Running the Network

This guide covers basic operations for your local blockchain: a Hyperledger Besu QBFT network (a Byzantine-fault-tolerant flavor of Proof-of-Authority).

Starting Services

Start Besu + Blockscout


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run start

Start Only the Besu Validator


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run start:node

Stopping Services


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run stop

To stop only the validator compose file:


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run stop:node

Reading Logs

View all logs:


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run logs

Besu-only logs:


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run logs:node

Blockscout frontend/backend logs:


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run logs:blockscout

Using RPC to Communicate

The node exposes standard Ethereum JSON-RPC at:

HTTP: http://localhost:8545
WebSocket: ws://localhost:8546

Test the connection:


curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}' \
  http://localhost:8545

Besu exposes the same Ethereum JSON-RPC API surface, so any tools compatible with Geth endpoints will work.

Using Blockscout

Access at http://<BLOCKSCOUT_PUBLIC_HOST>:${BLOCKSCOUT_PORT} (defaults to http://localhost:4000). Use your LAN IP as BLOCKSCOUT_PUBLIC_HOST if browsing from phones/tablets.

Blockscout provides:

Block and transaction explorer
Address balance and history lookup
Smart contract verification
Token tracking (ERC-20/721/1155)
API for programmatic access

For detailed features and usage, see Blockscout documentation .

Deleting Data

Clean Everything


pnpm --filter local-blockchain run clean

Prompts before stopping containers, removing Docker volumes, deleting Besu data, validator keys, genesis, and the Blockscout clone. Run pnpm --filter local-blockchain run setup afterward to re-initialize.