Local Interchain is a free, open-source tool for developers who build on the Cosmos ecosystem and need a local IBC development environment on Windows. It is written in Go and helps you spin up a test setup on your own machine instead of relying on public networks. It is aimed at developers, not at people looking for a wallet or a trading app.
The project needs a clear warning before you start: its code has not been updated since September 22, 2023, which is more than two years ago. Treat this version as an older release rather than an actively maintained tool. The project now lives upstream in the Strangelove organization, where it is bundled with their interchain suite of products, and that is the place to look for current development.
What Is an IBC Development Environment?
IBC, or Inter-Blockchain Communication, is the protocol that lets Cosmos-based chains send tokens and messages to one another. Relayers carry the packets between chains, and each chain must be configured correctly for that exchange to work.
Waiting on public networks slows down every test cycle. A local environment runs the chains on your own computer, so you can break things, fix them, and try again without waiting on a live network. That is the gap an IBC development environment fills: it gives you a repeatable, private place to check that cross-chain logic behaves as expected before you deploy anything.
For developers, the value is speed and control. You decide the chain layout, adjust settings between runs, and reset everything when a test goes wrong.
Who Should Use Local Interchain?
The most natural users are developers working on Cosmos SDK-based applications or modules who want to check how their code behaves across IBC. Teams that maintain relayer setups can use a local environment to rehearse changes before touching shared test infrastructure.
Smaller use cases fit too. A developer learning how IBC works can start a local network and watch messages move between chains, which is much easier to understand than reading about it. QA engineers may also find a repeatable local setup useful for regression checks.
The tool is not built for people who want to hold or move coins. Its job is development and testing, so your expectations should match that. If you need a wallet, a trading tool, or a staking dashboard, this is the wrong category.
Key Terms for Local Cross-Chain Testing
Learning a few core terms makes the rest of your setup easier to follow:
- Chain ID: a unique name that identifies each chain, so two local chains do not get confused.
- Relayer: a process that watches events on one chain and submits matching packets to another.
- Packet: a unit of data sent over an IBC channel, such as a token transfer or a message.
- Channel: the connection between two chains that packets travel through.
When you run a local setup, these pieces appear in the configuration files you edit. Knowing what each one does helps you change the right value instead of guessing.
Key features
Base configuration templates
Optional relayer configuration
Command-line chain startup
Supported coins
The documentation mentions Cosmos (ATOM) and Base as the networks it refers to. Because the tool is built around IBC, Cosmos-based chains are its core focus, and Base is worth checking in the documentation to see how it fits into a setup. Coin references here relate to test environments, not to tokens you hold.
How to install Local Interchain on Windows
- 1
Get the official build
Download only from the official website or the GitHub Releases page for the project. The repository is at github.com/Reecepbcups/local-interchain. Because development has moved upstream, also check the Strangelove organization on GitHub for the current version.
- 2
Verify the file
Compare the SHA-256 checksum of your download with the value published on the release page. If the release includes a signature, verify that as well. Do not run a file whose checksum does not match.
- 3
Prepare the Windows environment
Follow the project's Windows setup guide to prepare your system for Local Interchain. The guide covers the environment the tool needs, so work through it before you attempt to run anything.
-
Install and confirm
Run the installer or extract the Windows build to a folder you can find later. Open a terminal in that folder and confirm that the local-ic command runs, which tells you the installation is ready for configuration.
How to use Local Interchain
Once the program is installed, a typical first session looks like this. The steps assume you are comfortable working in a terminal and have prepared the Windows environment using the project guide.
- Open the project folder and go to the configs directory.
- Copy the base configuration file to a new file named for your test. Use cp in a Unix-style shell, or copy in Command Prompt or PowerShell.
- Optionally, open configs/relayer.json and adjust the relayer settings for your scenario.
- Set the ICTESTHOME environment variable to the path of your project folder.
- Run local-ic start followed by the name of your custom configuration file.
- Check the terminal output to confirm the chains started, then run your tests against the local setup.
If something fails, compare your custom file with the base file to see what changed. Most first-run problems come from a path or a file name that does not match what the tool expects.
Pros & cons
- Free to use and open source
- Base configuration files give you a working starting point
- Relayer settings can be changed without touching the rest of the setup
- Command-line startup keeps test runs easy to repeat
- Built for IBC development on Windows and Linux
- Code has not been updated since September 22, 2023
- Active development has moved to the Strangelove organization
- Windows setup depends on a separate guide
- Assumes prior knowledge of Cosmos and IBC concepts
Is Local Interchain safe?
Download Local Interchain only from its official source: the GitHub repository or the Releases page, with current development in the Strangelove organization. Check the SHA-256 checksum or signature against the published value before installing. The code has not been updated since September 22, 2023, so it may not work well with newer Cosmos tooling and may contain unpatched issues. Check the latest version on the official website before you rely on it. Never enter a seed phrase or private key into any website or tool that asks for one, even if it presents itself as part of a development setup.
- Official source only. Download from github.com/Reecepbcups/local-interchain. Ignore ads and lookalike domains.
- Check the SHA-256. Compare the installer hash with the value the developer publishes before running it.
- Never share your seed phrase. No developer, support agent or website — including CryptApps — will ever ask for it.
Alternatives
Local Interchain is narrower than most tools in this list. Cosmos SDK is a framework for building the chains themselves in Go, while Local Interchain sits one step later: it runs a ready test network so you can see how chains talk over IBC. Native Evmos and Ethermint bring Ethereum-style applications into the Cosmos ecosystem, which suits teams building EVM-compatible apps. Remix Desktop, Tenderly CLI, and Visual Studio Code with Solidity focus on contract work, and Postman helps when you need to test JSON-RPC endpoints. If your work is IBC testing, Local Interchain is the closest fit. If it is contract debugging, look at the other options.
Specifications
- Price
- Free
- Type
- Open source
- License
- —
- Latest version
- v0.1.0
- Last update
- 22 Sept 2023
- Windows support
- Yes (Windows build or installer)
- Source code
- github.com/Reecepbcups/local-interchain
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Local Interchain is free and open source. Its source code is publicly available on GitHub, so you can read how it works, follow its development history, and check the code yourself before running it on your machine.
It can be, provided you get the file from the project's official source and verify it before running it. Compare the SHA-256 checksum with the published value, and remember that the code has not been updated since September 22, 2023.
Yes, Local Interchain offers a Windows build or installer. The project also has a Windows setup guide that prepares your environment, so follow it before you try to start a local chain for the first time.
Local Interchain is used to spin up a local IBC development environment. Developers use it to test how chains interact through IBC, check relayer settings, and run repeatable tests without relying on public networks.
Not in its original repository. The last code update was on September 22, 2023, and the project has moved upstream to the Strangelove organization, where it is bundled with their interchain suite of products.
Copy the base configuration file to a new name, optionally edit the relayer settings, and set the ICTESTHOME variable. Then run local-ic start with your custom configuration file to launch the setup.
Yes, the project lists both Windows and Linux as supported platforms. The Linux command examples in the documentation use Unix-style paths, so translate them carefully when you work on a Windows machine.
Verdict
Local Interchain suits Cosmos developers who need a local IBC test environment on Windows and are comfortable with the command line and Go-based tooling. It is free, and its configuration templates and optional relayer settings make a first test run approachable once the environment is ready. The main drawback is age: the code has not changed since September 22, 2023, so treat this version as a reference point and look at the Strangelove version for anything current. Developers new to Cosmos should learn the basics of IBC first.