Deploy with Hardhat

Hardhat is one of the most popular Ethereum development frameworks, offering a robust environment for compiling, testing, deploying, and verifying smart contracts. Because Liberty Chain is fully EVM-compatible, your existing Hardhat workflow works with minimal configuration changes — just point it at the Liberty Chain RPC endpoint.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ — Download from nodejs.org.
• npm — Comes bundled with Node.js.
• Test ETH on Liberty Chain — Follow the Get Test ETH guide to fund your wallet.

Step 1: Create a Hardhat Project

Initialize a new Hardhat project with TypeScript support. When prompted, select "Create a TypeScript project" and accept the default settings.

mkdir my-liberty-project && cd my-liberty-project
npx hardhat init

Select "Create a TypeScript project" when the interactive prompt appears, and accept the defaults for the remaining options.

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Install the project dependencies, including any additional packages needed for deployment and environment variable management.

npm install
npm install dotenv

Step 3: Configure the Network

Open hardhat.config.ts and add Liberty Chain as a network target. This tells Hardhat how to connect to the Liberty Chain testnet when deploying or running scripts.

import { HardhatUserConfig } from "hardhat/config";
import "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox";
import dotenv from "dotenv";

dotenv.config();

const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
  solidity: "0.8.24",
  networks: {
    libertyChain: {
      url: "https://testnet-rpc.lcx.com",
      chainId: 76847801,
      accounts: [process.env.PRIVATE_KEY!],
    },
  },
};

export default config;

Step 4: Write a Smart Contract

Create a simple contract to deploy. This example implements a basic storage contract that allows anyone to store and retrieve a value.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.24;

contract SimpleStorage {
    uint256 private _value;

    event ValueChanged(uint256 newValue);

    function store(uint256 value) public {
        _value = value;
        emit ValueChanged(value);
    }

    function retrieve() public view returns (uint256) {
        return _value;
    }
}

Step 5: Write a Deploy Script

Create a deployment script that compiles and deploys the contract to Liberty Chain.

import { ethers } from "hardhat";

async function main() {
  const SimpleStorage = await ethers.getContractFactory("SimpleStorage");
  const simpleStorage = await SimpleStorage.deploy();

  await simpleStorage.waitForDeployment();

  const address = await simpleStorage.getAddress();
  console.log("SimpleStorage deployed to:", address);
}

main().catch((error) => {
  console.error(error);
  process.exitCode = 1;
});

Step 6: Deploy to Liberty Chain

Run the deploy script targeting the Liberty Chain network. Hardhat will compile the contract, send the deployment transaction, and wait for confirmation.

npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.ts --network libertyChain

After a successful deployment, the console will print the contract address. You can view your deployed contract on the Liberty Chain Block Explorer.

Step 7: Verify Your Contract

Verifying your contract links the on-chain bytecode to its source code, making it readable on the explorer. First, add the Blockscout verification configuration to your Hardhat config.

import { HardhatUserConfig } from "hardhat/config";
import "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox";
import dotenv from "dotenv";

dotenv.config();

const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
  solidity: "0.8.24",
  networks: {
    libertyChain: {
      url: "https://testnet-rpc.lcx.com",
      chainId: 76847801,
      accounts: [process.env.PRIVATE_KEY!],
    },
  },
  etherscan: {
    apiKey: {
      libertyChain: "abc",
    },
    customChains: [
      {
        network: "libertyChain",
        chainId: 76847801,
        urls: {
          apiURL: "https://testnet-explorer-api.lcx.com/api",
          browserURL: "https://testnet-explorer.lcx.com",
        },
      },
    ],
  },
};

export default config;

Then run the verify command, replacing <address> with your deployed contract address:

npx hardhat verify --network libertyChain <address>

Once verified, you can interact with your contract's read and write functions directly from the explorer. For more verification options, see the Verify Smart Contracts guide.