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The Canton Console is an interactive Scala REPL that connects to Canton nodes for administration, debugging, and automation. It provides direct access to participant, sequencer, and mediator operations through a typed API. For full operational documentation, see the Global Synchronizer section, which covers node setup and management in detail. This page provides a brief orientation to the Console as a development and operations tool.

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Overview

The Console is bundled with the Canton distribution. When you start a Canton process, the Console is available as an interactive shell. You can also connect a remote Console to a running node.
For operational guidance — node setup, party management, topology administration, debugging workflows — see the Canton Console group under Global Synchronizer. This page focuses on the Console as a CLI development tool.
What you can do with the Console:
  • Party management — Create parties, list hosted parties, manage party-to-participant mappings
  • Package management — Upload DAR files, inspect deployed packages, check package dependencies
  • Synchronizer connections — Connect participants to synchronizers, list connections, manage reconnection
  • Topology management — View and modify the topology state (key rotations, namespace delegations, party allocations)
  • Health monitoring — Check node status, view active connections, inspect processing queues
  • Debugging — Inspect transaction trees, check conflict states, trace command processing

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Quick Examples

@ participant1.parties.list()
    res1: Seq[ListPartiesResult] = Vector(
      ListPartiesResult(
        partyResult = participant1::12201ff69b1d...,
        participants = Vector(
          ParticipantSynchronizers(
            participant = PAR::participant1::12201ff69b1d...,
            synchronizers = Vector(
              SynchronizerPermission(synchronizerId = da::122032922613..., permission = Submission)
            )
          )
        )
      )
    )

@ participant1.dars.upload("dars/CantonExamples.dar")
    res2: String = "8287d565fd2ff8ed827bcea37cee0b66edd7278fe0d712abbce3fbb7313a1e25"

@ participant1.health.status
    res3: NodeStatus[ParticipantStatus] = Participant id: PAR::participant1::12201ff69b1d24edbf0ee2028a304ea702ee8536790dab1a31e7136e6d90ff6d473c
    Uptime: 18.846674s
    Ports: 
    	ledger: 32866
    	admin: 32867
    	json: 32868
    Connected synchronizers: 
    	da::122032922613...::35-0
    Unhealthy synchronizers: None
    Active: true
    Components: 
    	memory_storage : Ok()
    	connected-synchronizer : Ok()
    	sync-ephemeral-state : Ok()
    	sequencer-client : Ok()
    	acs-commitment-processor : Ok()
    	sequencer-connection-pool : Ok()
    	sequencer-subscription-pool : Ok()
    	internal-sequencer-connection-sequencer1-0 : Ok()
    	subscription-sequencer-connection-sequencer1-0 : Ok()
    Version: 3.6.0-SNAPSHOT
    Supported protocol version(s): 35, dev

@ participant1.synchronizers.list_connected()
    res4: Seq[ListConnectedSynchronizersResult] = Vector(
      ListConnectedSynchronizersResult(
        synchronizerAlias = Synchronizer 'da',
        physicalSynchronizerId = da::122032922613...::35-0,
        healthy = true
      )
    )

@ participant1.parties.enable("Alice")
    res5: PartyId = Alice::12201ff69b1d...

​
Node References

The Console organizes operations by node type. Each node type exposes a different set of commands: Validator (participant) — The most commonly used reference. The console object is named participant. Handles party management, package uploads, ledger operations, and synchronizer connections. 
@ participant1.parties.list()
    res6: Seq[ListPartiesResult] = Vector(
      ListPartiesResult(
        partyResult = participant1::12201ff69b1d...,
        participants = Vector(
          ParticipantSynchronizers(
            participant = PAR::participant1::12201ff69b1d...,
            synchronizers = Vector(
              SynchronizerPermission(synchronizerId = da::122032922613..., permission = Submission)
            )
          )
        )
      ),
      ListPartiesResult(
        partyResult = Alice::12201ff69b1d...,
        participants = Vector(
          ParticipantSynchronizers(
            participant = PAR::participant1::12201ff69b1d...,
            synchronizers = Vector(
              SynchronizerPermission(synchronizerId = da::122032922613..., permission = Submission)
            )
          )
        )
      )
    )

@ participant1.dars.upload("dars/CantonExamples.dar")
    res7: String = "8287d565fd2ff8ed827bcea37cee0b66edd7278fe0d712abbce3fbb7313a1e25"

@ participant1.synchronizers.list_connected()
    res8: Seq[ListConnectedSynchronizersResult] = Vector(
      ListConnectedSynchronizersResult(
        synchronizerAlias = Synchronizer 'da',
        physicalSynchronizerId = da::122032922613...::35-0,
        healthy = true
      )
    )
Sequencer node — Manages message ordering for a synchronizer. 
@ sequencer1.health.status
    res9: NodeStatus[sequencer1.Status] = Sequencer id: sequencer1::1220cb0a22fb0aef9243a11f778497d7cacb19f9c4bcc7606776a109983edfaa6b4a
    Synchronizer id: da::122032922613929d67857e621fb13e3da49ec13883e24908404520319eee6d31fb4d::35-0
    Uptime: 23.068632s
    Ports: 
    	public: 32870
    	admin: 32871
    Connected participants: 
    	PAR::participant1::12201ff69b1d...
    Connected mediators: 
    	MED::mediator1::122009299340...
    Sequencer: SequencerHealthStatus(active = true)
    details-extra: None
    Components: 
    	memory_storage : Ok()
    	sequencer : Ok()
    Accepts admin changes: true
    Version: 3.6.0-SNAPSHOT
    Protocol version: 35
Mediator node — Handles transaction confirmation for a synchronizer. 
@ mediator1.health.status
    res10: NodeStatus[mediator1.Status] = Node uid: mediator1::12200929934059da3e012af672ee8a5d26a7e4b3e5084920be298f791f7619843c78
    Synchronizer id: da::122032922613929d67857e621fb13e3da49ec13883e24908404520319eee6d31fb4d::35-0
    Uptime: 23.068222s
    Ports: 
    	admin: 32869
    Active: true
    Components: 
    	memory_storage : Ok()
    	sequencer-client : Ok()
    	sequencer-connection-pool : Ok()
    	sequencer-subscription-pool : Ok()
    	internal-sequencer-connection-sequencer1-0 : Ok()
    	subscription-sequencer-connection-sequencer1-0 : Ok()
    Version: 3.6.0-SNAPSHOT
    Protocol version: 35

​
Running the Console

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Embedded Console

When you start Canton with a configuration file, the Console starts automatically: 
canton --config my-config.conf
The Console prompt appears after the node finishes initializing. Node references (participant, sequencer, mediator) are pre-bound based on your configuration.

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Remote Console

You can connect a Console to a node running elsewhere: 
canton remote-console --host localhost --port 2902
This is useful for managing nodes in staging or production environments without SSH access to the node machine.

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Scripting

The Console supports loading Scala scripts for repeatable operations: 
@ interp.load.module(os.Path(cantonConsoleDemoScript))
Scripts have access to the same node references and APIs as the interactive Console. Common uses include:
  • Automated party setup for test environments
  • Topology configuration for multi-node deployments
  • Health check routines that run periodically
  • Data export scripts for auditing

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Tab Completion

The Console provides tab completion for discovering available commands. Type a node reference followed by a period, then press Tab: 
participant.<TAB>
  dars    synchronizers    health    id    keys    parties    topology    ...
This is the fastest way to explore the API without referring to documentation.