Deploy Your First Contract

Now that you’re connected and have CREDITS to cover compute costs, let’s deploy your first smart contract on SKALE Base Mainnet. This guide uses Foundry — a fast, portable toolkit for Ethereum development. If you prefer Hardhat, see the Setup Hardhat guide.

Every transaction in this guide deducts from your CREDIT balance — no gas token needed. Make sure you have CREDITS before starting. See Buy CREDITS.

Prerequisites

Foundry installed (foundryup)
CREDITS in your wallet on SKALE Base Mainnet (see Buy CREDITS)
SKALE Base Mainnet RPC URL: https://skale-base.skalenodes.com/v1/base (see Connect to SKALE)

Step 1: Set Up a Foundry Project

forge init my-skale-contract
cd my-skale-contract

Project structure:

my-skale-contract/
├── src/          # Smart contracts
├── script/       # Deployment scripts
├── test/         # Test files
├── lib/          # Dependencies
├── foundry.toml  # Configuration
└── remappings.txt

Install OpenZeppelin contracts:

forge install OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts

Step 2: Configure foundry.toml

Update foundry.toml to point at SKALE Base Mainnet:

[profile.default]
src = "src"
out = "out"
libs = ["lib"]

[rpc_endpoints]
skale_mainnet = "https://skale-base.skalenodes.com/v1/base"

Step 3: Create Your Contract

Create an ERC-721 (NFT) contract in src/MyNFT.sol:

touch src/MyNFT.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.19;

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/ERC721.sol";

contract MyNFT is ERC721 {
    uint256 private _nextTokenId;

    constructor() ERC721("MyNFT", "MNFT") {}

    function mint(address to) public {
        uint256 tokenId = _nextTokenId;
        _safeMint(to, tokenId);
        _nextTokenId++;
    }

    function getNextTokenId() public view returns (uint256) {
        return _nextTokenId;
    }
}

Step 4: Compile

forge build

Step 5: Deploy to Mainnet

Deploy your contract to SKALE Base Mainnet:

forge create src/MyNFT.sol:MyNFT \
    --interactive \
    --rpc-url skale_mainnet \
    --legacy

Or use an encrypted keystore:

forge create src/MyNFT.sol:MyNFT \
    --account skale-deployer \
    --rpc-url skale_mainnet \
    --broadcast \
    --legacy

SKALE Chains require the --legacy flag. If you don’t have a keystore, --interactive prompts for your private key. The deployment will deduct CREDITS from your wallet to cover compute.

Done. Your contract is live on SKALE Base Mainnet. Next, verify your contract or deploy an ERC-20 token.

Setup Foundry — full Foundry configuration guide
Setup Hardhat — Hardhat alternative
Verify Smart Contracts
Explore Programmable Privacy

Integrate SKALE

Resources

Programmable Privacy

SDKs

SKALE Bridge

Cryptography

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set Up a Foundry Project

Step 2: Configure foundry.toml

Step 3: Create Your Contract

Step 4: Compile

Step 5: Deploy to Mainnet

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Set Up a Foundry Project

​Step 2: Configure foundry.toml

​Step 3: Create Your Contract

​Step 4: Compile

​Step 5: Deploy to Mainnet

​Related Topics

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set Up a Foundry Project

Step 2: Configure foundry.toml

Step 3: Create Your Contract

Step 4: Compile

Step 5: Deploy to Mainnet

Related Topics