Best way to debug smart contracts on æternity?

æpp Development Developer Suite and Tools
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Hi, I’m just getting started with Sophia and wondering what tools you guys use to debug smart contracts effectively?

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Hi Nicole!! Welcome to the ae community!!

Hope the guidance below helps! It has been generated by aengel , an specialized aeternity gpt assistant available at ChatGPT - ængel

The forum is of course a good place to seek for support but you can always use it to be your “aengel” in your aeternity / sophia journey!

Best Tools to Debug Sophia Smart Contracts on æternity

  1. AEStudio
  • A browser-based IDE for Sophia smart contracts.
  • Enables live contract editing, deployment, and dry-run simulation.
  • Great for testing contract logic before deploying on-chain.
  • Available at https://studio.aepps.com/
  1. localnet
  • Sets up a local æternity network using Docker.
  • Essential for testing contracts in a private, controlled environment.
  • Use it to simulate different nodes, transactions, and network states.
  1. aeproject
  • CLI tool to scaffold, test, and deploy contracts.
  • Integrates easily with localnet and includes testing with Mocha/Chai.
  • Useful for structured development workflows and CI setups.
  1. aesophia_cli
  • Command-line Sophia compiler with support for static analysis.
  • Can be used to compile, validate, and inspect contract bytecode.
  1. aesophia_aci_encoder
  • Encodes/decodes contract interfaces and calldata.
  • Critical for debugging interface-related issues or dynamic contract calls.
  1. aepp-sdk-js
  • Programmatic interaction with contracts.
  • Debug or simulate contract calls via script automation.
  1. aerepl-web
  • Experimental REPL for Sophia – evaluate expressions quickly without full deployment.

:pushpin: Tip: Always use dry-run calls (contract.methods.fn_name().call()) before broadcasting to ensure state consistency and gas correctness.

:brain: Pro move: Combine localnet + aeproject + aesophia_cli for a full test/debug stack.