axe

Swiss army knife CLI for Axelar development.

Quick Start

# 1. Clone the contract deployments repo as a sibling
git clone https://github.com/axelarnetwork/axelar-contract-deployments.git
cd axelar-contract-deployments && npm install && cd ..

# 2. Configure
cp axe/.env.example axe/.env
# Edit .env with your chain details, keys, and mnemonics

# 3. Build and install
cd axe
cargo build && cp target/debug/axe ~/.cargo/bin/axe

# 4. Initialize and deploy
axe deploy init
axe deploy run

workspace/
├── axe/
└── axelar-contract-deployments/

Commands

Command	Description	Relayer
`axe deploy init`	Initialize a new chain deployment from `.env`	-
`axe deploy run`	Run all deployment steps sequentially	-
`axe deploy status`	Show deployment progress	-
`axe deploy reset`	Reset all steps to pending	-
`axe test gmp`	End-to-end GMP loopback test	no
`axe test its`	Deploy + transfer an interchain token	no
`axe test load-test`	Cross-chain load test	yes
`axe decode calldata`	Decode raw EVM calldata	-
`axe decode tx`	Fetch & decode an EVM or Solana transaction	-
`axe decode sol-activity`	Recent Solana program activity	-
`axe decode evm-activity`	Recent EVM contract events	-

Deploy

axe deploy run          # runs all 23 steps sequentially
axe deploy status       # shows progress
axe deploy reset        # start over

Test GMP

EVM (legacy mode)

axe test gmp

Sends a loopback GMP message on a deployed EVM chain and relays it through the full Amplifier pipeline end-to-end.

Solana manual relaying

cargo run --no-default-features --features testnet -- test gmp --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/testnet.json --source-chain solana --destination-chain solana

Sends a GMP message from Solana and manually relays it through the full Amplifier pipeline end-to-end: callContract → verify_messages → vote → end_poll → route_messages → construct_proof → approve on Solana gateway (init verification session → verify all 12 signatures → approve message). Requires MNEMONIC env var with a funded Cosmos wallet.

Build with the matching feature flag for the target network (devnet-amplifier, stagenet, testnet).

Test ITS

axe test its

Deploys an interchain token locally, deploys it remotely to a destination chain via the ITS Hub, then sends a cross-chain transfer and verifies the balance on the destination. Relays through the full Amplifier pipeline (verify → vote → route → execute on hub).

Load Tests

The axe test load-test command sends cross-chain transactions through the Axelar Amplifier pipeline and verifies them end-to-end. It supports two modes: burst (send N transactions as fast as possible) and sustained (send at a fixed TPS rate for a fixed duration).

Modes

Burst mode (default)

Send a fixed number of transactions all at once. All keys are funded upfront and all transactions are fired in parallel.

axe test load-test --num-txs 50 ...

Sustained mode

Send transactions at a controlled rate for a set duration. Use --tps and --duration-secs together:

axe test load-test --tps 10 --duration-secs 300 ...
# sends 10 tx/s for 5 minutes = 3000 transactions total

How it works:

A pool of tps × key_cycle wallets is derived and funded upfront (e.g. 30 wallets for 10 TPS with a 3s cycle).
Each second, tps transactions are fired using the next batch of keys from the pool.
Keys rotate on a configurable cycle (default 3 seconds): second 1 uses keys 0–9, second 2 uses keys 10–19, second 3 uses keys 20–29, second 4 reuses keys 0–9, etc. This ensures each key has time for its previous transaction to land before its nonce is reused.
Use --key-cycle N to control the cycle length. Higher values use more wallets and reduce per-address mempool pressure on chains with aggressive mempool limits (e.g. --key-cycle 6 doubles the wallet pool).
Concurrent send + verify: In sustained mode, the Amplifier verification pipeline starts immediately as transactions confirm — it does not wait for the send phase to finish. Both phases run concurrently with live progress on separate lines:
```
\ [42/300s]  fired: 420/3000  src-confirmed: 410  failed: 2  (target: 10 tx/s)
- voted: 350/410  routed: 280/410  approved: 120/410  executed: 80/410
```
The final summary shows end-to-end latency (avg/min/max), throughput, per-phase step and cumulative timing, pipeline counts, and any stuck transactions.
A JSON report is written to axe-load-test-logs/axe-load-test-<timestamp>.json after each run for post-mortem analysis.

Protocols supported in sustained mode: GMP and ITS, both directions (Sol → EVM and EVM → Sol).

ITS note: Token deployment happens once upfront (cached across runs). Each pool key is pre-funded with enough tokens for its share of the total transfers before the send phase begins.

GMP (default): Sends ABI-encoded string payloads via callContract through a deployed SenderReceiver contract. The contract address is cached after first deploy and reused across runs.

ITS (--protocol its): Deploys an interchain token on the source chain, deploys the remote counterpart on the destination via the ITS Hub, then sends InterchainTransfer transactions. Supports both EVM → Sol and Sol → EVM directions.

Verification: Polling covers the full pipeline: voted → routed → approved → executed (GMP), or voted → hub-approved → second-leg discovery → routed → approved → executed (ITS). In sustained mode, verification runs concurrently with sending. In burst mode, it runs after all sends complete. Inactivity timeout is 200 seconds — the poller resets the timeout each time any transaction makes progress.

