Create IC App

Modern, unopinionated frontend templates for the Internet Computer powered by ViteJS

Requirements

• DFINITY Canister SDK

DFX_VERSION=0.7.0 sh -ci "$(curl -fsSL https://sdk.dfinity.org/install.sh)" 

• NodeJS >=16.0.0

Get Started

npx create-ic-app

After the setup is done

cd test-project
npm install

Start the backend

dfx start --background
dfx deploy

Start the frontend

npm run dev

Thats it! The counter demo is persisted on your local Internet Computer.

Adding / Removing / Renaming Canisters

You will have to edit 3 files:

• dfx.json
• tsconfig.json
• src/agent.ts

More detailed instructions later. For now see how it's done in those files for the example counter canister.

Deploying Asset Canister

For now you can only do this through Fleek.

• Remove ic-dfx-utils from the project
• Choose fleek/create-react-app as the docker image in fleek
• Set publish directory as dist

[Experimental] Watch mode for canisters

This will auto build and install your canisters whenever you make a change to them

npm run watch

FAQ

Q: Is this usable for real apps or just for toys?

A: Yes 100% usable. You don't have to use webpack anymore. ViteJS bundles with rollup when you run the npm run build command. This can result in even smaller sizes than with webpack (which most frameworks are leaving behind). However when developing it skips that because it's unnecessary, and hence provides a better experience.

Q: I'm getting compilation errors like:

ReferenceError: Buffer is not defined

A: Double check that @dfinity/... versions in package.json are the same as in the original templates. I've locked them to specific versions for now because newer ones are causing issues.

Q: I want to modify things like directory structure. Can I?

A: Yes! Go wild. ViteJS is very customizable and has excellent documentation. This project is only aiming to provide useful defaults and to get you started quickly.

Community templates / Contributions

Want to contribute your own template? Find something that could be improved? Repo is open for PRs! Happy to assist you in this. You'll receive full credit for your contribution of course.

Contributions

@ferMartz (React JS + Tailwind template)