Before you launch a spaceship, you need a launchpad. In Warden’s ecosystem, that launchpad is your account — a key entity tied to your identity and assets. Whether you’re about to deploy your first smart contract or explore the testnet frontier, it all begins with setting up this digital passport.

Think of it like creating a gamer profile before entering a new MMORPG. No matter how powerful your gear is, you can’t swing a sword until you’ve got a name and a slot in the world.

Let’s walk through how to establish your Warden identity — both on a local chain for safe offline experimentation, and on Chiado, the testnet stage where your contract can dance in public.

If you're the kind of builder who prefers to break things in private before going live, the local chain is your playground. It’s your offline test bench — think of it like playing with Lego before switching to cement and steel.

Instead of juggling dozens of configurations manually, Warden offers a neat shortcut: the just script. This setup is like installing a fully-stocked development toolkit with one command.

1. Make sure you’ve got:

   • Go 1.24+ installed

   • just v1.34+ (install via brew install just)

2. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/warden-protocol/wardenprotocol cd wardenprotocol

3. Start your local chain:

   just localnet

When you see block height ticking up, you’re in business. Warden’s local chain comes preloaded with a validator and a default key named shulgin — your local hero.

🧠 Pro tip: You can peek under the hood by inspecting ~/.warden/config/genesis.json.

Your account key is your identity — your name tag, locker key, and bank card all rolled into one. Let’s see what keys you’ve got:

wardend keys list

If you’re using the default setup, you’ll likely see shulgin. Want to check its funds?

wardend query bank balances shulgin

💡 If you're creating your own key, transfer funds from shulgin to your new key using the local faucet or direct transfer.

To sign transactions or deploy contracts, you’ll need your private key — the digital equivalent of the master key to your safe.

wardend keys export shulgin --unarmored-hex --unsafe

Handle it like you'd handle plutonium. One slip, and someone else might end up with your tokens.

Local testing is great — but real validation happens in public. Chiado is Warden’s proving ground: a sandbox with real-time rules and faucet-funded tokens. It’s where ideas are stress-tested.

Clone the protocol and get your toolkit ready:

git clone --depth 1 --branch v0.6.3 https://github.com/warden-protocol/wardenprotocol cd wardenprotocol just wardend build just wardend install wardend init my-chain-moniker

You’ve now got the engine. Let’s give it a driver.

Generate your key:

wardend keys add my-key-name

You’ll receive a mnemonic phrase and a public address. Guard that seed phrase like it’s a recovery code to your vault — because that’s exactly what it is.

To get some fuel, go to the Chiado faucet and paste your public address. After that, check your balance:

wardend query bank balances my-key-name --node https://rpc.chiado.wardenprotocol.org:443

Just like on localnet, you’ll need the private key if you plan to deploy EVM smart contracts:

wardend keys export my-key-name --unarmored-hex --unsafe

Remember: seed = recovery. Private key = signing power. Never share either.

Just like learning shortcuts in Photoshop or Blender, mastering a few Warden CLI commands can save you hours.

Chain IDs identify which network you're interacting with — kind of like postal codes for your blockchain neighborhood.

wardend status

Find network in the response.

Lost your local key? Recover it with the original mnemonic:

wardend keys add my-key-name --recover

Need to share your address to get paid or funded?

wardend keys show my-key-name --address

Want to send funds from one local key to another?

wardend tx bank send \ shulgin \ $(wardend keys show --address my-key-name) \ 1000000000000000000award \ --chain-id warden_1337-1

On Chiado, just use the faucet.

In Warden, Spaces are more than just conceptual folders. They’re hubs that help manage and organize keys, identities, and permissions — like a dashboard for your decentralized life.

Create a Space:

wardend tx warden new-space \ --from shulgin \ --chain-id warden_1337-1

List your latest Spaces:

wardend query warden spaces --page-limit 5 --page-reverse

You’ll see creator addresses, IDs, and owners — all tied to identity records.

Setting up a Warden account isn’t just a step — it’s your origin story in a decentralized world. Just as a Steam account connects you to hundreds of games, or an AWS IAM key grants you cloud superpowers, your Warden key unlocks access to experimentation, deployment, and eventually — production-grade innovation.

In the end, this process isn’t about keys or configs. It’s about taking your first step toward building something real, secure, and decentralized — block by block.