Burst examples

GMP: SOL → EVM

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain solana-18 \
  --destination-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

GMP: EVM → SOL

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --destination-chain solana-18 \
  --num-txs 50 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

ITS: SOL → EVM

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain solana-18 \
  --destination-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --protocol its \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

ITS: EVM → SOL

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --destination-chain solana-18 \
  --protocol its \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

Sustained examples

GMP: 10 tx/s for 5 minutes, SOL → EVM

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain solana-18 \
  --destination-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --tps 10 \
  --duration-secs 300 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

GMP: 5 tx/s for 2 minutes, EVM → SOL

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --destination-chain solana-18 \
  --tps 5 \
  --duration-secs 120 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

ITS: sustained EVM → SOL

axe test load-test \
  --source-chain avalanche-fuji \
  --destination-chain solana-18 \
  --protocol its \
  --tps 3 \
  --duration-secs 180 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/devnet-amplifier.json

Stagenet / testnet / mainnet

On stagenet/testnet/mainnet the relayer requires gas payment. Build with the appropriate feature flag:

# Build (use cargo build, not cargo install — see note below)
cargo build --no-default-features --features stagenet
cp target/debug/axe ~/.cargo/bin/axe

# Burst
axe test load-test \
  --source-chain flow \
  --destination-chain solana-stagenet-3 \
  --num-txs 100 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/stagenet.json

# Sustained with larger wallet pool for Flow
EVM_PRIVATE_KEY=0x... axe test load-test \
  --source-chain flow \
  --destination-chain solana-stagenet-3 \
  --tps 2 \
  --duration-secs 120 \
  --key-cycle 6 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/stagenet.json \
  --source-rpc https://your-flow-rpc-endpoint

# ITS sustained
axe test load-test \
  --source-chain flow \
  --destination-chain solana-stagenet-3 \
  --protocol its \
  --tps 3 \
  --duration-secs 120 \
  --config ../axelar-contract-deployments/axelar-chains-config/info/stagenet.json

Note: cargo install --path . does a clean compile which triggers a known borsh derive bug in solana-axelar-std. Use cargo build (incremental) + manual copy instead.

Run axe test load-test --help for all options.

Decode

Decode calldata

axe decode calldata 0x0f4433d3...   # auto-detects function from 4-byte selector
axe decode calldata 0x00000000...   # auto-detects ITS payload type

Decodes EVM calldata against a built-in ABI database (Gateway, ITS, ITS Factory, GMP SDK). Recursively decodes nested bytes fields (multicall batches, ITS payloads inside GMP calls). Whitespace in hex input is stripped automatically.

Decode transaction

axe decode tx 0xabc123...                        # auto-discovers configs from sibling repo
axe decode tx 0xabc123... --chain avalanche       # skip brute-forcing, target one chain
axe decode tx 0xabc123... --config path/to.json   # use a specific config file

Fetches a transaction by hash from all EVM chains in parallel, then decodes the calldata and all event logs. Chains configs are auto-discovered from the sibling axelar-contract-deployments repo (mainnet, testnet, stagenet, devnet-amplifier).

Set ALCHEMY_TOKEN to use Alchemy RPCs for supported chains (faster and more reliable than public RPCs):

export ALCHEMY_TOKEN=your_token_here
axe decode tx 0xabc123...

Solana program activity

axe decode sol-activity --program gateway --network devnet-amplifier --limit 5
axe decode sol-activity --network testnet                              # all programs on testnet
axe decode sol-activity --program its --network devnet-amplifier --json # machine-readable JSON

Shows recent transactions for Axelar Solana programs (Gateway, ITS, GasService, Memo). Auto-discovers program addresses from the sibling axelar-contract-deployments config files. Decodes instruction names, args, and CPI events. Use --json for structured output consumable by LLMs for debugging.

EVM contract activity

axe decode evm-activity --contract gateway --network devnet-amplifier --chain avalanche-fuji --limit 5
axe decode evm-activity --contract its --network testnet --chain flow --json

Shows recent events from Axelar EVM contracts (Gateway, ITS, GasService) using eth_getLogs. Auto-discovers contract addresses from config files. Decodes event names and parameters using the embedded ABI database.

LLM / AI Assistant Usage

See LLM-GUIDE.md for a complete guide on using axe for debugging cross-chain messages with AI assistants.

Configuration

All config lives in .env — see .env.example for the full template.

Variable	Used by
`CHAIN`, `ENV`, chain metadata	`init`
`DEPLOYER_PRIVATE_KEY`, `GATEWAY_DEPLOYER_PRIVATE_KEY`, etc.	`deploy`
`MNEMONIC`	`test gmp`, `test its` (Amplifier routing)
`ITS_*` vars	`deploy` (ITS steps), `test its`
`TARGET_JSON`	all commands (reads chain config)
`ALCHEMY_TOKEN` (optional)	`decode tx` (archive RPCs)

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 114 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
artifacts		artifacts
contracts		contracts
docs		docs
scripts		scripts
src		src
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LLM-GUIDE.md		LLM-GUIDE.md
Readme.md		Readme.md
abi-db.json		abi-db.json

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axe

Quick Start

Commands

Deploy

Test GMP

EVM (legacy mode)

Solana manual relaying

Test ITS

Load Tests

Modes

Burst mode (default)

Sustained mode

Burst examples

GMP: SOL → EVM

GMP: EVM → SOL

ITS: SOL → EVM

ITS: EVM → SOL

Sustained examples

GMP: 10 tx/s for 5 minutes, SOL → EVM

GMP: 5 tx/s for 2 minutes, EVM → SOL

ITS: sustained EVM → SOL

Stagenet / testnet / mainnet

Decode

Decode calldata

Decode transaction

Solana program activity

EVM contract activity

LLM / AI Assistant Usage

Configuration

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