Networks

GenLayer operates as two layers: the GenLayer RPC handles intelligent contract operations (gen_* methods), while the GenLayer Chain is the underlying L2 (zkSync Elastic Chain) that handles standard Ethereum operations (eth_* methods). The GenLayer RPC also passes through all eth_* and zks_* calls to the underlying chain, so you can use either endpoint for standard wallet operations.

For the full RPC reference, see GenLayer Node API.

Your wallet connects to the GenLayer RPC — it handles both intelligent contract calls and standard Ethereum methods.

Testnet Bradbury

Production-like testnet with real AI/LLM workloads.

Testnet Asimov

Infrastructure and stress testing.

Studionet

Hosted development environment — no local setup required.

Studio development preview

Release-candidate environment for testing the next Studio and consensus stack before it is promoted to Studionet. State and availability are not guaranteed across deployments.

Localnet

Local development with full control. Requires GenLayer Studio or GLSim.

GenLayer Chain (L2)

The underlying zkSync Elastic Chain that GenLayer runs on. You typically don't need to interact with this directly — the GenLayer RPC passes through all eth_* calls. But if you need direct L2 access (e.g., token transfers, contract debugging at the EVM level), you can add this chain to your wallet.

Network Comparison

Recommended Flow

1. Start on Studionet — zero setup, open studio.genlayer.com (opens in a new tab)
2. Use Studio dev only for release-candidate validation — open studio-dev.genlayer.com (opens in a new tab) with the matching RC tooling
3. Move to Localnet — when you need full control and fast iteration
4. Deploy to Bradbury — when ready for production-like testing with real AI workloads