#Using the Hardhat 3 plugin template

This guide shows you how to use the official GitHub template repository to build your own Hardhat 3 plugin. The template includes all the boilerplate needed for a new plugin.

#Prerequisites

To use the template, you'll need Node.js 22+ and pnpm installed on your machine.

#Using the template repository

To create a new repository based on the template, click here and follow the instructions on GitHub.

Then, clone your new repository to your local machine.

#Understanding your new repository

The repository you just created is structured as a pnpm monorepo with the following packages:

packages/plugin: The plugin itself, including the plugin boilerplate.
packages/example-project: An example Hardhat 3 project that uses the plugin.

You'll do all development in the packages/plugin directory, while packages/example-project is a playground to experiment with your plugin and manually test it.

To learn how to write automated tests for your plugin, read this guide.

#Trying out your plugin

Before changing anything, let's test the boilerplate plugin.

pnpm install
pnpm build

Try the plugin out in packages/example-project with:

cd packages/example-project
pnpm hardhat my-task

This should print Hola, Hardhat!.

TIP

Running pnpm watch in the packages/plugin directory helps when using the example project.

If you keep a terminal running it, the plugin will normally rebuild by the time you try it out in the example-project.

#Learn more

Learn more about the Hardhat 3 plugin template's setup by reading its README.md.