Ethereum CLI Cheatsheet

Essential commands for Ethereum development using Geth, web3.js, and Hardhat.

Geth (Go Ethereum)

Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ethereum/ethereum
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ethereum

# macOS
brew tap ethereum/ethereum
brew install ethereum

Node Management

# Start mainnet node
geth

# Start testnet (Sepolia)
geth --sepolia

# Start with HTTP RPC
geth --http --http.addr "0.0.0.0" --http.port 8545

# Start with WebSocket
geth --ws --ws.addr "0.0.0.0" --ws.port 8546

# Start light client
geth --syncmode "light"

# Start with custom data directory
geth --datadir /path/to/data

Account Management

# Create new account
geth account new

# List accounts
geth account list

# Import private key
geth account import /path/to/key

# Update account password
geth account update <address>

Console Operations

# Attach to running node
geth attach

# Attach to IPC
geth attach ipc:/path/to/geth.ipc

# Attach to HTTP RPC
geth attach http://localhost:8545

# Execute JavaScript file
geth js script.js

JavaScript Console Commands

// Check balance
eth.getBalance("0xAddress")

// Get account list
eth.accounts

// Send transaction
eth.sendTransaction({
  from: eth.accounts[0],
  to: "0xRecipient",
  value: web3.toWei(1, "ether")
})

// Get block number
eth.blockNumber

// Get block info
eth.getBlock(12345)

// Get transaction
eth.getTransaction("0xTxHash")

// Unlock account
personal.unlockAccount(eth.accounts[0], "password", 300)

// Create account
personal.newAccount("password")

// Get network ID
net.version

// Get peer count
net.peerCount

// Mining
miner.start()
miner.stop()

Hardhat

Installation & Setup

# Install Hardhat
npm install --save-dev hardhat

# Initialize project
npx hardhat init

# Install plugins
npm install --save-dev @nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox

Project Commands

# Compile contracts
npx hardhat compile

# Clean artifacts
npx hardhat clean

# Run tests
npx hardhat test

# Run specific test
npx hardhat test test/MyContract.test.js

# Run tests with gas reporter
REPORT_GAS=true npx hardhat test

# Check contract size
npx hardhat size-contracts

Network & Node

# Start local node
npx hardhat node

# Run script on network
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network localhost
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network sepolia
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network mainnet

# Get accounts
npx hardhat accounts --network localhost

Console

# Start console
npx hardhat console

# Start console on network
npx hardhat console --network localhost
npx hardhat console --network sepolia

Verification

# Verify contract on Etherscan
npx hardhat verify --network mainnet DEPLOYED_CONTRACT_ADDRESS "Constructor arg 1"

# Verify with multiple arguments
npx hardhat verify --network sepolia 0xAddress "arg1" 123 "arg3"

Deployment

# Deploy script
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js

# Deploy to specific network
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network sepolia

# Deploy with specific account
npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network mainnet

Cast (Foundry)

Installation

# Install Foundry
curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash
foundryup

Query Blockchain

# Get balance
cast balance 0xAddress

# Get balance in ether
cast balance 0xAddress --ether

# Get block number
cast block-number

# Get block
cast block latest
cast block 12345

# Get transaction
cast tx 0xTxHash

# Get transaction receipt
cast receipt 0xTxHash

# Get code at address
cast code 0xAddress

# Get storage slot
cast storage 0xAddress 0

Contract Interaction

# Call contract (read)
cast call 0xContract "balanceOf(address)(uint256)" 0xAddress

# Send transaction (write)
cast send 0xContract "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xRecipient 1000000

# Estimate gas
cast estimate 0xContract "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xRecipient 1000

# Get ABI
cast abi 0xContract

Utilities

# Convert to hex
cast --to-hex 123456

# Convert from hex
cast --to-dec 0x1e240

# Convert to wei
cast --to-wei 1 ether

# Convert from wei
cast --from-wei 1000000000000000000

# Keccak256 hash
cast keccak "Hello World"

# ABI encode
cast abi-encode "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xAddress 1000

# ABI decode
cast abi-decode "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xData

Web3.js CLI

Installation

npm install -g web3-cli

Basic Commands

# Connect to node
web3 --rpc http://localhost:8545

# Get block number
web3 eth blockNumber

# Get balance
web3 eth getBalance 0xAddress

# Get transaction count
web3 eth getTransactionCount 0xAddress

# Get gas price
web3 eth gasPrice

# Send transaction
web3 eth sendTransaction '{"from":"0x...","to":"0x...","value":"1000000000000000000"}'

Common Tasks

Deploy Contract

// Hardhat deployment script
const { ethers } = require("hardhat");

async function main() {
  const Contract = await ethers.getContractFactory("MyContract");
  const contract = await Contract.deploy();
  await contract.deployed();
  console.log("Contract deployed to:", contract.address);
}

main();

Interact with Contract

// Hardhat console
const Contract = await ethers.getContractAt("MyContract", "0xAddress");
await Contract.myFunction();
const result = await Contract.myView();

Check Network

# Geth
geth attach --exec "net.version"

# Hardhat
npx hardhat run --network localhost scripts/check.js

# Cast
cast chain-id

Environment Variables

# .env file for Hardhat
INFURA_API_KEY=your_key
ALCHEMY_API_KEY=your_key
PRIVATE_KEY=your_private_key
ETHERSCAN_API_KEY=your_key

Useful Resources

Geth Docs: https://geth.ethereum.org/docs
Hardhat Docs: https://hardhat.org/docs
Foundry Book: https://book.getfoundry.sh/
Web3.js Docs: https://web3js.readthedocs.io/
Ethereum.org: https://ethereum.org/developers