--- title: Build description: Learn how to build your own app via LBRY in this comprehensive guide! The future of content freedom begins with you. *patriotic music plays* --- ## THIS IS NOT DONE AT ALL AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO READ IT YOU MENTALLY ASSENT TO COMMITTING AT LEAST ONE CHANGE THAT MAKES IT BETTER ## Introduction Want to build something on top of LBRY? This is the place to get started. If this is your first introduction to LBRY, you should read the [Overview](/overview) first. Want to build with us rather than on your own? Check out our [Contributing Guide](/contribute). ### When to Use LBRY - You want to build an application that contributes to the world's knowledge, or benefits from global, shared discovery. - You want to replace an existing centralized service related to digital content distribution with a decentralized or community-controlled one. - You want to build an application that is permissionless to interact with. - You want to further openness, freedom of information, and/or personal choice on the internet. ### When Not to Use LBRY - You want to privately distribute data or information. LBRY is designed for publishing and sharing information in an open fashion. - You want to do illegal things. Ready to get started? Let's build a [Hello Satoshi] app. If you want to read a more general overview on application building (or you don't want to use Electron), you can jump right to [Applications 101]. ## Hello Satoshi This section will guide you creating a basic [Electron](https://electronjs.org/) application that calls to the LBRY network and renders an image returned by the network. (sentence about we're setting up electron app but there's lots of other ways to do stuff) ### (The Steps) These steps require [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/). Learn how to install it [here](https://www.npmjs.com/get-npm). 1. Setup the starter package. ``` git clone https://github.com/lbryio/electron-starter cd electron-starter npm install npm run dev ``` 2. Make Your First Code Change (edit whatever.js to call get and render the video) ### (You Did It!) This shows how easy it is to get up and running blah blah blah. (Segue) ## Applications 101 You can build many types of apps. Your app doesn't have to use Electron, nor does it have to be targeted at consumers, use a UI, or even fetch digital content at all! In this section, we'll look at the various components that you might use to build your app as well as specific categories of applications. Most applications will use [lbry-sdk](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry) as a way of accessing and communicating with the LBRY network. A look at the [APIs](/api/sdk) provided by the SDK will help you understand what facilities the SDK provides. Some applications do not need to access content available on the network (e.g. a wallet-only app, or a blockchain visualizer). These applications might use [lbrycrd](https://github.com/lbryio/lbrycrd), the full-node blockchain daemon, or [chainquery](https://github.com/lbryio/chainquery), which parses blockchain data into SQL. Let's look at some specific types of applications and the basic design for each. ### Web Applications #### Full Web Applications By full web application, we mean a centrally-hosted web application that uses most or all of the suite of capabilities the LBRY protocol provides. 1. Pick your favorite language and stack and do your typical setup to get a "Hello World" application running. 1. Install [lbry-sdk](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry). You can keep this separate from your app, or install it as one of your dependencies. The LBRY desktop app installs it automatically after all the other dependencies are installed. See it in action [here](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry-desktop/blob/master/build/download-sdk.js). 1. Once [lbry-sdk](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry) is installed, run `lbrynet start` at some point in your startup process. 1. There are a number of [api wrappers](https://lbry.tech/resources/api-wrappers) available in several different languages. Most of these have been created by community members! These allow you to easily send commands to the SDK in the language of your choice. If a wrapper for the language you would like to use doesn't exist, contact [someone?]. (All of the bounties we have on https://lbry.io/bounty/lbry-binding are claimed, should this be linked at all?) 1. See [SDK Basics](#SDK-basics) for more info on using the API. #### Blockchain Applications Sometimes you don't need the [SDK](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry). For applications that only need blockchain data, such as a block explorer, check out [lbrycrd](#lbrycrd) and [Chainquery](#Chainquery). #### Other Web Applications It is also possible to create a browser extension similar to Joule and Metamask. Generally there are two ways to do this: 1. Have the user run [lbry-sdk](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry) on their computer and send commands from the browser that interact with the user's personal wallet. 2. Run [lbry-sdk](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry) on a centrally hosted server and manage keys or funds for each user. Going through a centralized server can be safer (with added authentication), but it also comes with more responsibility to keep your user's funds secure. #### Desktop Applications If you are looking for more decentralization, a full desktop app can achieve that. If that is not something you care about, there are still a number of features that are desirable over a traditional web application, with full access to the file system being one of those. This allows users to be in control of how they view their files, and if they want to help strengthen LBRY network through seeding. If you would like to create a desktop application, there are a few ways to do so. ##### Electron Apps The [official LBRY desktop app](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry-desktop) is built with electron. It is very easy to build with, and allows web developers to easily start creating "native" desktop applications. You can use a plain html document with a `