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Marlowe CLI

  • Provides capabilities to work with Marlowe's Plutus validators and run Marlowe contracts manually.
  • Lightweight: no other tools or services needed.
  • Executable program: marlowe-cli.

Marlowe CLI is a command-line tool that provides access to Marlowe capabilities on testnet and mainnet. It is specifically built for running Marlowe contracts directly without needing a web browser or mobile app.

Just as the cardano-cli tool enables plain transactions, simple scripts, and Plutus scripts, the Marlowe CLI tool facilitates your ability to interact with and develop Marlowe contracts. You can measure transaction size, submit transactions, test your integration with wallets, and debug validators. The tool provides a very concrete representation of Marlowe contracts that is quite close to what is occurring on-chain.

You can create your own workflow that operates Marlowe or your own toolset so you can wrap the Marlowe CLI tool in the way that developers have wrapped cardano-cli to create services such as libraries, faucets, and marketplaces.

A high level overview of how marlowe-cli is used with a typical workflow is shown below:

flowchart TD
    A([User decides on contract and its parameters]) --> B[<b>marlowe-cli template</b><br><i>Create a contract from a template.</i>]
    A --> C[<i>Design and download a contract using Marlowe Playground</i>]
    B --> D[<b>marlowe-cli run initialize</b><br><i>Bundle the information needed to start the contract.</i>]
    C --> D
    D --> E[<b>marlowe-cli run execute</b><br><i>Submit to the blockchain the transaction for the next step on the contract.</i>]
    E --> F[Payments]
    E --> | Contract is not complete | G([User decides on next input to the contract])
    E --> | 'When' clause times out  | H[<b>marlowe-cli run prepare</b><br><i>Prepare the next step of the contract.</i>]
    E --> | Contract is complete. | I([Finish.])
    F --> J[<b>marlowe-cli run withdraw</b><br><i>Withdraw funds from the contract.</i>]
    G --> H
    H --> E

See the ReadMe for more complete details on the full set of commands and feature flags.