Node Plugin¶

Package: @cobuilders/hardhat-arb-node

Status: ✅ Available

Manages a local Arbitrum nitro-devnode for development.

Two Ways to Use the Node¶

There are two ways to run an Arbitrum node with this plugin:

Method	Use Case	Lifecycle
CLI (`arb:node start`)	Manual testing, interactive development	Persistent until stopped
HRE (`network.connect()`)	Scripts, tests, automated workflows	Temporary, auto-cleanup

This is similar to how Hardhat works: you can run npx hardhat node for a persistent node, or just run npx hardhat test and Hardhat automatically spins up a temporary node for the tests.

CLI Commands (Manual Node)¶

Use CLI commands to create an isolated, persistent node for manual testing and interactive development. The node runs until you explicitly stop it.

`arb:node start`¶

npx hardhat arb:node start [options]

Option	Description	Default
`--quiet`	Suppress output	false
`--detach`, `-d`	Run in background	false
`--name`	Container name	`nitro-devnode`
`--http-port`	HTTP port	`8547`
`--ws-port`	WebSocket port	`8548`

Examples:

npx hardhat arb:node start                    # Foreground
npx hardhat arb:node start --detach           # Background
npx hardhat arb:node start --http-port 9545   # Custom port
npx hardhat arb:node start --quiet --detach   # Silent background

`arb:node stop`¶

npx hardhat arb:node stop [options]

Option	Description	Default
`--quiet`	Suppress output	false
`--name`	Container name	`nitro-devnode`

`arb:node status`¶

npx hardhat arb:node status [--name <name>]

`arb:node logs`¶

npx hardhat arb:node logs [options]

Option	Description	Default
`--follow`, `-f`	Follow output	false
`--tail`, `-n`	Lines to show	`50`
`--name`	Container name	`nitro-devnode`

HRE Usage (Automatic Temporary Node)¶

When you use network.connect() in scripts or tests without specifying a network, the plugin automatically spins up a temporary node that lives only for the duration of your script execution.

// In a script or test
const connection = await hre.network.connect();

// A temporary Arbitrum node is now running
// It will be cleaned up when the script exits

How it works:

When connecting to the default network, the plugin checks if a node is already running
If not, it starts a temporary container with a random port (10000-60000)
The container is automatically cleaned up when the process exits

This is the same pattern as Hardhat's built-in node: when you run npx hardhat test, Hardhat automatically creates a temporary node for the tests without you having to manually start one.

No conflicts with CLI nodes

Temporary nodes use random ports and unique container names, so they don't conflict with nodes started via arb:node start.

Stylus Infrastructure¶

Every node start automatically deploys the infrastructure needed for Stylus contracts:

CREATE2 Factory (0x4e59b44847b379578588920ca78fbf26c0b4956c) - Deterministic deployment
Cache Manager - WASM caching for Stylus contracts
StylusDeployer - Deployment helper contract

This means every node is ready for both Solidity and Stylus contract deployment out of the box.

Configuration¶

export default {
  stylus: {
    node: {
      image: 'offchainlabs/nitro-node',
      tag: 'v3.7.1-926f1ab',
      httpPort: 8547,
      wsPort: 8548,
      chainId: 412346,
    },
  },
};

See hardhat.config.ts for all options.

Pre-funded Accounts¶

Both CLI and HRE nodes come with 20 pre-funded Hardhat accounts (10 ETH each):

