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External Tools & Simulators for ErgoScript Debugging#

Given the limitations of direct on-chain debugging, external tools and off-chain simulators play a vital role in testing and understanding ErgoScript contract behavior in a controlled environment.

Simulators#

Simulators allow you to execute ErgoScript code off-chain, mimicking the on-chain environment to varying degrees.

  • Spectrum Finance ErgoScript Simulator:
    • Repository: github.com/spectrum-finance/ergoscript-simulator
    • Description: A community-developed tool specifically designed for simulating ErgoScript execution. It can provide more insight into evaluation steps and intermediate results than simple unit tests might offer.
    • Features: (Refer to the simulator's own documentation for specific capabilities, setup instructions, and usage examples).

SDK Playgrounds & REPLs#

Some Software Development Kits (SDKs) offer interactive environments for experimenting with script snippets and context building.

  • Fleet SDK Playground / REPL:
    • SDK: Fleet SDK (JS/TS)
    • Potential Features: The Fleet SDK ecosystem may include online playgrounds or command-line REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) tools that allow developers to quickly test small ErgoScript fragments, context construction, or serialization/deserialization logic. (Check the official Fleet SDK documentation and website for available tools).

Online Editors & Compilers#

Web-based tools can help with writing scripts and catching syntax errors.

  • escript.online:
    • Website: escript.online
    • Description: An online editor and compiler for ErgoScript. Useful for writing scripts, checking syntax, and seeing the compiled ErgoTree output.

Future Directions#

The Ergo developer community actively discusses and desires more sophisticated debugging tools, potentially including enhanced simulators with features like breakpoints, step-through execution tracing, and detailed state inspection capabilities. As the ecosystem matures, more advanced external debugging tools are likely to emerge.

Using these external tools effectively complements the core practices of thorough testing and careful design.