Shell Chain Public Testnet

The Shell Chain WPoA testnet (chain ID 10) is live and serves the public RPC, explorer, and faucet for the network.

See also: Testnet Operator Guide · Consensus Details · JSON-RPC Reference · Faucet

Network Info

Parameter Value
Network Name Shell Testnet
Chain ID 10
Currency SHELL
RPC URL https://testnet-rpc.shell.org
WebSocket URL wss://testnet-rpc.shell.org/ws
Explorer https://explorer.shell.org
Consensus WPoA (Weighted Proof of Authority)
Block time ~2 s

Add to MetaMask / Shella Wallet

Shella Chrome Wallet

Shella automatically includes the Shell Testnet preset. Click the network selector in the top-right and choose Shell Testnet.

MetaMask (manual)

  1. Open MetaMask → Settings → Networks → Add a network
  2. Fill in the fields from the table above
  3. Save and switch to Shell Testnet

Faucet

Visit faucet.shell.org to request testnet SHELL. The faucet accepts canonical Shell addresses (0x + 64 lowercase hex).

Deploying a Smart Contract

# 1. Compile with hardhat / foundry targeting chain_id=10
forge create --rpc-url https://testnet-rpc.shell.org \
  --chain-id 10 \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  src/MyContract.sol:MyContract

# 2. Interact via cast
cast send --rpc-url https://testnet-rpc.shell.org \
  --chain-id 10 \
  --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
  0xContractAddr "myFunction(uint256)" 42

Running a Read-Only Node

shell-node run \
  --genesis examples/genesis-testnet-wpoa.json \
  --datadir ~/.shell-testnet \
  --network testnet \
  --boot-nodes <bootstrap-multiaddr>

See the Testnet Operator Guide for full validator setup including keystores, monitoring, and upgrade procedures.

Explorer

Browse transactions and blocks at explorer.shell.org.

The explorer tracks the live public testnet at https://explorer.shell.org.

Known Limitations

  • Testnet state may be reset without notice during protocol upgrades (breaking changes require fresh genesis).
  • Maximum 100 SHELL per faucet request; 24-hour rate limit per IP.
  • WPoA consensus requires quorum of validators — if fewer than 2 validators are online, block production pauses.