Creating Custom Assets

This tutorial walks you through how to create and manage custom assets on the VSL network using the vsl-cli tool.

We assume you already have the CLI installed and have created at least one account. If not, check out our Creating Accounts tutorial first.

Step 1: Enter REPL Mode

We recommend starting in REPL mode. This gives you an interactive shell-like environment for chaining commands:

vsl-cli repl --tmp-config

Step 2: Connect to a Network

You can either run a local VSL node or connect to the remote devnet.

Option A: Launch a Local Node

vsl> server:launch --db tmp --genesis-file "genesis.json"

Your genesis.json file should contain the initial account(s) that will be authorized to create the asset.

Option B: Use Remote Devnet

vsl> network:add remote --url https://rpc.vsl.pi2.network
vsl> network:use remote

Check that you're connected:

vsl> health:check

Step 3: Select the Account to Use

Make sure you're using the account that will own and mint the new asset:

vsl> account:use alice

You can verify the active account:

vsl> account:current

Step 4: Create a Custom Asset

Now you can create a new token. You’ll need to specify the token symbol and the total supply.

vsl> asset:create --symbol DEMO --supply 0x1000

This creates an asset named DEMO with a supply of 0x1000 (4096 in decimal) owned by the currently active account.

To confirm it was created:

vsl> asset:get DEMO

Step 5: Check Asset Balances

To check how much of a given asset the current account owns:

vsl> asset:balance DEMO

Or check balances for all assets:

vsl> asset:balances

Step 6: Transfer Assets

To transfer some amount of your custom asset to another account (e.g. bob):

vsl> asset:transfer --asset DEMO --to bob --amount 0x64

To verify the recipient received the asset:

vsl> account:use bob
vsl> asset:balance DEMO

Cleanup (Optional)

To clean up your local environment:

vsl> account:remove alice
vsl> account:remove bob
vsl> network:remove remote
vsl> server:stop

Next Steps

You’ve successfully created and transferred a custom asset on the VSL network. From here, you can explore submitting and settling claims.

Don’t forget that you can join our Discord community to ask questions or get support.