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Hardhat 3

Using a Hardhat plugin

So far, you’ve been using Hardhat’s built-in features. Now you’ll extend Hardhat’s functionality with plugins.

Plugins let you add new tasks, features, and integrations to Hardhat. You’ll install the hardhat-toolbox-viem plugin, which you’ll need for the rest of the tutorial.

Run this command to install the plugin:

Terminal window
npm add --save-dev @nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox-viem @nomicfoundation/hardhat-ignition viem

This installs three packages. The hardhat-toolbox-viem plugin bundles several tools together, but you’ll import @nomicfoundation/hardhat-ignition and viem directly in your code later, so they need to be installed separately.

Import @nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox-viem in your hardhat.config.ts file and add it to the plugins array. This loads the plugin and its dependencies into Hardhat, including hardhat-ignition:

hardhat.config.ts
import hardhatToolboxViemPlugin from "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox-viem";
import { defineConfig } from "hardhat/config";


export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [hardhatToolboxViemPlugin],
  solidity: {
    version: "0.8.28",
  },
});

Run the help command to verify the plugin is loaded:

Terminal window
npx hardhat -h

You’ll see new tasks added by the plugin in the task list, like test nodejs.