Anvil (original) (raw)
Anvil is a fast local Ethereum node for development and testing. It runs entirely in-memory and supports forking from any EVM-compatible chain.
Key capabilities
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Local development | Start a local node with pre-funded accounts and instant mining |
| Forking | Fork mainnet or any chain at a specific block |
| State management | Dump and load chain state for reproducible testing |
| Custom RPC methods | Impersonate accounts, manipulate time, and control mining |
| Tracing | Debug transactions with full execution traces |
Common workflows
Auto-impersonate
$ anvil --auto-impersonate
Default accounts
Anvil generates 10 development accounts with 10,000 ETH each. The default mnemonic is:
test test test test test test test test test test test junk
You can customize accounts with --accounts, --balance, and --mnemonic.
Learn more
- Forking — Fork mainnet and other chains
- State management — Dump and load chain state
- Custom methods — Impersonation, mining control, and time manipulation