Tezos Basics
Getting Started with Octez
Last Updated: 5th June 2023
Octez - The Tezos Client
Octez is the official client to interact with a Tezos node via RPC (remote procedural calls). In theory, there can be multiple implementations of the Tezos protocol, but currently, there is only Octez. Octez consists of several binaries (i.e., executable files), including a client, a node, and a baker.
How to install the octez-client
On Mac OS with Homebrew
brew tap serokell/tezos-packaging-stable https://github.com/serokell/tezos-packaging-stable.git brew install tezos-client
On Ubuntu with binaries
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:serokell/tezos && sudo apt-get update sudo apt install tezos-client -y
On Fedora with binaries
dnf copr enable -y @Serokell/Tezos && dnf update -y dnf install -y tezos-client
From sources with OPAM
Connecting to a node
Below we'll connect to a community node (https://ghostnet.tezos.marigold.dev) on the Ghostnet testnet. We'll use the --endpoint parameter to update the configuration of the Octez Client on a Ubuntu system:
octez-client --endpoint https://ghostnet.tezos.marigold.dev config update
The result should look like this:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
On Ubuntu, the config file should be written in "/.octez-client/config" under your "home" folder. For example, after the last command, the new "config" file looks like this (with Nano):
{ "base_dir": "/home/userName/.octez-client",
"endpoint": "https://ghostnet.tezos.marigold.dev", "web_port": 8080,
"confirmations": 0 }
Account funding
To get free tez on testnet, you must first generate a Tezos account. If you don't already have one, you can generate one with the following command:
octez-client gen keys my_account
You can now retrieve the generated address (the hash of the public key, it starts with tz1, tz2 or tz3) with the command:
octez-client show address my_account
The result should look like this:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
Hash: tz1VvyNvPUdypHaTgznTLSkumj9YMZxpmB9p
Public Key: edpkufA6kH6hw4ckZWWmYuLZpfwfXc9abiaEDLqH2iviFXnK9N4oct
You can now go to the testnets website, select your testnet faucet and request tez!
Octez Client user manual and version
The full command list for Octez client is available here.
Octez Client examples
Get balance
Get the balance of an account:
octez-client get balance for [account_id]
Example with our previously registered user "my_account":
octez-client get balance for my_account
The response:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
1 ꜩ
The previous response is also a way of checking if the account is activated on the testnet (first transfer).
Get timestamp
Get the UTC of the latest downloaded block. Keep in mind, timezones may differ from your local time:
octez-client get timestamp
Result example:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
2022-10-04T13:34:00Z
List known addresses
This call only lists registered implicit accounts in your Octez client.
octez-client list known addresses
Example response:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
my_account: tz1VvyNvPUdypHaTgznTLSkumj9YMZxpmB9p (unencrypted sk known)
List known contracts
This call lists all registered accounts, implicit and originated in your Octez client.
octez-client list known contracts
Our example:
Warning:
This is NOT the Tezos Mainnet.
Do NOT use your fundraiser keys on this network.
my_account: tz1VvyNvPUdypHaTgznTLSkumj9YMZxpmB9p
Everything is correct: We don't have any originated account and only one implicit account!
Transfers and receipts
The command below transfers 42 ꜩ from the account user1 to user2 (you can use Tezos addresses directly):
octez-client transfer 42 from user1 to user2
Notice that you can specify the maximum fee for this operation appending, "--fee-cap" (defaults to 1.0). The network would determine the actual fee, lower than this cap:
octez-client transfer 42 from user1 to user2 --fee-cap 0.9
You can also add "--dry-run" or "-D" if you want to test and display the transaction without finalizing it.
For our example, let's generate another account and feed it with tez from the faucet website:
$ octez-client gen keys my_account_2 $ octez-client show address my_account_2 Hash: tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3 Public Key: edpktfqbZHfRRSRcJ86hqxQZvgfFMLwR6zMZAXA5UgE81L7WqHt579
Let's verify the balance (and activation):
octez-client get balance for my_account_2
Response (without the warning message):
2 ꜩ
Let's finally try a transfer of 1.5 ꜩ from my_account_2 to my_account with a 0.5 ꜩ fee cap:
octez-client transfer 1.5 from my_account_2 to my_account --fee-cap 0.5
Response (without the warning message) should be:
Node is bootstrapped.
Estimated storage: no bytes added
Estimated gas: 1000.040 units (will add 0 for safety)
Estimated storage: no bytes added
Operation successfully injected in the node.
Operation hash is 'oocBxnYDf8qiT3EmRFZxR9axGKqEJMxWnFAnzN5Dwz8QFxUe89Z'
Waiting for the operation to be included...
Operation found in block: BLzxBbdk1yq61Z3U36652RBxMM6PMfitA53Rk3xFiZpMX9yQZVa (pass: 3, offset: 0)
This sequence of operations was run:
Manager signed operations:
From: tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3
Fee to the baker: ꜩ0.00036
Expected counter: 12102064
Gas limit: 1000
Storage limit: 0 bytes
Balance updates:
tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3 ... -ꜩ0.00036
payload fees(the block proposer) ....... +ꜩ0.00036
Revelation of manager public key:
Contract: tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3
Key: edpktfqbZHfRRSRcJ86hqxQZvgfFMLwR6zMZAXA5UgE81L7WqHt579
This revelation was successfully applied
Consumed gas: 1000
Manager signed operations:
From: tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3
Fee to the baker: ꜩ0.000258
Expected counter: 12102065
Gas limit: 1001
Storage limit: 0 bytes
Balance updates:
tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3 ... -ꜩ0.000258
payload fees(the block proposer) ....... +ꜩ0.000258
Transaction:
Amount: ꜩ1.5
From: tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3
To: tz1VvyNvPUdypHaTgznTLSkumj9YMZxpmB9p
This transaction was successfully applied
Consumed gas: 1000.040
Balance updates:
tz1M9Snt3Sdcv9YkTrergj3ar6FuQ2g4T9y3 ... -ꜩ1.5
tz1VvyNvPUdypHaTgznTLSkumj9YMZxpmB9p ... +ꜩ1.5
The operation has only been included 0 blocks ago.
We recommend to wait more.
Use command
octez-client wait for oocBxnYDf8qiT3EmRFZxR9axGKqEJMxWnFAnzN5Dwz8QFxUe89Z to be included --confirmations 1 --branch BLngFFgWJ1TJUgPTp4CLvnyGFzwhKrpcazRFysptBmhZKKH4w94
and/or an external block explorer.
Let's check both balances (testnet warning messages removed):
$ octez-client get balance for my_account 2.5 ꜩ $ octez-client get balance for my_account_2 0.499382 ꜩ
Everything is fine.
You can observe your actions on explorers like tzkt or tzstats:
OpenTezos has a guide on how to use an explorer.
For a more comprehensive guide on how to install Octez, including via Docker images, see the docs by Nomadic Labs.
The above is an abridged version of the Octez guide found on OpenTezos.