Hardhat

Hardhat is an open-source Ethereum development environment and task runner for building, testing, and deploying smart contracts. It is implemented as a Node.js package and is designed to streamline a developer’s workflow by providing a local development network, a configurable task system, and integrated testing and debugging tools.

A central component of Hardhat is the Hardhat Network, a local Ethereum node tailored for development. It runs locally, offers immediate feedback, supports account management with pre-funded test Ether, and can fork an external chain such as Ethereum mainnet for testing against live state. Hardhat also provides enhanced debugging features, including Solidity stack traces, detailed error messages, and the ability to run console.log statements from within contracts.

Workflows are configured in a hardhat.config.js (or .ts) file, where networks, Solidity compiler versions, paths, and plugins are declared. Developers interact with the system through the command line, using commands such as npx hardhat compile, npx hardhat test, and npx hardhat run. The Hardhat Runtime Environment (HRE) is injected into scripts and tests, offering access to utilities, environments, and configured plugins.

Hardhat supports a rich plugin ecosystem. Popular plugins include @nomiclabs/hardhat-ethers and @nomiclabs/hardhat-waffle for Ethers.js and Waffle integration, and hardhat-deploy for deployment workflows. The architecture is designed for extension with additional plugins and custom tasks, and it offers robust TypeScript support.

Hardhat is widely used for local development, contract debugging, and deployment pipelines in Ethereum and other EVM-compatible networks. It is commonly compared with other development stacks and is favored for its fast feedback loop and extensible tooling.