#	Address	Private Key
0	`0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266`	`0xac0974bec39a17e36ba4a6b4d238ff944bacb478cbed5efcae784d7bf4f2ff80`
1	`0x70997970C51812dc3A010C7d01b50e0d17dc79C8`	`0x59c6995e998f97a5a0044966f0945389dc9e86dae88c7a8412f4603b6b78690d`
2	`0x3C44CdDdB6a900fa2b585dd299e03d12FA4293BC`	`0x5de4111afa1a4b94908f83103eb1f1706367c2e68ca870fc3fb9a804cdab365a`
3	`0x90F79bf6EB2c4f870365E785982E1f101E93b906`	`0x7c852118294e51e653712a81e05800f419141751be58f605c371e15141b007a6`
4	`0x15d34AAf54267DB7D7c367839AAf71A00a2C6A65`	`0x47e179ec197488593b187f80a00eb0da91f1b9d0b13f8733639f19c30a34926a`
5	`0x9965507D1a55bcC2695C58ba16FB37d819B0A4dc`	`0x8b3a350cf5c34c9194ca85829a2df0ec3153be0318b5e2d3348e872092edffba`
6	`0x976EA74026E726554dB657fA54763abd0C3a0aa9`	`0x92db14e403b83dfe3df233f83dfa3a0d7096f21ca9b0d6d6b8d88b2b4ec1564e`
7	`0x14dC79964da2C08b23698B3D3cc7Ca32193d9955`	`0x4bbbf85ce3377467afe5d46f804f221813b2bb87f24d81f60f1fcdbf7cbf4356`
8	`0x23618e81E3f5cdF7f54C3d65f7FBc0aBf5B21E8f`	`0xdbda1821b80551c9d65939329250298aa3472ba22feea921c0cf5d620ea67b97`
9	`0xa0Ee7A142d267C1f36714E4a8F75612F20a79720`	`0x2a871d0798f97d79848a013d4936a73bf4cc922c825d33c1cf7073dff6d409c6`
10	`0xBcd4042DE499d14e55001CcbB24a551F3b954096`	`0xf214f2b2cd398c806f84e317254e0f0b801d0643303237d97a22a48e01628897`
11	`0x71bE63f3384f5fb98995898A86B02Fb2426c5788`	`0x701b615bbdfb9de65240bc28bd21bbc0d996645a3dd57e7b12bc2bdf6f192c82`
12	`0xFABB0ac9d68B0B445fB7357272Ff202C5651694a`	`0xa267530f49f8280200edf313ee7af6b827f2a8bce2897751d06a843f644967b1`
13	`0x1CBd3b2770909D4e10f157cABC84C7264073C9Ec`	`0x47c99abed3324a2707c28affff1267e45918ec8c3f20b8aa892e8b065d2942dd`
14	`0xdF3e18d64BC6A983f673Ab319CCaE4f1a57C7097`	`0xc526ee95bf44d8fc405a158bb884d9d1238d99f0612e9f33d006bb0789009aaa`
15	`0xcd3B766CCDd6AE721141F452C550Ca635964ce71`	`0x8166f546bab6da521a8369cab06c5d2b9e46670292d85c875ee9ec20e84ffb61`
16	`0x2546BcD3c84621e976D8185a91A922aE77ECEc30`	`0xea6c44ac03bff858b476bba40716402b03e41b8e97e276d1baec7c37d42484a0`
17	`0xbDA5747bFD65F08deb54cb465eB87D40e51B197E`	`0x689af8efa8c651a91ad287602527f3af2fe9f6501a7ac4b061667b5a93e037fd`
18	`0xdD2FD4581271e230360230F9337D5c0430Bf44C0`	`0xde9be858da4a475276426320d5e9262ecfc3ba460bfac56360bfa6c4c28b4ee0`
19	`0x8626f6940E2eb28930eFb4CeF49B2d1F2C9C1199`	`0xdf57089febbacf7ba0bc227dafbffa9fc08a93fdc68e1e42411a14efcf23656e`

Chain Owner (Account #20):

#	Address	Private Key
20	`0x3f1Eae7D46d88F08fc2F8ed27FCb2AB183EB2d0E`	`0xb6b15c8cb491557369f3c7d2c287b053eb229daa9c22138887752191c9520659`

Account #20 has ~800 ETH and is the L2 chain owner with ArbOwner privileges.

Warning

These are public keys. Never use on mainnet.