This guide will help you quickly set up your development environment and start building on Neutron. You’ll learn how to set up dependencies, run a local environment, and deploy your first smart contract.
New to Neutron development? We recommend starting with our Onboarding Tutorial Series which provides a comprehensive, step-by-step introduction to building on Neutron.

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Environment Setup

1

Install Required Dependencies

# Install Rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env
rustup default stable
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

# Install Go
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.23.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# Verify installations
rustc --version
go version
Make sure to adjust the Go version and paths based on your operating system if needed.
2

Clone and Build Neutron

# Clone the Neutron repository
git clone https://github.com/neutron-org/neutron.git
cd neutron

# Build the neutrond binary
make install

# Verify installation
neutrond version

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Cosmopark Development Environment

Cosmopark provides a complete local development environment with interconnected Neutron and Gaia nodes, IBC relayers, and everything you need to start developing cross-chain applications.
1

Clone Required Repositories

# Create a workspace directory
mkdir neutron-dev && cd neutron-dev

# Clone repositories in the same parent directory
git clone -b main https://github.com/neutron-org/neutron.git
git clone https://github.com/neutron-org/neutron-integration-tests.git
git clone https://github.com/neutron-org/neutron-query-relayer.git
git clone https://github.com/cosmos/gaia.git

# Checkout specific Gaia version
cd gaia
git checkout v19.0.0
cd ..
2

Build Docker Images

cd neutron-integration-tests/setup
make build-all

# Download Neutron DAO contracts
npx @neutron-org/get-artifacts neutron-dao -b main -d contracts
3

Start Cosmopark

# Start the local development environment
make start-cosmopark

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f
The first time you run Cosmopark, it will take a few minutes to set up all the components.
4

Use Predefined Accounts

Cosmopark creates several test accounts with tokens for both Neutron and Gaia chains:
# Neutron Accounts
- neutron1m9l358xunhhwds0568za49mzhvuxx9ux8xafx2 (demowallet1)
- neutron10h9stc5v6ntgeygf5xf945njqq5h32r5r2HWFc (demowallet2)

# Gaia Accounts
- cosmos10h9stc5v6ntgeygf5xf945njqq5h32r54ef7kt (demowallet2)
- cosmos1m9l358xunhhwds0568za49mzhvuxx9uxre5tgh (demowallet1)
The mnemonics for these accounts are available in the Cosmopark documentation.
For a comprehensive guide to setting up your development environment with Cosmopark, check out our Cosmopark Tutorial.

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Create and Deploy a CosmWasm Smart Contract

1

Initialize a New CosmWasm Project

# Generate a new CosmWasm project using the template
cargo generate --git https://github.com/CosmWasm/cw-template.git --name my-neutron-contract
cd my-neutron-contract
2

Build Your Contract

# Compile the contract to Wasm
cargo wasm

# Optimize the Wasm binary (requires Docker)
docker run --rm -v "$(pwd)":/code \
  --mount type=volume,source="$(basename "$(pwd)")_cache",target=/code/target \
  --mount type=volume,source=registry_cache,target=/usr/local/cargo/registry \
  cosmwasm/rust-optimizer:0.12.13
This will produce an optimized Wasm file in the artifacts directory.
3

Deploy to Cosmopark

With Cosmopark running, you can deploy your contract to the local Neutron network:
# Store the contract on Neutron
neutrond tx wasm store artifacts/my_neutron_contract.wasm \
  --from demowallet1 \
  --chain-id neutron-testing-1 \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.3 \
  --node http://localhost:26657 \
  --yes

# Get the code ID
neutrond query wasm list-code --node http://localhost:26657

# Instantiate the contract (replace CODE_ID with the actual code ID)
neutrond tx wasm instantiate CODE_ID '{"count": 0}' \
  --from demowallet1 \
  --label "my first contract" \
  --chain-id neutron-testing-1 \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.3 \
  --node http://localhost:26657 \
  --yes
4

Interact with Your Contract

# Query the contract state
neutrond query wasm contract-state smart CONTRACT_ADDRESS '{"get_count": {}}' \
  --node http://localhost:26657

# Execute a contract function
neutrond tx wasm execute CONTRACT_ADDRESS '{"increment": {}}' \
  --from demowallet1 \
  --chain-id neutron-testing-1 \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.3 \
  --node http://localhost:26657 \
  --yes
Replace CONTRACT_ADDRESS with your actual contract address.

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Interchain Development with Neutron

One of Neutron’s most powerful features is the ability to query and interact with other blockchains. Here’s a quick example using Interchain Queries (ICQ): 
// In your contract's execute function
pub fn execute_icq_query(
    deps: DepsMut,
    env: Env,
    connection_id: String,
) -> Result<Response, ContractError> {
    // Create an ICQ request to query account balance on Cosmos Hub
    let icq_msg = NeutronMsg::RegisterInterchainQuery {
        query_type: QueryType::KV {
            connection_id,
            keys: vec![Key {
                path: "bank/balances/cosmos1m9l358xunhhwds0568za49mzhvuxx9uxre5tgh".to_string(),
                key: Binary::from(b"denom_key"),
            }],
        },
        transactions_filter: TransactionsFilterType::None,
        update_period: 10,
    };

    // Return the message in the response
    Ok(Response::new()
        .add_message(icq_msg)
        .add_attribute("action", "register_icq"))
}

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Development Tools

Remix IDE Plugin

Build and deploy CosmWasm contracts with the familiar Remix interface.

WasmKit

Complete development toolchain for CosmWasm smart contracts.

Neutron SDK

TypeScript and Go SDKs for building applications and services.

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Structured Learning Path

Onboarding Series

Complete 3-part tutorial series from smart contracts to web apps

Integration Tests

Learn to test your contracts and chain integrations

Indexer Development

Build indexers for efficient data querying

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What’s Next?

Part 1: Minimal Contract

Start with creating and deploying a simple smart contract

CosmWasm Intro

Deeper introduction to CosmWasm development

Interchain Queries

Learn how to query other chains from your contract
Need help? Join our Discord server and check out the #developers channel for support from the Neutron team and community.