Substrate enables developers to quickly and easily build future-proof blockchains optimized for any use case.

All of the Substrate tutorials and how-to guides require you to build and run a Substrate node in your development environment. To this end, the Substrate Developer Hub (Devhub) maintains various templates for your use.

The base node template {at the latest release tag} includes everything you need to get started with minimal features, acting as a basis to adds more to!

This Quick start assumes that you are setting up a development environment for the first time and want to try out running a single template node on your local computer.

To keep things simple, you'll connect to the local node using a web browser and look up a balance for a predefined sample account.

Before you begin

Before you begin, verify the following:

You have an internet connection and access to a shell prompt on your local computer's terminal.
You are generally familiar with software development and using command-line interfaces.
You have the required packages for Substrate development installed. See the Install section before you continue to ensure you will not run into compilation errors.

Build the node template

Clone the node template repository using the latest tag by running the following command:

git clone --branch latest --depth 1 https://github.com/substrate-developer-hub/substrate-node-template

Change to the root of the cloned directory:
```
cd substrate-node-template
```
Compile the node template:
```
cargo b -r
```
Because of the number of crates involved, compiling the node can take several minutes.

Start a node

Verify that your node is ready to use and see information about the command-line options available by running the following command:
```
./target/release/node-template --help
```
The usage information displays the command-line options you can use to:
- start the node
- work with accounts
- modify node operations

View account information for the predefined alice account by running the following command:

./target/release/node-template key inspect //alice

The command displays the following account information:

Secret Key URI //alice is account:
Secret seed:       0xc166b100911b1e9f780bb66d13badf2c1edbe94a1220f1a0584c09490158be31
Public key (hex):  0xc81ebbec0559a6acf184535eb19da51ed3ed8c4ac65323999482aaf9b6696e27
Account ID:        0xc81ebbec0559a6acf184535eb19da51ed3ed8c4ac65323999482aaf9b6696e27
Public key (SS58): 5Gb6Zfe8K8NSKrkFLCgqs8LUdk7wKweXM5pN296jVqDpdziR
SS58 Address:      5Gb6Zfe8K8NSKrkFLCgqs8LUdk7wKweXM5pN296jVqDpdziR

Start the node in development mode by running the following command:
```
./target/release/node-template --dev
```
In development mode, the chain doesn't require any peer computers to finalize blocks. As the node starts, the terminal displays output about the operations performed. If you see messages that blocks are being proposed and finalized, you have a running node.
```
... Idle (0 peers), best: #3 (0xcc78…5cb1), finalized #1 ...
... Starting consensus session on top of parent ...
... Prepared block for proposing at 4 (0 ms) ...
```

Connect to the node

Use the hosted version of the feature-rich Polkadot Apps User Interface (UI).

https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=ws%3A%2F%2F127.0.0.1%3A9944#/explorer
Navigate to the Accounts page, and attempt a transfer from some development pre-funded accounts.

Stop the node

Go to the terminal that displays blockchain operations.
Stop the local blockchain and clear all state by pressing ctrl-c.

Next steps

🎉Congratulations!🎉

You now have a operational blockchain and are ready to start learning how to customize it!