counterparty-lib 9.55.1

Counterparty Protocol Reference Implementation

[](https://travis-ci.org/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-lib)
[](https://circleci.com/gh/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-lib)
[](https://coveralls.io/r/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-lib?branch=develop)
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/counterparty-lib/)
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/counterparty-lib/)
[](http://slack.counterparty.io)
[](https://hub.docker.com/r/counterparty/counterparty-server/)


# Description
`counterparty-lib` is the reference implementation of the [Counterparty Protocol](https://counterparty.io).

**Note:** for the command-line interface to `counterparty-lib`, see [`counterparty-cli`](https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-cli).


# Installation

For a simple Docker-based install of the Counterparty software stack, see [this guide](http://counterparty.io/docs/federated_node/).


# Manual installation

Download the newest [patched Bitcoin Core](https://github.com/btcdrak/bitcoin/releases) and create
a `bitcoin.conf` file with the following options:

```
rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
rpcpassword=rpc
server=1
txindex=1
addrindex=1
rpcthreads=100
rpctimeout=300
```

Then, download and install `counterparty-lib`:

```
$ git clone https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-lib.git
$ cd counterparty-lib
$ sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt
$ sudo python3 setup.py install
```

Followed by `counterparty-cli`:

```
$ git clone https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-cli.git
$ cd counterparty-cli
$ sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt
$ sudo python3 setup.py install
```

Then, launch the daemon via:

```
$ counterparty-server bootstrap
$ counterparty-server --backend-password=rpc start
```

# Basic Usage

## Via command-line

(Requires `counterparty-cli` to be installed.)

* The first time you run the server, you may bootstrap the local database with:
`$ counterparty-server bootstrap`

* Start the server with:
`$ counterparty-server start`

* Check the status of the server with:
`$ counterparty-client getinfo`

* For additional command-line arguments and options:
`$ counterparty-server --help`
`$ counterparty-client --help`

## Via Python

Bare usage from Python is also possible, without installing `counterparty-cli`:

```
$ python3
>>> from counterpartylib import server
>>> db = server.initialise(<options>)
>>> server.start_all(db)
```

# Configuration and Operation

The paths to the **configuration** files, **log** files and **database** files are printed to the screen when starting the server in ‘verbose’ mode:
`$ counterparty-server --verbose start`

By default, the **configuration files** are named `server.conf` and `client.conf` and located in the following directories:

* Linux: `~/.config/counterparty/`
* Windows: `%APPDATA%\Counterparty\`

Client and Server log files are named `counterparty.client.[testnet.]log` and `counterparty.server.[testnet.]log`, and located in the following directories:

* Linux: `~/.cache/counterparty/log/`
* Windows: `%APPDATA%\Local\Counterparty\counterparty\Logs`

Counterparty API activity is logged in `server.[testnet.]api.log` and `client.[testnet.]api.log`.

Counterparty database files are by default named `counterparty.[testnet.]db` and located in the following directories:

* Linux: `~/.local/share/counterparty`
* Windows: `%APPDATA%\Roaming\Counterparty\counterparty`

## Configuration File Format

Manual configuration is not necessary for most use cases.

A `counterparty-server` configuration file looks like this:

[Default]
backend-name = addrindex
backend-user = <user>
backend-password = <password>
rpc-host = 0.0.0.0
rpc-user = <rpcuser>
rpc-password = <rpcpassword>

A `counterparty-client` configuration file looks like this:

[Default]
wallet-name = bitcoincore
wallet-connect = localhost
wallet-user = <user>
wallet-password = <password>
counterparty-rpc-connect = localhost
counterparty-rpc-user = <rpcuser>
counterparty-rpc-password = <password>


# Developer notes

## Versioning

* Major version changes require a full (automatic) rebuild of the database.
* Minor version changes require a(n automatic) database reparse.
* All protocol changes are retroactive on testnet.

## Continuous integration
- TravisCI is setup to run all tests with 1 command and generate a coverage report and let `python-coveralls` parse and upload it.
It does runs with `--skiptestbook=all` so it will not do the reparsing of the bootstrap files.
- CircleCI is setup to split the tests as much as possible to make it easier to read the error reports.
It also runs the `integration_test.test_book` tests, which reparse the bootstrap files.


# Further Reading

* [Official Project Documentation](http://counterparty.io/docs/)