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Local Development

Developing Substreams locally provides several advantages over using production endpoints:

  • Faster iteration cycles - No network latency or rate limits

  • Complete control - Customize blockchain state and transactions

  • Cost-effective - No API usage fees during development

  • Reproducible testing - Consistent blockchain state for testing

  • Offline development - Work without internet connectivity

This section provides complete local development environments for different blockchain platforms, each including:

  • Local blockchain node (development mode)

  • Firehose integration for block streaming

  • Example smart contracts/programs

  • Complete Substreams modules

  • Docker Compose orchestration

Available Platforms

Ethereum Development

  • Ethereum with HardHat - Complete Ethereum development environment using HardHat for contract deployment and testing

  • Ethereum with Foundry - Alternative Ethereum setup using Foundry toolkit for faster compilation and deployment

Solana Development

  • Solana with Anchor - Complete Solana development environment using Anchor framework for program development

Prerequisites

Before starting with any platform, ensure you have:

  • Docker 20.10+ with Docker Compose v2.0+

  • 4GB RAM and 20GB disk space available

  • Substreams CLI v1.7.0+ (installation guide)

  • Rust with wasm32-unknown-unknown target

  • Platform-specific tools (detailed in each guide)

When to Use Local vs Production

Use local development when:

  • Building and testing new Substreams modules

  • Learning Substreams concepts

  • Developing with custom smart contracts

  • Need reproducible test scenarios

  • Working offline or with limited connectivity

Use production endpoints when:

  • Consuming real blockchain data

  • Building production applications

  • Need access to historical data

  • Require high availability and reliability

Getting Started

Choose your preferred blockchain platform from the guides above. Each guide provides:

  1. 15-25 minute complete setup time

  2. Step-by-step instructions with validation commands

  3. Working examples you can modify and extend

  4. Troubleshooting sections for common issues

  5. Next steps for advanced development

These Docker configurations are for local development only - never use in production environments.

Additional Resources

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