| title | Concepts |
|---|---|
| description | Overview of core icp-cli concepts including project model, build lifecycle, environments, recipes, and canister discovery. |
Understanding how icp-cli organizes and manages your project.
- Project Model — How icp-cli discovers and consolidates configuration
- Build, Deploy, Sync — The three phases of the deployment lifecycle
- Environments and Networks — Deployment targets and how they relate
- Recipes — Templated, reusable build configurations
- Sync Plugins — Sandboxed WebAssembly components that run during the sync phase
- Canister Discovery — How canisters discover each other
- Project Dependencies — Depending on other vendored icp projects and deploying them as a workspace
- Binding Generation — Type-safe canister interfaces
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Project | A directory containing icp.yaml and your canister source code |
| Canister | A unit of deployment on the Internet Computer — your compiled WASM plus settings |
| Network | An ICP network endpoint — local (managed by icp-cli) or remote (mainnet, testnet) |
| Environment | A named deployment target combining a network with canister settings |
| Recipe | A Handlebars template that generates build and sync configuration |
| Sync plugin | A sandboxed WebAssembly component that runs post-deployment logic during icp sync |
| Principal | A public identifier for an identity or canister on the Internet Computer |