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2. Staging & Testing

Creator Dashboard walkthrough — staging your Art Blocks project on Sepolia testnet.

Once your script is working locally, you'll create a testnet project using the Art Blocks Creator Dashboard and prepare it for review. This step covers the full staging process on Sepolia testnet.

Before You Start

  • Your script is complete and tested locally with many different hashes
  • You have your artist wallet ready (the one registered with Art Blocks)
  • You have some Sepolia ETH for test minting
  • You have access to the Creator Dashboard

Getting Sepolia ETH

Sepolia ETH is free and has no real value. You can request it from any of the following faucets:

Creator Dashboard Overview

The Art Blocks Creator Dashboard is the primary interface for setting up and managing your project. Connect your artist wallet to get started.

The dashboard is organized into sub-pages for your project:

  • Details — project metadata (name, description, license)
  • Scripts — upload your script file and configure your dependency
  • Renders — aspect ratio, render delay, Canvas Mode, MP4 settings
  • Payments — primary and secondary revenue splits
  • Minters — minting mechanism configuration
  • Outputs — browse your minted test outputs

Step 1: Create a Testnet Project

  1. Connect your artist wallet to create.artblocks.io
  2. Ensure you're on the Sepolia network
  3. Click Create New Project
  4. Your testnet project shell is now created

You'll see your new project listed in the dashboard. Click into it to begin configuration.

Step 2: Details

Fill in your project metadata:

Field Notes
Artist Name Your public artist name as it will appear on Art Blocks
Project Name The title of the project
Edition Size Total number of tokens (max invocations). Cannot be increased once locked.
Description Artist statement / project description — visible on artblocks.io
License NFT License, Creative Commons, or your custom license
Website Artist website or project-specific URL (optional)

Writing Your Project Description

The project description is an important opportunity to highlight your intentions and provide an interpretative frame around how you want the viewer/collector to approach your project. Here are some prompts to help you get started:

  • Begin with a strong, clear opening sentence.
  • Lead with artistic inquiry; what questions can be prompted or answered through this work?
  • How would you describe this project to someone unfamiliar with your work?
  • What inspiration, color palette influences, themes, and techniques were used?
  • Examine the outputs. What can the viewer see?
  • Be sure to describe any interactivity features, if applicable.
  • End by summarizing how the medium, outputs, and algorithm achieve your initial inquiry or concept.

Step 3: Scripts

This is the core of your project setup.

  1. Script type & version — Select your library (p5js, threejs, regl, etc.) and the version. This determines which library CDN the generator will load.
  2. Upload script — Upload your .js file. The dashboard will show the script content for verification.
  3. PostParams (Engine Flex only, optional) — If your project uses Post-Mint Parameters, configure the parameters and standard hooks you want to use here. Artists may define on-chain configurable parameters (enums, booleans, colors, etc.) that collectors can adjust after minting.
  4. Decentralized Storage Assets (Engine Flex only, optional) — If your project uses IPFS/Arweave external assets, configure them here. See Decentralized Storage Assets for details.

After uploading, use the Preview button to open a live view of a test output and verify your script renders correctly.

Updating Your Script

If you make changes to your script, you may refresh individual tokens by navigating to the Outputs tab and using the Refresh queue. Note that batch refreshes are limited to once per day.

Step 4: Renders

Configure how the Art Blocks rendering infrastructure captures your artwork:

Setting Notes
Aspect Ratio Width:height ratio of your artwork (e.g. 1 for square, 1.5 for landscape). Used for canvas sizing and thumbnail display.
Render Delay Seconds the renderer waits before capturing the static image. Set this long enough for any animations to complete their initial state (e.g. 0 for immediately deterministic art, 5 for animated pieces).
Canvas Mode Enable if your script uses a <canvas> element directly (most p5.js and vanilla JS projects). Required for static capture to work correctly.
MP4 Settings Optional. Configure if you want animated MP4 thumbnails generated for your project.

Step 5: Payments

Configure how primary and secondary revenues are split.

Primary Sales

By default, primary sales split 90% to the artist and 10% to Art Blocks. You can add an additional payee to further split the artist's share (e.g. for collaborators or charitable giving).

  • Additional payee wallet — Another Ethereum address to receive a portion of primary sales
  • Artist % to additional payee — What percentage of the artist's primary share goes to the additional payee

Secondary Royalties

Art Blocks contracts use ERC-2981 and 0xSplits for secondary royalties. When you configure payment information, a splitter contract is automatically deployed.

  • Artist royalty % — Typical range is 5%. This is the total secondary royalty paid to artist + any additional payee.
  • Artist secondary payee — Additional address to split secondary royalties with the artist
  • Artist % to secondary payee — Portion of artist's secondary share going to the additional payee

Your royalty splitter address is shown in the dashboard. You can view and withdraw balances at app.splits.org.

Step 6: Minters

Choose your minting mechanism. For detailed guidance on each option, see the Minter Guide.

Options include:

  • Set Price (ETH) — Fixed price, first-come-first-served
  • Dutch Auction (w/ Settlement) — Fair price discovery; all buyers pay the final price
  • Dutch Auction (exponential/linear) — Price decreases over time; no settlement
  • Allowlist — Fixed price for pre-approved wallets
  • Ranked Auction (RAM) — Bid-based; all winning bidders pay the lowest winning bid

Step 7: Test Minting

With your project configured, mint test outputs:

  1. Mint at least 20–40 test tokens — enough to see meaningful variety across your trait space
  2. Use "Explore Possibilities" in the Outputs tab — this previews many different hashes rapidly without spending gas on minting transactions
  3. Review outputs carefully — look for visual errors, edge cases, extreme outputs
  4. Preview at artist-staging.artblocks.io — this mirrors how your project will appear on artblocks.io

What to Check

  • Every output renders without errors
  • Trait distribution is what you expect (check window.$features values)
  • No hash produces a broken or undesirable output
  • Artwork looks correct at different viewport sizes
  • Render delay is long enough for animated pieces to settle

Step 8: Submit for Review

When your testnet project is ready:

  1. Email apply@artblocks.io with a link to your testnet project shell
    • Format: https://artist-staging.artblocks.io/engine/[flex OR fullyonchain]/projects/[contractAddress]/[projectId]
  2. Share your testnet project in #artist-tech on Discord if you have technical questions
  3. Wait for feedback — the Art Blocks team will review and may request changes before approving the mainnet deployment

Revisions may be requested before approval. Common feedback includes: output quality, trait distribution, edge-case handling, and script performance.

Common Issues

Issue Fix
Script renders correctly locally but not in dashboard preview Remove any CDN <script> tags from your script; check for DOM setup code that creates elements the generator already provides
Different outputs on reload with same hash Remove Math.random() and Date.now() — seed all randomness from tokenData.hash
Static capture shows blank or mid-animation frame Increase render delay in Renders settings