NEAR: Creating & Upgrading a simple message contract

NEAR support is deprecated

Chainstack deprecated support for NEAR nodes. This page here is for legacy and in case you may find it useful. Aurora nodes are still supported.

This tutorial guides you through creating a simple message contract, deploying the contract, interacting with it, and upgrading it. In short, you will do the following:

Create a simple message contract in Rust.
Deploy the contract using NEAR CLI.
Change the contract state by interacting with it using NEAR CLI.
Upgrade the contract with new functionality and redeploy the contract while migrating the contract state.
Retrieve the old contract state and set a new state.

In the process, you will gain first-hand knowledge of how to create metamorphic smart contracts on NEAR.

Prerequisites

A NEAR node endpoint.
Rust to create the contract.
NEAR CLI to work with accounts, deploy contracts, and interact with the network.

Overview

To get from zero to an upgraded contract on the NEAR testnet, do the following:

Get a testnet NEAR node endpoint.
Set up the NEAR CLI.
Create an account on the NEAR testnet using the NEAR wallet.
Set up the project.
Deploy an initial version of the contract.
Change the contract state by interacting with it.
Deploy an upgraded version of the contract and migrate the contract state.
Retrieve the old contract state and set the new state.

Create an account on the NEAR testnet

Go to the NEAR testnet wallet.
Click Create Account.
Provide any account name that is not taken. Example: upgradablecontract.testnet.
Click Reserve My Account ID and secure your account as prompted.

This will initiate your account on the NEAR testnet with testnet NEAR. You can also additionally fund your account on the testnet with the NEAR faucet.

Set up your project

Add the WebAssembly target to your environment:

rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

Initialize your project by running in your project directory:

cargo init --lib

Edit the generated Cargo.toml file to provide your project details and setup:

[package]
name = "simple-message"
version = "0.1.0"
authors = ["Your name <email@example.com>"]
edition = "2021"

[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]

[dependencies]
serde = { version = "*", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "*"
near-sdk = "4.0.0"

[profile.release]
codegen-units = 1
# Tell `rustc` to optimize for small code size.
opt-level = "z"
lto = true
debug = false
panic = "abort"
# Opt into extra safety checks on arithmetic operations https://stackoverflow.com/a/64136471/249801
overflow-checks = true

Create the initial contract

This is a simple contract that lets you record a message and then retrieve the recorded message. In the src/lib.rs file, provide your smart contract:

use near_sdk::borsh::{self, BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize};
use near_sdk::collections::LookupMap;
use near_sdk::{env, near_bindgen, AccountId};

#[near_bindgen]
#[derive(BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize)]
pub struct StatusMessage {
    records: LookupMap<AccountId, String>,
}

impl Default for StatusMessage {
    fn default() -> Self {
        Self {
            records: LookupMap::new(b"r".to_vec()),
        }
    }
}

#[near_bindgen]
impl StatusMessage {
    pub fn set_status(&mut self, message: String) {
        let account_id = env::signer_account_id();
        self.records.insert(&account_id, &message);
    }

    pub fn get_status(&self, account_id: AccountId) -> Option<String> {
        return self.records.get(&account_id);
    }
}

Compile the contract

Run:

cargo build --target wasm32-unknown-unknown --release

Create a contract account

Run near login.
Use the generated link to authorize the account in your browser.

Once logged in NEAR CLI, run:

near create-account simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet --masterAccount upgradablecontract.testnet --initialBalance 20 --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

where:

simplemessage — any name to give to the contract that you will deploy.
upgradablecontract — the name of the account on the NEAR testnet that you created earlier.
--initialBalance — providing this flag will fund the created contract with 20 testnet NEAR.
NEAR_ENDPOINT — your NEAR node HTTPS endpoint.

Deploy the initial contract

At this point, you have the following:

NEAR CLI is set up to work through a NEAR node.
A compiled simple message contract.
A funded contract account.

You can now deploy the contract on the NEAR testnet. To deploy, run:

near deploy --wasmFile target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/simple_message.wasm --accountId CONTRACT_NAME.ACCOUNT_NAME.testnet --node_url YOUR_CHAINSTACK_ENDPOINT

where:

simple_message.wasm — the name of the contract that you compiled to.
simplemessage — the name of the contract account that you created earlier.
upgradablecontract — the name of the account on the NEAR testnet that you created earlier.
NEAR_ENDPOINT — your NEAR node HTTPS endpoint.

Example of the deployed contract: 997VvZ2EAss2NjdoGMJkZwJCMTNLZmKbXP3ZnFGkCMAh.

Interact with the contract

Set the contract status message:

near call simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet set_status '{"message": "Hello"}' --accountId upgradablecontract.testnet --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

where:

simplemessage — the name of the contract account that you deployed the compiled contract to.
upgradablecontract — the name of the account on the NEAR testnet that you created earlier.
NEAR_ENDPOINT — your NEAR node HTTPS endpoint.

Retrieve the contract status message:

near view simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet get_status '{"account_id": "upgradablecontract.testnet"}' --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

Change the contract source code

You are now going to upgrade the contract by changing the following:

Change the key-value pair name records to taglines and the corresponding state changing function set_status to set_tagline.
Add the new callable key-value pair bios.
Provide a way to retrieve with the new contract code the original state on the chain set through the records key-value pair. This is done through the migrate function.

