Contract Deployment

Deploy Compact smart contracts to Midnight testnet or mainnet with proper configuration, verification, and error handling.

When to Use

• Deploying a compiled Compact contract for the first time
• Configuring network endpoints for deployment
• Handling deployment transaction confirmation
• Troubleshooting failed deployments
• Setting up deployment scripts for CI/CD

Key Concepts

Deployment Flow

1. Compile contract - Use compact compile to generate artifacts
2. Configure network - Set indexer, prover, and node endpoints
3. Fund deployer - Ensure account has sufficient tDUST (testnet) or DUST (mainnet)
4. Submit transaction - Deploy contract and wait for confirmation
5. Verify deployment - Query contract address on chain

Network Configuration

Network	Indexer	Prover	Use Case
Testnet	indexer.testnet.midnight.network	prover.testnet.midnight.network	Development, testing
Mainnet	indexer.midnight.network	prover.midnight.network	Production

Contract Artifacts

After compact compile, the output directory contains:

• contract.cjs - Contract bytecode and circuits
• contract.d.cts - TypeScript types for contract interface
• circuit-keys/ - ZK circuit proving keys

References

Document	Description
deployment-config.md	Network configuration and environment setup
network-endpoints.md	Endpoint URLs and connection patterns

Examples

Example	Description
single-contract/	Deploy a single contract
multi-contract/	Deploy multiple contracts with dependencies

Quick Start

1. Configure Network

import { NetworkConfig } from '@midnight-ntwrk/midnight-js-types';

const config: NetworkConfig = {
  indexer: 'https://indexer.testnet.midnight.network',
  indexerWs: 'wss://indexer.testnet.midnight.network/ws',
  prover: 'https://prover.testnet.midnight.network',
};

2. Load Contract Artifacts

import { Contract } from './contract.cjs';
import type { ContractTypes } from './contract.d.cts';

const contractArtifact = Contract;

3. Deploy

import { deployContract } from '@midnight-ntwrk/midnight-js-contracts';

const deployedContract = await deployContract({
  wallet,
  artifact: contractArtifact,
  initialState: { /* initial ledger state */ },
  config,
});

console.log('Deployed at:', deployedContract.address);

Common Patterns

Environment-Based Configuration

const getNetworkConfig = (): NetworkConfig => {
  const network = process.env.MIDNIGHT_NETWORK || 'testnet';

  if (network === 'mainnet') {
    return {
      indexer: 'https://indexer.midnight.network',
      indexerWs: 'wss://indexer.midnight.network/ws',
      prover: 'https://prover.midnight.network',
    };
  }

  return {
    indexer: 'https://indexer.testnet.midnight.network',
    indexerWs: 'wss://indexer.testnet.midnight.network/ws',
    prover: 'https://prover.testnet.midnight.network',
  };
};

Deployment with Retry

async function deployWithRetry(
  config: DeployConfig,
  maxRetries = 3
): Promise<DeployedContract> {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await deployContract(config);
    } catch (error) {
      if (attempt === maxRetries) throw error;
      console.log(`Attempt ${attempt} failed, retrying...`);
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000 * attempt));
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Deployment failed after retries');
}

Deployment Verification

async function verifyDeployment(
  address: string,
  indexer: IndexerClient
): Promise<boolean> {
  try {
    const contractInfo = await indexer.getContractInfo(address);
    return contractInfo !== null;
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

Related Skills

• midnight-setup - Environment prerequisites before deployment
• contract-calling - Invoking deployed contracts
• lifecycle-management - Managing contracts post-deployment
• midnight-ci - Automated deployment in CI/CD

Related Commands

• /midnight:check - Verify environment is ready for deployment