Build your own (CLI) tool from scratch with Node.JS

Tired of theoretical blockchains? Go beyond the basics and build the tool that brings your decentralized network to life: a professional-grade, interactive Command Line Interface (CLI).

While most tutorials focus on the core blockchain logic, the CLI is the mission control center—the critical interface that allows you to actually use and manage your node. This is the piece that transforms your code from an academic exercise into a powerful, operable system, much like the geth or bitcoin-cli tools that power real-world networks.

In this deep dive, we architect and build the Netchain CLI from the ground up, seamlessly integrating it with the blockchain and P2P server to create a fully functional node.

🔧 What You'll Build & Master:

✅ Interactive Command Engine: A robust BlockchainCLI class powered by Node.js readline for a responsive, user-friendly terminal experience.
✅ Secure Wallet Management: Generate, encrypt, and manage cryptographic wallets with mnemonic phrase recovery—all from simple commands like createwallet alice.
✅ Intuitive Blockchain Interaction: Send transactions using human-readable names (send alice bob 50), mine new blocks, and check balances without dealing with raw addresses.
✅ Real-Time Network Orchestration: Dynamically connect to peers, list active nodes, and broadcast transactions/blocks across the P2P network directly from the CLI.
✅ Comprehensive System Dashboard: Use the status command to get a live health check of your node: block height, pending transactions, chain validity, supply statistics, and network connectivity.
✅ Data Inspection & Debugging: Pretty-print the entire blockchain for analysis and validation, making debugging and exploration simple.

🛠 Core Technical Implementation:

A central executeCommand switchboard that cleanly routes user input to the appropriate handlers.

Integrated wallet mapping to link friendly names with blockchain addresses.

Secure password handling for transaction signing and wallet encryption.

Seamless integration between the CLI, the blockchain ledger, and the P2P networking layer.

A standalone mode using Commander.js for wallet creation and scriptable actions.

🚀 Why This Matters:

This isn't just another "Hello World" for the console. You are building the central nervous system of a decentralized node. The skills you gain—designing intuitive user interfaces for complex systems, managing state, and handling secure input—are fundamental to becoming a versatile backend or Web3 engineer.

Ready to take control of your blockchain? The full codebase awaits. Clone, explore, and start interacting with your decentralized network today!

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/Kalashin1/netcreed...