Leveraging Ethereum Developer Tools On Hedera
Aug 25, 2022
by Abi Castro
Learning how to properly use new sets of developer tools requires time and effort. Many seasoned engineers already have their ol’ reliable set of frameworks and libraries they frequently use. With the release of the Hedera JSON-RPC relay, Ethereum developer tools combined with ECDSA-based Hedera accounts are available for developers only. You can continue to utilize familiar Ethereum tooling to build on Hedera. This blog speaks to the support of 4 Ethereum tools and the enablement of Metamask.
The most common EVM-based tools and workflows across Web3 ecosystems are built on the JSON-RPC specification. You can continue to utilize the following familiar Ethereum tooling, Web3JS, Truffle, Ethers, and Hardhat, to build on Hedera thanks to the JSON-RPC Relay. As an Ethereum developer, your workflow does not have to change.
web3js | Truffle | ethers | Hardhat | |
Transfer HBARS | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Contract Deployment | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Can use the contract instance after deploy without re-initialization | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ |
Contract View Function Call | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Contract Function Call | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
You can transfer HBAR, deploy contracts, and perform contract calls bringing even greater usability to the developer community.
Check out the Web3js, Truffle, and Hardhat examples on the repo. It is important to note that when working with Ethersjs and Hardhat there is an extra step to retrieve the valid Hedera contract address. Learn more about it here.
Before you get started it is important to create a new ECDSA-based account with an alias. Currently, the JSON-RPC Relay only supports Hedera accounts with an alias set (i.e public address) based on its ECDSA public key. You can easily do this by following the steps below:
// generate an ECDSA key-pairconst newPrivateKey = PrivateKey.generateECDSA();console.log(`The raw private key (use this for JSON RPC wallet import): ${newPrivateKey.toStringRaw()}`);const newPublicKey = newPrivateKey.publicKey;// account publickey aliasconst aliasAccountId = newPublicKey.toAccountId(0, 0);console.log(`The alias account id: ${aliasAccountId}`);
const operatorAccountId = AccountId.fromString(process.env.OPERATOR_ID);const operatorPrivateKey = PrivateKey.fromString(process.env.OPERATOR_PVKEY);// Hbar transfers will auto-create a Hedera Account// for long-form account Ids that do not have accounts yetconst tokenTransferTxn = async (senderAccountId, receiverAccountId, hbarAmount) => { const transferToAliasTx = new TransferTransaction() .addHbarTransfer(senderAccountId, new Hbar(-hbarAmount)) .addHbarTransfer(receiverAccountId, new Hbar(hbarAmount)) .freezeWith(client); const signedTx = await transferToAliasTx.sign(operatorPrivateKey); const txResponse = await signedTx.execute(client); await txResponse.getReceipt(client);}
Create a function to help log your account info.
const logAccountInfo = async (accountId) => { const info = await new AccountInfoQuery() .setAccountId(accountId) .execute(client); console.log(`The normal account ID: ${info.accountId}`); console.log(`Account Balance: ${info.balance}`);}
const main = async () => { await tokenTransferTxn(operatorAccountId, aliasAccountId, 100); await logAccountInfo(aliasAccountId);} main();
Console output
The raw private key (use this for JSON RPC wallet import): 81cd442a945d2c9f04ed5bf355a59db9e9f7553b9d4c319938eb9176085cb4c8The alias account id: 0.0.302d300706052b8104000a03220002d47f1da5a3e086c568776d5be31165c65a135bb48951b4ccbf4284b025225ff4The normal account ID: 0.0.47995491Account Balance: 99.31142415 ℏ
The account is officially registered with Hedera when hbars are initially deposited to the account alias. The transaction fee to create the account is deducted from the initial hbar transfer. The remaining balance minus the transaction fee to create the account is the initial balance of the new account.If interested in learning more about auto account creation read the following documentation and HIP-32.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Private keys for Testnet are displayed here for educational purposes only. Never share your private key(s) with others, as that may result in lost funds or loss of control over your account.
Step 1: Go to HashIO, the SwirldsLabs hosted version of the JSON-RPC Relay, and copy the Testnet URL.
HashIO provides the URLs for each Hedera environment that will let you interact with the respective environment nodes on Hedera the same way you would an Ethereum node.
Step 2: Open Metamask and add Hedera as a custom network.
Network Name |
Hedera |
New RPC URL |
Chain ID |
296 |
Currency Symbol |
HBAR |
Config | Default | Description |
CHAIN_ID | 0x12a | The network chain id. Local and previewnet envs should use 0x12a (298). Previewnet, Testnet and Mainnet should use 0x129 (297), 0x128 (296) and 0x127 (295) respectively |
Step 3: Import your Hedera account into Metamask
Import your newly created ECDSA-based Hedera account into Metamask using your private key from above.
Use your private key to import your Hedera account into Metamask
Your Hedera Account in Metamask
You’ve successfully connected your Hedera account to Metamask! You may now receive and send hbar on testnet through Metamask!
The release of the JSON-RPC Relay to developers is bringing greater usability to the developer community by enabling the support of common Ethereum developer tooling while building on Hedera.
Happy Building!
-
Bringing Further Rigor & Transparency to the Hedera Treasury Management Report Betsabe Botaitis
-
Analysis & Remediation of the Precompile Attack on the Hedera Network Joe Blanchard
-
Does Hedera’s TPS include Transactions Generated by its Consensus Algorithm? Spoiler alert: NO Hedera Team
-
Selective Disclosure in the Guardian Derek Munneke
-
Driving Sustainable Transformation at Davos 2023 Issam Saed
-
The Rise of the Identity Token Keith Kowal