Guides

These guides follow the path a Midnight DApp takes from a fresh machine to production: set up your tools, fund a wallet, deploy your contract, connect a frontend, and plan for the long term. Follow them in order for the full journey, or jump straight to the task in front of you.

Set up your environment

Install Docker, the Compact compiler, and the VS Code extension, run a local proof server, and optionally use Bun as your runtime. macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL) covered.

Set up your tools

Fund your wallet

Get tNIGHT from the faucet and delegate it to generate the tDUST that pays for every transaction on the test networks.

Get test tokens

Generate DUST programmatically

Create or restore a wallet from code with the Wallet SDK, fund it, and register NIGHT for DUST generation as part of your application's setup flow.

Script your wallet setup

From local network to testnet

Run a local Midnight network with funded test wallets, configure the Midnight.js providers, and deploy your contract to Preprod and Preview.

Build and deploy

Work with your compiled contract

Understand the JavaScript implementation the Compact compiler generates, then import it, implement witnesses, call circuits, and write unit tests.

Use the generated code

Connect a wallet from your frontend

Build a wallet connection flow with the DApp Connector API in a Vite + React or Next.js application.

Wire up your UI

Plan for contract updatability

Decide whether and how your contract can be updated after deployment with a Contract Maintenance Authority, before you ship it.

Plan for the long term

Run the proof server

For DApp users rather than builders: run a local proof server with Docker so your transaction data stays on your machine.

Protect your privacy