2.8 KiB
Interacting with Monero
You can interact with Monero via desktop GUI, commandline interface, and programming API.
On top of that, Monero nodes interact with each other in a peer-to-peer network.
Installation directory overview
This considers the released version of Monero software. Once unpacked, you will notice six executable files:
Separation of node and wallet
Monero project nicely decouples node logic monerod from wallet logic monero-wallet-*.
Wallet logic is offered through three independent user interfaces - the GUI, the CLI, and the HTTP API.
| Executable | Description |
|---|---|
monerod |
The full node daemon. Does not require a wallet. |
monero-wallet-gui |
Wallet logic and graphical user interface. Requires monerod running. |
monero-wallet-cli |
Wallet logic and commandline user interface. Requires monerod running. |
monero-wallet-rpc |
Wallet logic and HTTP API (JSON-RPC protocol). Requires monerod running. |
monero-blockchain-export |
Tool to export blockchain to blockchain.raw file. |
monero-blockchain-import |
Tool to import blockchain.raw - ideally your own trusted copy. |
Interacting
There are quite a few ways you can interact with Monero software.
Perhaps the most surprising for newcomers is that monerod daemon accepts interactive keyboard commands while it is running.
Also, please note that HTTP API is split across monerod and monero-wallet-rpc. You need to run and call both daemons to explore the full API.
This follows the node-logic vs wallet-logic split mentioned earlier.
All wallet implementations depend on the monerod running.
| Executable | p2p network | node commands via keyboard | node HTTP API | wallet commands via keyboard | wallet HTTP API | wallet via GUI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
monerod |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
monero-wallet-cli |
✔ | |||||
monero-wallet-rpc |
✔ | |||||
monero-wallet-gui |
✔ |