The Fetch.AI Test Network: Getting going
Tags: Metamask, Ethereum, Test Network, Erc20, Community

The Fetch.AI test network is live, and you can interact with it today. In order to get access, you must hold some FET ERC-20 tokens and be able to sign a message that proves this is the case. We have found that the browser extension MetaMask (in Chrome, Opera or Firefox) is the easiest and most straightforward way of doing this. This tutorial walks you through the process necessary to get access to the test network, its wallet app (on both Android and iOS) and the Network Participation App (NPA). It also shows how you get hold of test tokens on the test network so that you have tokens to play with, either to fuel your own development for creating agents or smart contracts, or fuelling the agents on the NPA to deliver their value. We created this article to talk more about the utility value of the token going forwards and also to discuss other ways of growing your tokens, both now with the ERC-20 FET tokens and in the future with the mainnet tokens.

Please note: the goal of this tutorial is for you to sign a message to demonstrate you have FET tokens. If you are already an expert and understand how to do this with your own favourite wallet, you can skip a lot (if not all) of the steps here.

First things first. MetaMask provides easy access to Ethereum in your browser. It’s a wallet in its own right and lets you easily interact with Ethereum applications directly in your browser. You will already have your own, secure, way of storing your FET tokens and other tokens or cryptocurrencies, probably involving cold storage or hardware wallets. Getting set up with MetaMask is best done by adding it to your browser, going through its well documented installation instructions, and then sending it a small amount of ETH and FET to get you going (e.g., 0.2 ETH and 100 FET). When you are adding FET support into MetaMask, you will want to click on the burger menu (top left), then scroll down to the bottom and press “Add Token”. Then select “Custom Token” and add the token with the following information:

Token contract: 0x1d287cc25dad7ccaf76a26bc660c5f7c8e2a05bd

Token symbol: FET

Decimals of precision: 18

Then send yourself enough ETH and FET to be able to get work done on the Ethereum network. You can do this from your existing wallets or exchange.

Then, in the browser with MetaMask installed, go to the home page of the Fetch.AI community web site:

Click on the “Get Testnet Access” button to proceed to the next step.

You can log in with either your Github account or Google account. Pick the one you prefer and follow any instructions necessary to connect if you are not already connected.

Please note: If you do not have MetaMask installed, you’ll see this form. Look up how to sign a challenge with your particular wallet combination.

Once authenticated, you will see a screen like this:

Here, Fetch.AI is asking to connect to your MetaMask account. Read what is shown carefully, confirm it is as you expect and press “Connect”. This takes you to the next screen, where you will be shown a message that needs to be “signed” with your private key that shows you have ERC-20 FET tokens.

Press the “Request access” button to proceed. This will re-open MetaMask:

If the message isn’t automatically populated, copy and paste it from the browser window into MetaMask. If you are not using MetaMask, this is where you will pass the message through whatever procedure you would normally use to achieve such a thing. Press the “Sign” button to continue.

You will then be taken to this token verification holding page. This process can take up to 24 hours, but we are developing systems that can complete it in seconds. You will need to occasionally refresh the page, but when access is granted, you will see a QR code. It is this QR code that you scan into the Wallet app in order to gain access. There is a further step where we will need your testnet wallet address in order to send you test tokens for you to work with.

As you can see here, you get a QR code and a box to paste in a wallet address. So do this in these steps:

Start the Wallet Scan the QR code for access Feed in your wallet address to receive tFET test tokens

This process is the same for both the Wallet app and the Network Participation App, except you need not request tFET test tokens for the Network Participation App.

If you run into any difficulties, please contact us at support@fetch.ai or post any questions in our Telegram channel or our other social platforms.

Welcome!