Solidity - lesson 7 | HackIndia Skills

Key point

One idea

A testnet deploy is proof that your contract can leave your laptop. Treat it like a small production release: clean config, no leaked secrets, clear notes.

What counts

For this track, you need either a testnet deployment address or a deployment script. A stronger repo has both.

Your README should let a reviewer see what you deployed, where you deployed it, which account deployed it, and how they can repeat the process with their own key.

Your to-do

Before deploying

Do each one yourself, then tap it to tick it off. The ticks are only a checklist for you: they are not marked or scored.

Run your local tests and keep the output for the README.
Check that your contract uses a Solidity 0.8.x pragma and compiles without warnings.
Choose a public testnet supported by your wallet and RPC provider.
Create a fresh wallet for testnets, not your main wallet.
Fund it only with testnet tokens from a faucet.

0 of 5 done

Common mistake

Do not leak keys

Never paste a private key into hardhat.config.ts, a script, or your README. A public GitHub repo is not a private notebook.

Use environment variables and commit only an example file. If you accidentally commit a key, assume it is burned. Remove it from the wallet and create a new one.

Example

Env example

Commit a sample file that shows the required names. Do not commit the real .env file.

This is enough for a teammate or recruiter to understand your deploy setup without seeing secrets.

# .env.example
TESTNET_RPC_URL="https://your-testnet-rpc-url"
TESTNET_PRIVATE_KEY="0xreplace_with_testnet_wallet_private_key"

Tip

Use AI carefully

You can ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude to draft your deployment script for your current Hardhat 3 project structure. Paste your contract name, constructor arguments, and folder tree.

Check the answer before using it. It must not hardcode private keys, must match your contract constructor, and must deploy the correct contract file. If it suggests old Solidity experimental pragmas or send/transfer patterns, reject that part.