Getting Started

This guide will help you set up your environment and start building on Sova.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed:

• Rust and Cargo (latest stable version)

• A Bitcoin node (regtest)

Step 1: Install Sova

1. Clone the Sova repository:

   1. git clone COMING SOON!!
      cd sova

2. Build the project:

   1. cargo build --release

Step 2: Configure Your Environment

1. Set up your Bitcoin node (if not already running).

   1. Use the Sova demo node at <https://regtest.oncorsa.com:18334>. This is a full regtest node any developer can use.

      1. Username: rpcusername

      2. Password: rpcpassword

   2. btc-dev-utils is a quick way to spin up a dev environment.

      1. Install dependancies with just install-deps

      2. Build with Cargo just build

      3. Create a configuration file settings.toml in the btc-dev-utils project root:

         1. network = "regtest" # use "testnet" for testnet3 and "mainnet" for Bitcoin mainnet
            network_url = "http://127.0.0.1"
            bitcoin_rpc_username = "your_rpc_username"
            bitcoin_rpc_password = "your_rpc_password"
            create_wallets = true

      4. Run a local Bitcoin Regtest chain with just start-bitcoind

Step 3: Run Sova Node

Start your Sova node using the following command:

cd sova
just run-chain --btc-network "regtest" --network-url "http://127.0.0.1" --btc-rpc-username "your_rpc_username" --btc-rpc-password "your_rpc_password"

Your node should now be running and connecting to the specified Bitcoin network. You can test the connection by getting the current block height.

cd sova
just get-block-height

Step 4: Interact with Sova

You can interact with Sova using web3.js or ethers.js libraries. Here's a quick example using ethers.js:

const { ethers } = require("ethers");

const provider = new ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider("http://localhost:8545");
const signer = provider.getSigner();

// Example: Calling a Bitcoin precompile
const BITCOIN_PRECOMPILE_ADDRESS = "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000999";

async function getBitcoinBlockCount() {
  const data = "0x00000001";  // Method selector for get_block_count
  const result = await signer.call({
    to: BITCOIN_PRECOMPILE_ADDRESS,
    data: data
  });
  return ethers.BigNumber.from(result).toNumber();
}

getBitcoinBlockCount().then(console.log);

Next Steps

Now that you have Sova up and running, you can:

Explore our API documentation to learn about all available Bitcoin precompiles. Deploy your own smart contracts that interact with Bitcoin functionality. Join our community forums to connect with other developers and get support.