ...
  Installing dependencies ...

  Done! Next steps:

    cd my-litho-dapp
    pnpm dev

---

Next Steps

• Developer Setup -- Set up the full monorepo development environment.

• Validator Setup -- Configure and run a validator node.