Edit the src/lib.rs file to provide the upgraded version of the contract:

use near_sdk::borsh::{self, BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize};
use near_sdk::collections::LookupMap;
use near_sdk::{env, near_bindgen, AccountId};

#[derive(BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize)]
pub struct OldStatusMessage {
    records: LookupMap<AccountId, String>,
}

#[near_bindgen]
#[derive(BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize)]
pub struct StatusMessage {
    taglines: LookupMap<AccountId, String>,
    bios: LookupMap<AccountId, String>,
}

impl Default for StatusMessage {
    fn default() -> Self {
        Self {
            taglines: LookupMap::new(b"r".to_vec()),
            bios: LookupMap::new(b"b".to_vec()),
        }
    }
}

#[near_bindgen]
impl StatusMessage {
    pub fn set_tagline(&mut self, message: String) {
        let account_id = env::signer_account_id();
        self.taglines.insert(&account_id, &message);
    }

    pub fn get_tagline(&self, account_id: AccountId) -> Option<String> {
        return self.taglines.get(&account_id);
    }

    pub fn set_bio(&mut self, message: String) {
        let account_id = env::signer_account_id();
        self.bios.insert(&account_id, &message);
    }

    pub fn get_bio(&self, account_id: AccountId) -> Option<String> {
        return self.bios.get(&account_id);
    }

    #[private]
    #[init(ignore_state)]
    pub fn migrate() -> Self {
        let old_state: OldStatusMessage = env::state_read().expect("failed");
        Self {
            taglines: old_state.records,
            bios: LookupMap::new(b"b".to_vec()),
        }
    }
}

Compile the upgraded contract

Run:

cargo build --target wasm32-unknown-unknown --release

Deploy the upgraded contract

You will now deploy the upgraded contract code on the same contract account where the initial contract is running. Since you interacted with the original contract, you have changed the chain state. Deploying an upgraded version of the contract does not purge the changed state. This means that you must have a way to retrieve the changed state through the upgraded contract interface. In our simple message contract, this is done through the migrate function. You will migrate the original state at the upgraded contract deployment. Run:

near deploy --wasmFile target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/simple_message.wasm --initFunction "migrate" --initArgs "{}" --accountId simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

where:

simple_message.wasm — the name of the upgraded contract that you compiled to.
simplemessage — the name of the contract account where the original contract is running.
upgradablecontract — the name of the account on the NEAR testnet that you used to deploy the original contract.
NEAR_ENDPOINT — your NEAR node HTTPS endpoint.

Example of the upgraded contract deployment: 997VvZ2EAss2NjdoGMJkZwJCMTNLZmKbXP3ZnFGkCMAh.

Interact with the upgraded contract

Retrieve the original state message:

near view simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet get_tagline '{"account_id": "upgradablecontract.testnet"}' --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

where:

simplemessage — the name of the contract account that you deployed the upgraded contract to.
upgradablecontract — the name of the account on the NEAR testnet that you used to set the original message.
NEAR_ENDPOINT — your NEAR node HTTPS endpoint.

Note that since this is an upgraded contract, you are retrieving the original message through the new interface: through get_tagline instead of get_status. You can also change the state with the new function that you added to the contract: set_bio. Example:

near call simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet set_bio '{"message": "Bye"}' --accountId upgradablecontract.testnet --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

And retrieve the new state:

near view simplemessage.upgradablecontract.testnet get_bio '{"account_id": "upgradablecontract.testnet"}' --node_url NEAR_ENDPOINT

Conclusion

This tutorial guided you through the basics of creating a simple NEAR contract, deploying the initial contract on the NEAR network, interacting with the contract, and upgrading the contract. This tutorial uses the testnet, however, the exact same instructions and sequence will work on the mainnet as well.

About the author

Ake

Director of Developer Experience @ Chainstack
Talk to me all things Web3
20 years in technology | 8+ years in Web3 full time years experience

Last modified on April 13, 2026

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NEAR: Creating & Upgrading a simple message contract

NEAR support is deprecated

Prerequisites

Overview

Create an account on the NEAR testnet

Set up your project

Create the initial contract

Compile the contract

Create a contract account

Deploy the initial contract

Interact with the contract

Change the contract source code

Compile the upgraded contract

Deploy the upgraded contract

Interact with the upgraded contract

Conclusion

About the author

Ake

​NEAR support is deprecated

​Prerequisites

​Overview

​Create an account on the NEAR testnet

​Set up your project

​Create the initial contract

​Compile the contract

​Create a contract account

​Deploy the initial contract

​Interact with the contract

​Change the contract source code

​Compile the upgraded contract

​Deploy the upgraded contract

​Interact with the upgraded contract

​Conclusion

​About the author

Ake

NEAR support is deprecated

Prerequisites

Overview

Create an account on the NEAR testnet

Set up your project

Create the initial contract

Compile the contract

Create a contract account

Deploy the initial contract

Interact with the contract

Change the contract source code

Compile the upgraded contract

Deploy the upgraded contract

Interact with the upgraded contract

Conclusion

About the author