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CLIChain

Overview​

This document provides a detailed overview of CLIChain, a powerful and user-friendly command-line tool for managing cryptographic keys and operations. It simplifies operations commonly used in blockchain technologies:

  • Generating ECDSA secp256k1 private keys
  • Deriving public keys from private keys
  • Signing messages using private keys

CLIChain is implemented in Go, leveraging the Cobra library for a robust command-line interface and the Ethereum library for secure cryptographic operations. These integrations make CLIChain a reliable choice for developers working with blockchain and cryptographic applications.

The main use cases include the following:

  • Blockchain development: Generate keys and sign transactions for blockchain applications.
  • Secure communication: Create key pairs for encrypted communication systems.
  • Digital signatures: Sign important documents or messages to ensure authenticity.

Commands​

Generate a private key​

  • Command: generate
  • Description: Generates a new ECDSA secp256k1 private key.
  • Usage: 
    clichain generate --output <filename>
  • Example: 
    clichain generate --output mykey.pem
    • Generates a new private key and saves it to mykey.pem.
    • If no output file is specified, the key is printed to stdout.

Derive a public key​

  • Command: public-key

  • Description: Derives the public key from a provided private key.

  • Usage:

    clichain public-key --key <private-key-file> --output <format>
    • Supported output formats: binary, hex, base64.

  • Example:

    clichain public-key --key mykey.pem --output hex
    • Reads the private key from mykey.pem.
    • Derives and outputs the public key in the hexadecimal format.
    • Default input file is private.key if not specified.

Sign a message​

  • Command: sign

  • Description: Signs a message using a specified private key.

  • Usage:

    clichain sign --key <private-key-file> --message <message-file> --output <format>
    • Supported output formats: binary, hex, base64.

  • Example:

    clichain sign --key mykey.pem --message message.txt --output base64
    • Signs the contents of message.txt using the private key in mykey.pem.
    • Outputs the signature in the base64 format.
    • If no message file is specified, the message is read from stdin.

Dependencies​

CLIChain relies on the following Go packages:

Error handling​

CLIChain provides comprehensive error handling with detailed messages. Errors are wrapped using fmt.Errorf() and include descriptive messages to help users quickly identify and resolve issues.