apex-sdk

Apex SDK CLI Guide

The Apex SDK CLI is a powerful command-line tool for building, testing, and deploying blockchain applications across Substrate and EVM ecosystems.

Installation
Getting Started
Commands
Configuration
Examples
Troubleshooting

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/kherldhussein/apex-sdk.git
cd apex-sdk/cli
cargo install --path .

From Crates.io

cargo install apex-sdk-cli

Verify Installation

apex version

Getting Started

Create Your First Project

# Create a new project with the default template
apex new my-project

# Create a DeFi project
apex new defi-app --template defi

# Create an NFT project
apex new nft-marketplace --template nft

Initialize Configuration

# Initialize with default settings
apex init

# Initialize with interactive prompts
apex init --interactive

This creates a .apex/config.json file in your project directory with default settings:

{
  "default_chain": "polkadot",
  "default_endpoint": "wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws",
  "accounts": []
}

Commands

Project Management

`apex new`

Create a new Apex SDK project from a template.

Usage:

apex new <PROJECT_NAME> [OPTIONS]

Options:

-t, --template <TEMPLATE>: Project template (default, defi, nft) [default: default]

Examples:

# Basic project
apex new my-app

# DeFi application
apex new defi-protocol --template defi

# NFT marketplace
apex new nft-market --template nft

`apex build`

Build your project using Cargo.

Usage:

apex build [OPTIONS]

Options:

-r, --release: Build in release mode with optimizations

Examples:

# Development build
apex build

# Production build
apex build --release

`apex test`

Run your project’s test suite.

Usage:

apex test [OPTIONS]

Options:

-f, --filter <PATTERN>: Run only tests matching the pattern

Examples:

# Run all tests
apex test

# Run specific tests
apex test --filter substrate
apex test --filter evm_integration

`apex bench`

Run performance benchmarks.

Usage:

apex bench [OPTIONS]

Options:

-f, --filter <PATTERN>: Run only benchmarks matching the pattern

Examples:

# Run all benchmarks
apex bench

# Run specific benchmarks
apex bench --filter transaction

Account Management

`apex account generate`

Generate a new blockchain account/wallet.

Usage:

apex account generate [OPTIONS]

Options:

-a, --account-type <TYPE>: Account type (substrate, evm)

Examples:

# Generate Substrate account
apex account generate --account-type substrate

# Generate EVM account
apex account generate --account-type evm

Output:

 Generating new substrate account...
   Type: Substrate (SR25519)
   Address: 5GrwvaEF5zXb26Fz9rcQpDWS57CtERHpNehXCPcNoHGKutQY
   Mnemonic: [SECURE - Store this safely!]

  WARNING: Keep your keys secure and never share them!

`apex account import`

Import an account from a mnemonic phrase.

Usage:

apex account import <MNEMONIC> [OPTIONS]

Options:

-a, --account-type <TYPE>: Account type (substrate, evm)

Examples:

apex account import "word1 word2 ... word12" --account-type substrate
apex account import "word1 word2 ... word12" --account-type evm

`apex account list`

List all managed accounts.

Usage:

apex account list

`apex account balance`

Check the balance of an account.

Usage:

apex account balance <ADDRESS> [OPTIONS]

Options:

-c, --chain <CHAIN>: Chain name
-e, --endpoint <ENDPOINT>: RPC endpoint URL

Examples:

# Check Polkadot balance
apex account balance 5GrwvaEF5zXb26Fz9rcQpDWS57CtERHpNehXCPcNoHGKutQY \
  --chain polkadot \
  --endpoint wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

# Check Ethereum balance
apex account balance 0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890 \
  --chain ethereum \
  --endpoint https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY

Chain Operations

`apex chain list`

List all supported blockchain networks.

Usage:

apex chain list

Output:

 Supported chains:

   Substrate-based:
     • polkadot    - Polkadot Relay Chain
     • kusama      - Kusama Relay Chain
     • moonbeam    - Moonbeam Parachain
     • astar       - Astar Parachain
     • acala       - Acala DeFi Hub
     • phala       - Phala Privacy Cloud
     • bifrost     - Bifrost Liquid Staking

   EVM-compatible:
     • ethereum    - Ethereum Mainnet
     • bsc         - Binance Smart Chain
     • polygon     - Polygon (Matic)
     • avalanche   - Avalanche C-Chain
     • arbitrum    - Arbitrum One (L2)
     • optimism    - Optimism (L2)
     • zksync      - zkSync Era (L2)

`apex chain info`

Get information about a specific chain.

Usage:

apex chain info <CHAIN> [OPTIONS]

Options:

-e, --endpoint <ENDPOINT>: RPC endpoint URL

Examples:

apex chain info polkadot \
  --endpoint wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

apex chain info ethereum \
  --endpoint https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY

`apex chain health`

Check the health status of a chain endpoint.

Usage:

apex chain health <ENDPOINT>

Examples:

apex chain health wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws
apex chain health https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY

Deployment

`apex deploy`

Deploy a smart contract to a blockchain.

Usage:

apex deploy <CONTRACT> [OPTIONS]

Options:

-c, --chain <CHAIN>: Target chain name
-e, --endpoint <ENDPOINT>: RPC endpoint URL

Examples:

# Deploy to Polkadot
apex deploy ./contracts/my_contract.wasm \
  --chain polkadot \
  --endpoint wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

# Deploy to Ethereum
apex deploy ./contracts/MyContract.sol \
  --chain ethereum \
  --endpoint https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY

Testing & Benchmarking

See Project Management section for apex test and apex bench commands.

