dfinity

Guides use of the icp command-line tool for building and deploying Internet Computer applications. Covers project configuration (icp.yaml), recipes, environments, canister lifecycle, identity management, and bundling a project into a self-contained .icp package (icp project bundle). Use when building, deploying, or managing any IC project. Use when the user mentions icp, dfx, canister deployment, local network, project setup, or bundling/packaging an app as an .icp file. Do NOT use for canister-level programming patterns like access control, inter-canister calls, or stable memory — use domain-specific skills instead.

Deploys a built Internet Computer project to a user's cloud engine (an OpenCloud engine): verify the icp CLI, link the console identity with `icp identity link web` (origin defaults to https://opencloud.org; a delegation handoff covers sandboxes whose 127.0.0.1 callback the browser cannot reach), run `icp deploy` against the engine's subnet, tag canisters with `__META_*` env vars for a named console app with labelled canisters and icon, and bake version metadata (service:git:sha, service:version) into the wasm. Also covers a funded proxy canister for cross-subnet cycle-bearing calls (exchange-rate, threshold ECDSA/Schnorr, vetKD). Use when shipping to a cloud engine; on mention of OpenCloud, an engine subnet id, or linking the icp CLI to an engine console; when sign-in never completes from a sandboxed agent; when naming, adding an icon, or recording the deployed version/git commit of a console app. Do NOT use for a general mainnet deploy with no engine or subnet (use icp-cli) or for writing canister logic.

Manage cycles and canister lifecycle. Covers cycle balance checks, top-ups, freezing thresholds, canister creation, and ICP-to-cycles conversion via the CMC. Use when working with cycles, canister funding, freezing threshold, frozen canister, out of cycles, top-up, canister creation, or cycle balance. Do NOT use for wallet-to-dApp integration or ICRC signer flows — use wallet-integration instead.

Manage Motoko projects with the mops CLI — toolchain pinning, dependency management, type-checking, building, and linting. Use when working with mops.toml, mops.lock, running mops commands, adding/removing packages, pinning moc or lintoko versions, checking or building canisters, configuring moc flags, or setting up a new Motoko project.

Improve an existing skill in the IC Skills repo (skills.internetcomputer.org). Load this skill whenever asked to improve, fix, update, enhance, review, or add content to an existing skill at skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md — including adding pitfalls, updating canister IDs, fixing code examples, strengthening the description, or updating evals. Do NOT use for creating a brand-new skill (use skill-creator for that). Trigger examples: "the motoko skill is missing a pitfall", "update icp-cli for the new recipe format", "the ckbtc description is weak", "add an eval for the canister-security skill".

Deploy frontend assets to the IC. Covers certified assets, SPA routing with .ic-assets.json5, content encoding, and programmatic uploads. Use when hosting a frontend, deploying static files, or setting up SPA routing on IC. Do NOT use for canister-level code patterns or custom domain setup — use custom-domains instead.

Serve cryptographically verified responses from query calls using Merkle trees and subnet BLS signatures. Covers certified data API, RbTree/CertTree construction, witness generation, and frontend certificate validation. Use when query responses need verification, certified data, or response authenticity proofs.

Register and manage custom domains for IC canisters via the HTTP gateway custom domain service. Covers DNS record configuration (CNAME, TXT, ACME challenge), the .well-known/ic-domains file, domain registration/validation/update/deletion via the REST API, TLS certificate provisioning, and HttpAgent host configuration. Use when the user wants to serve a canister under a custom domain, configure DNS for IC, register a domain with boundary nodes, troubleshoot custom domain issues, or update/remove a custom domain. Do NOT use for general frontend hosting or asset canister configuration without custom domains — use asset-canister instead.

Use after editing any Bazel file — BUILD.bazel, MODULE.bazel (including bazel/rust.MODULE.bazel), or a .bzl file — to validate the change without paying for a full build, and to auto-format it.

Use when you need to run a command (build, test, tool) inside the IC dev container via ./ci/container/container-run.sh — including on a host that has Docker but not podman (set CONTAINER_RUNTIME=docker) — or when you need to keep a namespace.so devbox awake during long-running work.

Use this when asked to fix flaky bazel tests.

Use when you need to run a Bazel build or test outside DFINITY's internal infrastructure — i.e. without access to the internal remote cache / remote downloader (bazel-remote.idx.dfinity.network), e.g. on a personal machine, in a sandbox, or for a reproducibility check. Two ways: --config=local, or bypassing the workspace bazelrc.

Use this when asked to fix a Bazel build reproducibility / determinism issue — a target whose outputs differ between builds (e.g. across machines, users, or checkout locations), typically because something bakes an absolute build path or a timestamp into an artifact.

Guide the governance backend canister upgrade process — pick RC commit, determine targets, create proposal texts, submit proposals, create forum posts, schedule votes, and update changelogs.

ICP / DFINITY visual design system v2: tokens, color, typography, layout, components, accessibility for DFINITY and Internet Computer surfaces. Pairs with icp-brand-voice. Use when building or reviewing visual surfaces (NNS, ICP.app, Internet Identity, dashboards, the main website, developer docs, marketing). Enforces the system that ships on internetcomputer.org: three faces (Newsreader, Inter, JetBrains Mono), single rust accent, light editorial parchment as the default theme with an opt-in dark theme for product surfaces that need it, sentence case, italic for asides only, no em-dashes (U+2014), tamperproof spelled as one word. Triggers: ICP design, DFINITY design, brand tokens, design review ICP, color palette, typography ICP, NNS redesign, light or dark mode ICP. OISY, Caffeine, and ecosystem products with their own brand are out of scope.

ICP / DFINITY positioning, voice, and vocabulary v2 for surfaces under the DFINITY or Internet Computer (ICP) mark. Pairs with icp-brand-design. Use when writing or reviewing copy, UI strings, headlines, hero lines, buttons, errors, release notes, blog posts, marketing pages, developer docs, social posts, decks. Enforces the calm, factual, plain voice (no hyperbole, no em-dashes, no emoji), the locked positioning ('Sovereign cloud. Software that is alive.'), the five public pillars (On-demand, Tamperproof, Always-on, Fluid, Yours), and the strict ban on bare 'onchain' or 'on-chain' as nouns, attributes, or selling points. Triggers, ICP voice, DFINITY voice, brand voice, is this on brand, vocabulary check, tagline review, headline review, ICP positioning, write a headline. OISY, Caffeine, and other ecosystem products with their own verbal systems are out of scope.

Build and run the Orbit station configuration audit (`orbit-cli audit`) end-to-end against a live station, including the icp-cli Internet Identity setup that reliably trips people up. Use this whenever the user wants to audit, sanity-check, or security-review an Orbit station or wallet — e.g. "audit my Orbit wallet", "run orbit-cli audit on station <canister-id>", "check my Orbit station for misconfigured approval policies / empty quorums", or any time they pair an Orbit station canister id with auditing, approval quorum, or permission checks. Reach for this even if they don't say "orbit-cli" by name. It covers building the CLI from source (the globally installed orbit-cli is usually too old to have the `audit` subcommand), obtaining an identity the station recognizes as a member, and reading the report.