Concepts

Understanding how icp-cli organizes and manages your project.

Core Concepts

• Project Model — How icp-cli discovers and consolidates configuration
• Build, Deploy, Sync — The three phases of the deployment lifecycle
• Environments and Networks — Deployment targets and how they relate
• Recipes — Templated, reusable build configurations
• Canister Discovery — How canisters discover each other
• Binding Generation — Type-safe canister interfaces

Quick Reference

Term	Definition
Project	A directory containing icp.yaml and your canister source code
Canister	A unit of deployment on the Internet Computer — your compiled WASM plus settings
Network	An ICP network endpoint — local (managed by icp-cli) or remote (mainnet, testnet)
Environment	A named deployment target combining a network with canister settings
Recipe	A Handlebars template that generates build and sync configuration
Principal	A public identifier for an identity or canister on the Internet Computer