Configuration

Configuration File

The CLI stores configuration in .apex/config.json:

{
  "default_chain": "polkadot",
  "default_endpoint": "wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws",
  "accounts": [
    {
      "type": "substrate",
      "address": "5GrwvaEF5zXb26Fz9rcQpDWS57CtERHpNehXCPcNoHGKutQY",
      "name": "Alice"
    }
  ],
  "custom_endpoints": {
    "polkadot": [
      "wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws",
      "wss://rpc.polkadot.io"
    ],
    "ethereum": [
      "https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY"
    ]
  }
}

Environment Variables

You can override configuration using environment variables:

APEX_DEFAULT_CHAIN: Default blockchain to use
APEX_DEFAULT_ENDPOINT: Default RPC endpoint
APEX_CONFIG_PATH: Path to configuration file

Example:

export APEX_DEFAULT_CHAIN=ethereum
export APEX_DEFAULT_ENDPOINT=https://mainnet.infura.io/v3/YOUR_KEY
apex chain info ethereum

Examples

Complete Workflow: DeFi Application

# 1. Create a new DeFi project
apex new defi-protocol --template defi

# 2. Navigate to project
cd defi-protocol

# 3. Initialize configuration
apex init

# 4. Generate deployment account
apex account generate --account-type substrate

# 5. Build the project
apex build --release

# 6. Run tests
apex test

# 7. Run benchmarks
apex bench

# 8. Deploy to testnet
apex deploy ./target/release/defi_protocol.wasm \
  --chain westend \
  --endpoint wss://westend-rpc.polkadot.io

Cross-Chain Asset Transfer

# 1. Check balance on Polkadot
apex account balance 5GrwvaEF5zXb26Fz9rcQpDWS57CtERHpNehXCPcNoHGKutQY \
  --chain polkadot \
  --endpoint wss://polkadot.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

# 2. Check health of destination chain
apex chain health wss://moonbeam.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

# 3. Get chain information
apex chain info moonbeam \
  --endpoint wss://moonbeam.api.onfinality.io/public-ws

Multi-Chain Development

# Create project
apex new multi-chain-app

cd multi-chain-app

# List all supported chains
apex chain list

# Test on multiple chains
apex test --filter substrate
apex test --filter evm

# Build optimized release
apex build --release

# Run benchmarks
apex bench

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Build Failures

Problem: Build fails with dependency errors

Solution:

# Clean and rebuild
cargo clean
apex build

# Update dependencies
cargo update
apex build --release

Connection Issues

Problem: Cannot connect to RPC endpoint

Solution:

# Check endpoint health first
apex chain health <ENDPOINT>

# Verify endpoint is correct
apex chain info <CHAIN> --endpoint <ENDPOINT>

# Try alternative endpoint
apex chain list  # Shows alternative endpoints

Account Generation Issues

Problem: Account generation fails

Solution:

# Ensure you have latest version
apex version

# Try with explicit account type
apex account generate --account-type substrate

Getting Help

# General help
apex --help

# Command-specific help
apex new --help
apex deploy --help
apex account --help

Verbose Output

For debugging, set the RUST_LOG environment variable:

# Info level
RUST_LOG=info apex build

# Debug level
RUST_LOG=debug apex deploy ./contract.wasm --chain polkadot --endpoint wss://...

# Trace level (very verbose)
RUST_LOG=trace apex test

Advanced Features

Custom Templates

You can create custom project templates by adding them to the cli/templates directory:

# Use custom template
apex new my-app --template custom

Scripting and Automation

The CLI is designed to work well in scripts:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Automated deployment script
apex build --release
apex test
apex deploy ./target/release/app.wasm \
  --chain polkadot \
  --endpoint $POLKADOT_ENDPOINT

# Check deployment
apex chain info polkadot --endpoint $POLKADOT_ENDPOINT

CI/CD Integration

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
        with:
          toolchain: stable
      - name: Install Apex CLI
        run: cargo install apex-sdk-cli
      - name: Build
        run: apex build --release
      - name: Test
        run: apex test
      - name: Deploy
        run: |
          apex deploy ./target/release/app.wasm \
            --chain polkadot \
            --endpoint $

Resources

Support

GitHub Issues: https://github.com/kherldhussein/apex-sdk/issues
Discord: [Join our community]
Email: support@apexsdk.io

License

Apache-2.0 - See LICENSE for details.

This site is open source. Improve this page.

apex-sdk

Apex SDK CLI Guide

Table of Contents

Installation

From Source

From Crates.io

Verify Installation

Getting Started

Create Your First Project

Initialize Configuration

Commands

Project Management

apex new

apex build

apex test

apex bench

Account Management

apex account generate

apex account import

apex account list

apex account balance

Chain Operations

apex chain list

apex chain info

apex chain health

Deployment

apex deploy

Testing & Benchmarking

Configuration

Configuration File

Environment Variables

Examples

Complete Workflow: DeFi Application

Cross-Chain Asset Transfer

Multi-Chain Development

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Build Failures

Connection Issues

Account Generation Issues

Getting Help

Verbose Output

Advanced Features

Custom Templates

Scripting and Automation

CI/CD Integration

Resources

Support

License

`apex new`

`apex build`

`apex test`

`apex bench`

`apex account generate`

`apex account import`

`apex account list`

`apex account balance`

`apex chain list`

`apex chain info`

`apex chain health`

`apex deploy`