How to create a virtual network

Start Studio from the project root:

acton studio

1. Open Virtual environments → Create environment.
2. Select Simulator or Localnet and enter a name.
3. For a simulator, keep Clean network or choose a public-network fork.
4. Select project wallets under Startup accounts, or clear the selection for no startup wallets.
5. Select Create environment and wait for readiness. Open the resulting environment.

Studio preselects [localnet].accounts, but initializes only the wallets submitted in the form. Each selected wallet starts with 100 GRAM.

Start a persistent network on port 5411:

acton simulator start --port 5411 --db-path .acton/simulator.sqlite --accounts deployer

The deployer must be a configured wallet. Omit --accounts to use [localnet].accounts, or pass --accounts "" to select none. Keep this terminal open.

In another terminal, inspect readiness:

acton simulator status --port 5411 --json

Configure defaults in Acton.toml; explicit flags override them.

Create a named network and leave it running in the background:

acton localnet start dev --port-base 19000 --accounts deployer --detach
acton localnet status dev --json

The command waits for readiness and prints endpoint URLs.

The deployer must be a configured wallet. Omit --accounts to use [localnet].accounts, or pass --accounts "" for no project wallets.

The port range 19000–19004 must be free. Omit --port-base to let Acton choose a range.

These options apply to new networks. Resume an existing network without creation options.