Sails Local Smoke

Goal

Validate the generated client path against a local node after gtest is already green.

Deploy Artifact And Tooling

• The deploy artifact is the .opt.wasm file (optimized WASM), not the plain .wasm. The .opt.wasm is produced by wasm-opt during the Sails build and is significantly smaller. Uploading the unoptimized .wasm to a node will often fail with CodeTooLarge.
• Prefer vara-wallet for deploying to a local node. It handles account management and program upload without requiring a Gear source checkout or Rust-specific tooling.
• For Rust-native test harnesses that already use gclient, the GearApi + GclientEnv path remains valid as a secondary option.

Identity Rules

• Use local dev accounts or user-provided account addresses in SS58 form for standard Vara account flows; do not default to Ethereum 0x addresses for normal local-node work.
• Record the real deployed program id from the deploy step and pass that into the typed client. If the flow uses vouchers, issue one first and use the returned voucher ID. Do not invent either identifier.
• Keep seed phrases and private keys out of committed scripts, docs, and examples. Use local keyrings, environment input, or interactive setup instead.

Inputs

• ../../references/sails-gtest-and-local-validation.md
• ../../references/sails-idl-client-pipeline.md
• ../vara-wallet/SKILL.md
• ../../references/sails-cheatsheet.md
• ../../references/voucher-and-signless-flows.md
• ../../references/sails-header-wire-format.md — Sails Header layout for debugging wire payloads

Sequence — Primary Path (vara-wallet + sails-js)

1. Confirm the docs/plans/...-gtest.md note shows a green test loop.
2. Start or reuse a local node on the default port (ws://localhost:9944).
3. Set the endpoint: $VW config set network local (persists) or export VARA_WS=ws://localhost:9944 (session only) or --network local (per-command). The default is mainnet — always override for local work.
4. Import a funded dev account: $VW wallet import --seed '//Alice' --name alice.
5. Deploy the .opt.wasm artifact and record the program id:

   UPLOAD=$($VW --account alice program upload ./target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/my_program.opt.wasm --idl ./my_program.idl --args '[]')
   PROGRAM_ID=$(echo $UPLOAD | jq -r .programId)

   If the constructor does non-trivial work, override gas with --gas-limit.
   • Post-deploy verification: If the service exposes a query, call it immediately after deploy to verify the constructor ran. An uninitialized program will return default or empty state, or panic.
6. If the program uses delayed messages, transfer VARA to the program address: $VW --account alice transfer $PROGRAM_ID 100.
7. Exercise one command and one query to prove the integration works:

   $VW --account alice call $PROGRAM_ID MyService/DoSomething --args '["hello"]' --idl ./my_program.idl
   $VW call $PROGRAM_ID MyService/GetState --args '[]' --idl ./my_program.idl

Sequence — Secondary Path (Rust gclient)

Use this path when the project already has a Rust test harness that uses gclient and GclientEnv.

1. Confirm gtest is green.
2. Start or reuse a local node and connect with GearApi::init(WSAddress::dev()) for local node on default port. Do not use GearApi::dev_from_path() — that expects a filesystem path to the node binary, not a WebSocket URL.
3. Deploy the .opt.wasm and record the actual program id returned by the deploy flow. If the constructor does non-trivial work, override gas with an explicit limit.
4. If the program uses delayed messages, transfer VARA to the program address before exercising commands. On-chain programs need balance to pay for future gas — this is not required in gtest.
5. Use the typed generated-client path through GclientEnv, wiring in the actual deployed program id.
6. Exercise one command or query path that proves the typed integration works on a local node.

References

• ../../references/gtest-cheatsheet.md

Guardrails

• Keep this step typed and local.
• Do not invent account addresses, program ids, or voucher ids in guidance that pretends they already exist.
• Do not replace local smoke with explorer queries or ad hoc CLI poking.
• If gtest is red or missing, stop and go back to ../sails-gtest/SKILL.md.
• Use .opt.wasm as the default deploy artifact. The plain .wasm is an intermediate build output that may exceed on-chain size limits.
• When targeting a local node with vara-wallet, use --network local or config set network local or VARA_WS=ws://localhost:9944. The default endpoint is mainnet.
• Do not embed machine-specific absolute paths in deploy commands or documentation. Use project-relative paths or skill-pack-relative references.
• Verify the program initialized correctly by calling a read query immediately after deploy. An uninitialized program will appear active but return empty or default state.