gem-hunter
Language: Rust
The easiest way to build Stellar apps. One command scaffolds your contracts, a modern frontend, and type-safe clients that connect the two, keeping everything in sync as you build so you don't have to.
Scaffold Stellar is a developer toolkit for building decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts on the Stellar blockchain.
It helps you go from idea to working full-stack dApp faster by providing CLI tools, reusable contract templates, a smart contract registry, and a modern frontend.
Stellar is a blockchain designed for fast, low-cost financial transactions and smart contracts written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly (Wasm).
With Scaffold Stellar, you write smart contracts in Rust and interact with them using modern TypeScript + React tooling.
Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed:
| Tool | Description | Install Link |
|---|---|---|
| Rust & Cargo | For writing and compiling smart contracts | curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh |
| Node.js & npm | For frontend development | Download from official site |
| Stellar CLI | For building, deploying, and interacting with smart contracts | Link for the repo |
| Docker | For running a Stellar node locally | Download from official site |
Rust needs a C toolchain to compile contracts: run xcode-select --install on macOS, or install build-essential (Debian/Ubuntu) or your distribution's equivalent on Linux. On Linux, install Stellar CLI with curl -fsSL https://github.com/stellar/stellar-cli/raw/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --install-deps, which also adds the system libraries Stellar Scaffold needs.
For Windows users, please refer to the additional setup instructions here.
This section walks you through setting up Scaffold Stellar from scratch.
Install a pre-built binary with cargo-binstall:
curl -L --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall/main/install-from-binstall-release.sh | bash
cargo binstall stellar-scaffold-cli
On Windows, install cargo-binstall with its PowerShell instructions instead. To build from source, which takes several minutes, run cargo install --locked stellar-scaffold-cli.
The Scaffold Stellar CLI is installed as a plugin under the stellar CLI.
stellar scaffold init my-project
cd my-project
init copies app/.env.example to app/.env. Edit it to pick a network other than local, or to add secrets your scaffold.yml reads.
# Install Frontend dependencies
npm install
npm run dev
You should see your React frontend at http://localhost:5173.
# First publish your contract to the registry
stellar registry publish --wasm path/to/contract.wasm --wasm-name my-contract
# Then deploy an instance with constructor parameters
stellar registry deploy \
--contract-name my-contract-instance \
--wasm-name my-contract \
-- \
--param1 value1
# Can access the help docs for constructor parameters
stellar registry deploy \
--contract-name my-contract-instance \
--wasm-name my-contract \
-- \
--help
# Install the deployed contract locally for use with stellar-cli
stellar registry install my-contract-instance
After scaffolding a project, your folder structure will look like this:
my-project/
├── contracts/ # Rust smart contracts (compiled to WASM)
├── app/ # Your frontend
│ ├── src/ # Components, pages, hooks, entry point
│ └── .env # Local environment variables
├── app-lib/ # Utility code, ready to use from your app
│ └── clients/ # Generated contract clients — regenerated, don't edit
├── scaffold.yml # Networks, accounts, and contracts
├── package.json # npm workspace root
├── target/ # Build outputs
This template provides a ready-to-use frontend application with example smart contracts and their TypeScript clients. You can use these as reference while building your own contracts and UI. The frontend is set up with Vite, React, and includes basic components for interacting with the contracts.
See the CLI Documentation for detailed command information and the Configuration Guide for configuration details.
Scaffold Stellar provides two main CLI tools:
stellar-scaffold Initialize and manage dApp projects:
stellar scaffold init my-project
stellar scaffold build
stellar-registry Manage contract deployment and versions:
stellar registry publish --wasm contract.wasm --wasm-name my-contract # Publish contract to the registry
stellar registry deploy --contract-name instance --wasm-name my-contract # Deploy a contract instance
stellar registry install my-contract-instance # Install deployed contracts locally
Use
--helpon any command for usage instructions.
Scaffold Stellar's build pipeline supports extensions by calling binaries on your PATH that tap into lifecycle hooks fired before and after each compile, deploy, codegen, and watch cycle.
The built-in Scaffold Reporter extension is included in every new project. It logs compile times, WASM sizes, deploy durations, and total build cycle time directly to your console.
Register extensions in scaffold.yml:
extensions: reporter: # Optional per-extension config warn_size_kb: 128
See the Extensions Guide to learn how the hook system works and how to build your own extension.
# Publish with automatic metadata extraction stellar registry publish --wasm target/stellar/local/my_contract.wasm # Or specify details manually stellar registry publish \ --wasm target/stellar/local/my_contract.wasm \ --wasm-name my-contract \ --binver "1.0.0"
# Deploy without initialization stellar registry deploy \ --contract-name my-contract-instance \ --wasm-name my-contract # Deploy with constructor parameters stellar registry deploy \ --contract-name my-token \ --wasm-name token \ --version "1.0.0" \ -- \ --name "My Token" \ --symbol "MTK" \ --decimals 7
stellar registry install my-contract-instance
After installation, you can interact with the contract using stellar-cli:
stellar contract invoke --id my-contract-instance -- --help
You can deploy to testnet or mainnet depending on the network you select in
app/.env(STELLAR_NETWORK) andscaffold.yml.
The registry is an on-chain smart contract that lets you:
The registry separates the concepts of:
This means your contracts can be upgraded, shared, and used like packages.
Your repo contains the following key folders:
| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
.cargo/, .config/ |
Rust and build settings |
crates/ |
The stellar-scaffold CLI and its supporting Rust libraries |
docs/site/ |
Documentation site (Docusaurus) published to scaffoldstellar.com |
justfile |
Commands you can run with just |
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stellar-scaffold/cli/main/skills/stellar-scaffold/SKILL.mdWe love contributions! If you're new, check these out:
If you're new to Stellar, Rust, or smart contracts:
Ask questions in the repo Discussions tab
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Or just open an issue. We're happy to help!