<p>You can use Bitcoin-CLI with only a partial copy of the blockchain. Obviously it will be limited in what it can do.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-27T09:57:20.707Z
2022-09-27T09:57:20.707Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>For testing, you can run your node on testnet or signet which have much smaller blockchains, or run on regtest where there is no blockchain to download. If you need to run on mainnet but don't want to download the blockchain, you can disable all connections on your node. Of course, most CLI commands will be useless that way.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-02T14:26:51.900Z
That would work for me. I will try and see how to run my node on testnet. I read it is only like this  `bitcoind --testnet`
Niklas Rosencrantz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-27T12:09:55.097Z
2022-09-27T12:09:55.097Z
Vojtěch Strnad
<p>I want to try and compile and run bitcoin-cli locally. Do I need to download the entire blockchain first?</p>

<bitcoin-core><blockchain><development><bitcoin-cli><storage-footprint>
Do I need to download the entire blockchain in order to use bitcoin-cli?
Niklas Rosencrantz
# Do I need to download the entire blockchain in order to use bitcoin-cli?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-27)

I want to try and compile and run bitcoin-cli locally. Do I need to download the entire blockchain first?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, blockchain, development, bitcoin-cli, storage-footprint


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-09-27. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

For testing, you can run your node on testnet or signet which have much smaller blockchains, or run on regtest where there is no blockchain to download. If you need to run on mainnet but don't want to download the blockchain, you can disable all connections on your node. Of course, most CLI commands will be useless that way.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That would work for me. I will try and see how to run my node on testnet. I read it is only like this  `bitcoind --testnet`  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2022-09-27. Score: 2

You can use Bitcoin-CLI with only a partial copy of the blockchain. Obviously it will be limited in what it can do.


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