LEARN HOLONET/Tutorials
TutorialHoloNET 4.x · Holochain 0.7.0 / 0.7.1

Up and running in 5 minutes

You'll build: a working .NET app that saves and loads data on Holochain, from one command, in the kind of app you already build (web, desktop, mobile, game). Time: 5 minutes. You need: the .NET 10 SDK. That's all: on Windows the app bundles the conductor, and on Linux and macOS HoloNET downloads the official one the first time it runs (see Where the conductor comes from). Mobile and browser templates connect to a conductor you run.

HoloNET has project templates for the popular .NET app types, each with HoloNET already wired in. You choose the app type, and which HoloNET library it uses.

1. Install the templates

bash
dotnet new install NextGenSoftware.Holochain.HoloNET.Templates

2. Create an app

Pick the app type you want:

bash
dotnet new holonet-console -n MyApp       # console
dotnet new holonet-blazor -n MyApp        # Blazor web app
dotnet new holonet-wpf -n MyApp           # WPF desktop app
dotnet new holonet-maui -n MyApp          # .NET MAUI (mobile and desktop)

The full list is in Templates: console, worker service, Web API, MVC, Razor Pages, Blazor (server and WebAssembly), WPF, WinForms, WinUI, Avalonia, MAUI, MAUI Blazor, Uno, Android, iOS and Unity.

3. Run it

bash
cd MyApp
dotnet run

On Windows the app bundles the Holochain conductor, starts it when your app starts and stops it when it ends. A console app prints something like this:

text
greeting = Hello, Holochain!
visits = 1
ada's score = 9001
missing key: IsSuccess = False

For a web or desktop template, open the HoloNET page or press the Run the HoloNET demo button.

A mobile or browser template, or a project created with --Conductor external? Those use a conductor you run yourself. Start one in another terminal with the script that came with your project (it needs Holochain 0.7.x on your PATH):

bash
./start-conductor.sh

4. Read the one file

Everything HoloNET does in your app is in HoloNETDemo.cs. With the default library (the one-line API) it's this:

csharp
await HoloNETAPI.SaveDataAsync("greeting", "Hello, Holochain!");
string greeting = (await HoloNETAPI.LoadDataAsync("greeting")).Result;

Replace the demo with your own code, and you have an app on Holochain.

5. Try a different library

Create the same app again with another --HoloNET choice:

bash
dotnet new holonet-console -n MyOrmApp --HoloNET orm          # save your own C# classes
dotnet new holonet-console -n MyClientApp --HoloNET client    # full control: install a hApp, zome calls, signals
dotnet new holonet-console -n MyGameApp --HoloNET hypernet    # player-to-player messaging

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