Introduction

Build powerful apps, secured by Bitcoin.

New to building with Stacks? Check out these weekly virtual meets!

• Stacks DevRel office hours: Follow and enable notifications for @StacksDevs on Twitter to catch alerts for our weekly livestreams every Thursday at 10am EST. Office Hours are the easiest way to stay in the loop on product drops, live demos, community builder spotlights, and more. Stay up-to-date with release discussions, real-time walkthroughs, and builder highlights that matter.

• Clarity Working Group: An open, developer-focused initiative dedicated to supporting builders across the Stacks ecosystem. The group brings together experienced Clarity engineers (“Clarity giga chads”), auditors, educators, grant project teams, and new developers to collaborate, learn, and advance smart contract development on Bitcoin. Check out the calendar link to join every other Tuesday.

• AI BTC Working Group: Join the AI BTC Working Group's (WG) weekly meeting on AIBTC's twitter account, where they delve into the exciting intersection of AI and Bitcoin. Check out the calendar link to join every Thursday.

• Runes Capsule Webinars: Join a weekly deep-dive into Runes Capsule architecture, Bitcoin bridging, and trust minimized design patterns on Stacks. Check out this link to join every Sundays.

Stacks ranks #5 among all crypto ecosystems for new developers in 2025! [source: Electric Capital]

Hello, Builders 👋

Stacks is a fast, low-cost, builder-friendly layer 2 network on Bitcoin. It’s built on Bitcoin, inheriting Bitcoin’s battle-tested security. By jumping into our docs, you’re joining the Stacks builder community that’s bringing a global onchain economy to Bitcoin.

If you're here on this page, hopefully you've already gotten a good sense of what Stacks' purpose is, if not, head to the Learn section. Or if you're still on the edge of why you should build with Stacks, head to Why Build with Stacks.

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How to use these docs

The Stacks documentation is organized into a set of top-level sections, each aligned to a distinct stage of a developer’s journey—from learning core concepts to building applications and operating infrastructure.

Learn

How does the Stacks network work? The Learn section focuses on building a strong conceptual foundation. It explains how Stacks functions as a Bitcoin layer 2, providing clarity and context around the network’s design and mechanics.

Topics include Proof of Transfer (PoX), Bitcoin finality, block production, the transaction lifecycle, and more. If you want a deep understanding of how Stacks anchors to Bitcoin and why it works the way it does, this is the best place to start.

Build

How do you build on Stacks? The Build section (you're on it!) is for developers—both new and experienced—who want to start writing, deploying, and interacting with Stacks applications.

It includes curated quick starts for smart contract development with Clarinet and frontend development with Stacks.js, along with step-by-step guides covering common use cases such as integrating sBTC, onboarding users, working with price oracles, and more.

If you’re new to building on Stacks, this section provides a practical, hands-on introduction to the ecosystem.

Operate

How do you run Stacks infrastructure? The Operate section is designed for node operators and infrastructure providers. It covers how to run and manage Stacks nodes, signers, and miners.

If you’re responsible for operating or maintaining Stacks-related infrastructure, this section contains the resources you’ll need.

Reference

Where do you look up technical details? The Reference section contains authoritative technical documentation for Stacks devtools and APIs. This includes function and type definitions for Clarity and Stacks.js, API endpoint schemas, and interactive API playgrounds.

If you’re an experienced Stacks developer looking to quickly reference a specific method, type, or API response, this section is built for fast lookup and precision.

Tutorials

Looking for a more guided, learning-first experience? The Tutorials section is designed for readers who want structured, long-form lessons rather than quick answers.

These tutorials provide step-by-step walkthroughs alongside in-depth explanations of the underlying concepts. The goal isn’t just to help you complete a task, but to help you understand why things work the way they do as you build.

If you’re completely new to Stacks—or prefer a classroom-style, concept-driven learning experience—this section is the best place to start.

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Pick your learning path

We all have different styles of learning. If you've already got a good concept of web3 fundamentals and want to get a quick taste of what the DevEx is like on Stacks, then check out the Developer Quickstart. Or find the path that clicks for you — and if bandwidth allows, tackle them all!

Try the Developer Quickstart

Your 0→1 guide for building a Clarity contract and app on Stacks.

Start Learning Clarity

An easy starting point for learning smart contracts.

Bitcoin Primer Tutorial

A comprehensive end-to-end experience to building full-stack dApps on Bitcoin.

Earn a Stacks Developer Degree

A hands-on Stacks bootcamp by LearnWeb3.

Watch Our Hands-On Videos

Developer insights and workshops from the Stacks ecosystem

Clarity Development Using Clarinet

The smart contract toolkit for Stacks

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Who should use what

If you are…	First check out...
Completely new to building with Stacks	Developer Quickstart
Learning smart contract development	Clarity Crash Course, Learn Clarinet
Preferring a structured, guided course that shows you every step to build full-stack apps	Stacks Developer Degree, Bitcoin Primer, EasyA
Wanting to integrate sBTC in your app	sBTC guides
Launching a token	Create Tokens
Interested in security / auditing / grants	Stacks Bug Bounties, Stacks Foundation
Curious about current use cases	Use Cases
Searching for a complete list of devtools	Stacks Devtools Ecosystem

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Still got questions?

We know, it's a lot. But we, along with our large community, are always more than welcome to help you throughout your journey with Stacks.

• Stacks Discord: Connect with other developers and our team

• Stacks Forum: Ask questions and share projects

• Stacks Twitter: Follow us on Twitter and ask us questions there