Deployment Guide

Deployment works the same way for ZkApps on Mina, Devnet, and Zeko. All Smart Contracts have a deploy() method that must be called to create the account on chain. The example code below shows an example of how to properly configure a Mina network and generate a deploy transaction.

Deploying a ZkApp on Mina implies creating a brand new account on chain. That means that you need to generate a private key for the account, and pay an account creation fee, just like any other account. The private key that you generate will have some default permissions (review the Permissions documentation for a refresher). Any permissions that are controlled by a signature will be possible to control by the private key holder of the Smart Contract. However, if you deploy a Smart Contract with proof permissions for every operation, then the private key will not be able to perform those operations.

warning

Currently, the only exception is the setVerificationKey permission, which can only be set to impossibleDuringCurrentVersion(), because in the event of a proof system upgrade to the entire chain, a smart contract will not be able to produce valid proofs until it is upgraded to the new proof system.

Network Configuration

Configure your deployment target with the appropriate network:

export const NetworkConfig = {
  // Mina Mainnet configuration
  mainnet: {
    mina: "https://api.minascan.io/node/mainnet/v1/graphql",
    archive: "https://api.minascan.io/archive/mainnet/v1/graphql",
    name: "mainnet",
    networkId: "mainnet",
  },

  // Mina Devnet configuration
  devnet: {
    mina: "https://api.minascan.io/node/devnet/v1/graphql",
    archive: "https://api.minascan.io/archive/devnet/v1/graphql",
    name: "devnet",
    networkId: "testnet",
  },

  // Zeko configuration
  zeko_testnet: {
    mina: "https://devnet.zeko.io/graphql",
    archive: "https://devnet.zeko.io/graphql", // Zeko uses same endpoint for both
    name: "zeko testnet",
    networkId: "testnet",
  },
};

Deploying a ZkApp

Here's how to deploy a zkApp to any network:

export async function deployToDevnet(
  contractClass: typeof SmartContract, // In practice, use your specific contract class here
  contractPrivateKey: PrivateKey,
  deployerPrivateKey: PrivateKey
) {
  console.log("Configuring Mina instance for devnet...");

  const Network = Mina.Network({
    mina: NetworkConfig.devnet.mina,
    archive: NetworkConfig.devnet.archive,
  });
  Mina.setActiveInstance(Network);

  const deployerPublicKey = deployerPrivateKey.toPublicKey();
  const contractPublicKey = contractPrivateKey.toPublicKey();

  console.log("Deployer address:", deployerPublicKey.toBase58());
  console.log("Contract address:", contractPublicKey.toBase58());

  // Check/fund account using faucet if needed
  try {
    await fetchAccount({ publicKey: deployerPublicKey });
    const deployerAccount = Mina.getAccount(deployerPublicKey);
    console.log(
      "Deployer balance:",
      deployerAccount.balance.toBigInt().toString()
    );

    if (deployerAccount.balance.lessThan(UInt64.from(1_000_000_000))) {
      console.log(
        "Low balance detected, Please visit https://faucet.minaprotocol.com to fund your account..."
      );
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.log("Account not found, please fund it using the faucet");
    console.log("Faucet URL: https://faucet.minaprotocol.com");
    throw error;
  }

  // Compile contract
  console.log("Compiling contract...");
  const { verificationKey } = await contractClass.compile();

  const contract = new contractClass(contractPublicKey);

  // Create deployment transaction
  console.log("Creating deployment transaction...");
  const deployTx = await Mina.transaction(
    {
      sender: deployerPublicKey,
      fee: 100_000_000, // 0.1 MINA fee
      memo: "zkApp deployment to devnet",
    },
    async () => {
      AccountUpdate.fundNewAccount(deployerPublicKey);
      contract.deploy({ verificationKey });
    }
  );

  await deployTx.prove();
  const signedTx = deployTx.sign([deployerPrivateKey, contractPrivateKey]);

  console.log("Sending transaction to devnet...");
  const txResult = await signedTx.send();

  console.log("Devnet deployment successful!");
  console.log("Transaction hash:", txResult.hash);

  return {
    contractAddress: contractPublicKey.toBase58(),
    transactionHash: txResult.hash,
    network: "devnet",
  };
}

Network Comparison

Network	Purpose	Tokens	Transaction Inclusion
Mainnet	Production L1	Real MINA	~3-5 min
Devnet	Testing L1	Test MINA	~5-10 min
Zeko Testnet	Testing L2	Test MINA	~10 sec

API Reference

For detailed deployment information, see:

• Mina Network
• Transaction