Time-dependent tests with Hardhat?

Question

For Ganache, there are several solutions.

What about Hardhat? They implemented their own local blockchain, Hardhat Network, which is different to Ganache.

Answer 1

Using Hardhat Network Helpers

The easiest way to do this is to use the time helpers in Hardhat Network Helpers.

Install them with:

npm install @nomicfoundation/hardhat-network-helpers

And then you can use them like this:

import { time } from "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-network-helpers";

async function main() {
  // advance time by one hour and mine a new block
  await helpers.time.increase(3600);

  // mine a new block with timestamp `newTimestamp`
  await helpers.time.increaseTo(newTimestamp);

  // set the timestamp of the next block but don't mine a new block
  await helpers.time.setNextBlockTimestamp(newTimestamp);
}

main();

You can check the reference here.

Using raw JSON-RPC calls

There are two relevant RPC methods here: evm_increaseTime and evm_setNextBlockTimestamp. In both cases, they affect the next block but don't mine one.

evm_increaseTime receives a number of seconds that will be added to the timestamp of the latest block. evm_setNextBlockTimestamp receives an absolute UNIX timestamp (again, in seconds), and so it's not affected by the current block.

Examples

evm_increaseTime

// suppose the current block has a timestamp of 01:00 PM
await network.provider.send("evm_increaseTime", [3600])
await network.provider.send("evm_mine") // this one will have 02:00 PM as its timestamp

evm_setNextBlockTimestamp

await network.provider.send("evm_setNextBlockTimestamp", [1625097600])
await network.provider.send("evm_mine") // this one will have 2021-07-01 12:00 AM as its timestamp, no matter what the previous block has

Keep in mind that Hardhat Network validates that the new timestamp is bigger than the previous one, so you can't send any value.

Answer 2

A new update to Ganache has added a time parameter to the evm_mine command. Now the best way to move time is

await ethers.provider.send("evm_mine", [newTimestampInSeconds]);

It is better because you only make 1 RPC call instead of 2 in the accepted solution.

Note that you can't move time backwards in Hardhat.

Answer 3

const { expect } = require("chai");
const { ethers } = require('hardhat');

const sevenDays = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60;

const blockNumBefore = await ethers.provider.getBlockNumber();
const blockBefore = await ethers.provider.getBlock(blockNumBefore);
const timestampBefore = blockBefore.timestamp;

await ethers.provider.send('evm_increaseTime', [sevenDays]);
await ethers.provider.send('evm_mine');

const blockNumAfter = await ethers.provider.getBlockNumber();
const blockAfter = await ethers.provider.getBlock(blockNumAfter);
const timestampAfter = blockAfter.timestamp;

expect(blockNumAfter).to.be.equal(blockNumBefore + 1);
expect(timestampAfter).to.be.equal(timestampBefore + sevenDays);

Answer 4

For any future wanderers:

Hardhat added a network-helpers library with convenient JS interface:

• https://hardhat.org/hardhat-network-helpers/docs/overview
• https://www.npmjs.com/package/@nomicfoundation/hardhat-network-helpers

Among other things, there are functions to change network time: https://hardhat.org/hardhat-network-helpers/docs/reference#time-helpers.

Some examples copied from the reference:

// advance time by one hour and mine a new block
await helpers.time.increase(3600);
// advance time to specific timestamp and mine a new block
await helpers.time.increaseTo(newTimestamp);
// set the timestamp of the next block but don't mine a new block
await helpers.time.setNextBlockTimestamp(newTimestamp);

Answer 5

What I've been using with typescript and hardhat:

import { ethers, waffle } from 'hardhat';

const time = now + 86400
await ethers.provider.send('evm_setNextBlockTimestamp', [now]); 
await ethers.provider.send('evm_mine');

Answer 6

Adding to Franco's answer, there is a plugin that abstracts some of the complexities of handling time directly.

You can look its documentation in https://www.npmjs.com/package/@atixlabs/hardhat-time-n-mine