ChatChain Testnet

This directory contains a script to easily spin up a local testnet for ChatChain with 4 nodes and a client.

Prerequisites

• Rust and Cargo installed
• curl and lsof commands available in your terminal
• Ports 8080-8084 available on your machine

Quick Start

To start the testnet with 4 nodes and a client, simply run:

./start_testnet.sh

This will:

1. Create a db directory if it doesn't exist
2. Kill any existing node or client processes
3. Clean up any existing database files
4. Generate a config.toml file for the testnet configuration
5. Start 4 nodes (on ports 8081-8084)
6. Start the client (on port 8080)
7. Wait for all nodes to be ready

Testnet Configuration

The testnet is configured with:

• 4 nodes, each with its own database file (node_0.redb, node_1.redb, etc.)
• Each node connects to all other nodes in the network
• The client connects to all nodes for redundancy
• Nodes listen on ports 8081, 8082, 8083, and 8084
• The client listens on port 8080

Using the Testnet

Once the testnet is running, you can interact with it via the client API:

• Send a message: curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/messages -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"sender":"alice", "recipient":"bob", "text":"Hello!", "timestamp":1234567890}'
• Get all messages: curl http://localhost:8080/messages
• Get network status: curl http://localhost:8080/network

You can also interact directly with individual nodes using similar endpoints.

Stopping the Testnet

To stop the testnet, press Ctrl+C in the terminal where it's running. The script will handle proper shutdown of all processes.