The Future of EigenLayer Testing: New & Improved Testnets & Tooling Coming Soon

As Eigen Labs continues to iterate and release new and improved versions of the EigenLayer protocol, our approach to testing also requires iteration. We are quickly approaching 50 AVSs on the EigenLayer test networks with hundreds more in development. These AVSs need to be able to comprehensively test their services alongside Operators. Eigen Labs has created a more robust testing strategy by launching new testnets and tooling improvements to meet these needs.

Testnet Improvements

Immediate Deployment to Hoodi Ethereum Testnet

The Ethereum community recently introduced the Hoodi testnet to address challenges encountered with the Holesky testnet during the testing of the upcoming Pectra upgrade. Hoodi was designed as its replacement by providing an environment focused on staking-related protocols, with an open beacon chain validator set. You can learn about Hoodi here. EigenLayer will be deployed on the newly launched Hoodi Ethereum testnet, targeting early April.  

This deployment will allow builders to:

• Test the protocol end-to-end, including beacon chain / EigenPod validator integrations.
• Replace Holesky in their testing process as we shift infrastructure over.

This replacement is to be known as staging-hoodi.

Long-Term Testnet Support

To cater to users’ diverse testing needs, we are establishing a multi-testnet approach. The networks Eigen Labs will support include:

EigenLayer Sepolia Testnet: 

• Namespace: testnet-sepolia
• Purpose: Facilitate rapid development iterations and integration testing for AVS customers.
• Benefits: Provide a streamlined environment for quick testing cycles, enabling efficient troubleshooting and accelerated development timelines for AVSs and integrating customers. Sepolia is home to many existing apps and rollups, with an EigenLayer deployment helping test AVSs integrations.

EigenLayer Hoodi Testnet:

• Namespace: testnet-hoodi
• Purpose: Provide a platform for AVS developers, Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs), Operators, and integrators to test upcoming features of the EigenLayer protocol and end-to-end interactions between Operators, AVSs, and Ethereum. This includes new or upcoming EigenPod mechanics (e.g., proposer commitments or validator consolidations), beacon chain operations, rewards, and more. 
• Advantages: Allows early access to new functionalities, which enables proactive issue identification and fosters a collaborative development atmosphere.

EigenLayer Staging Environment:

• Namespace: staging-hoodi
• Purpose: For AVSs to signal readiness of code and protocol. For Operators and AVSs to test production interactions. For Operators to test new AVSs they may want to run on Mainnet risk-free.
• Features: Offers an environment that mirrors the EigenLayer protocol on mainnet, ensuring that tests accurately reflect live conditions and the reliability of deployments.

EigenLayer Holesky Testnet

Eigen Labs will continue supporting Holesky Testnet until Q3 2025*, when the testnet will sunset. Eigen Labs wants to ensure a smooth transition for its users with their testing environments, and by continuing to support Holesky, users can transition to the new testnets in a reasonable amount of time.

Here’s an overview of the upgrade pathing we plan to support from when a release is cut:

The contract addresses will be provided in the eigenlayer-contracts-metadata repo, when available for each network. 

Additionally, the Eigen Labs team has been provided HoodiETH and SepoliaETH. We can provide testnetETH on an individual basis.

*testnet-holesky will sunset in Q3; the Ethereum testnet itself reaches end of life in September

Tooling Improvements

Improved CLI 

We know multiple testnets may create overhead in management and infrastructure, so we will ship some additional tools to make this easier. Eigen Labs is launching new tooling to improve the user experience of building on EigenLayer. The EigenLayer-CLI helps spin up new Operators easily. AVSs can spin up Operator nodes themselves to test interactions in their Operator Sets, distribute tasks, and quickly iterate on business logic.

→ Learn more here

Self Slasher

We will launch a Self-Slashing AVS on all supported test networks for both AVSs and Operators. This AVS will consume Operator meta-data and allow an Operator to allocate stake and slash itself, with user-specified parameters. This is intended to help participants trigger slashings and observe the impacts within the protocol (and out).

→ Look out soon for the latest repository to get started using Self-Slashing.

Local Devnet Toolchains 

AVS Devnet will transform how developers build, test, and deploy AVSs on EigenLayer. Powered by Kurtosis, this versatile CLI tool enables rapid setup of customizable local Ethereum devnets, complete with integrated consensus and execution clients, a pre-configured Blockscout explorer, and simulation-ready Operator accounts with keys. With AVS Devnet, developers gain the flexibility and efficiency to streamline local testing, reduce setup complexity, and accelerate innovation. This powerful addition to the EigenLayer testing toolkit ensures a seamless development experience from prototyping through deployment, perfectly complementing the upcoming enhancements to our testnet infrastructure.

→ Check out the open source AVS Devnet repository here to get started.

Get in Touch

Eigen Labs remains dedicated to providing robust and versatile testing environments for the EigenLayer protocol that cater to developers' needs. We hope the additional environments enhance the developer experience.

→ Please contact us with any feedback and questions by joining our Discord and Forum.