Overview

Smart contracts alone can't trigger or initiate their own functions at arbitrary times or under arbitrary conditions. State change will only occur when a transaction is initiated by another account (such as user, oracle, or contract).

To resolve this issue, blockchain projects can:

• Create highly reliable infrastructure trigger smart contract functions. This is centralized and often expensive to build and maintain.
• Outsource it to a third party. This option is also centralized and creates a single point of failure.
• Use an open market solution. This option is decentralized, but comes with complex incentive alignment, the potential for competitive bots that increase the cost of execution, and difficulty ensuring reliability.
• Use the Chainlink Keeper Network.

Chainlink Keepers provide users with a decentralized network of nodes that are incentivized to perform all registered jobs (or Upkeeps) without competing with each other. The network has several benefits:

• Provide developers with hyper-reliable, decentralized smart contract automation
• Offer expandable computation allowing developers to build more advanced dApps at lower costs
• Flexibility and programmability

Read the Network Overview page to learn how these networks work.

Getting Started

The goal of Keepers is to ensure flawless execution of Upkeeps when expected. To get the most out of Chainlink Keepers, review these docs in full: how to create a Keepers-compatible contract, usage patterns, best practices, and how to maintain the health of your upkeep.

Supported Blockchain Networks

Chainlink Keepers are currently available on the following networks:

• ETH:
  • Mainnet
  • Kovan testnet
• Polygon (Matic):
  • Mainnet
  • Mumbai testnet
• Binance Smart Chain:
  • Mainnet
  • Testnet

If you are interested in using Keepers but need it on a different blockchain or network, contact us and let us know.

Onboarding Steps

Below are the steps needed to create a Keeper compatible contract and register Upkeep for the contract. Test Keeper-compatible contracts on testnet before moving to mainnet.

1. Create a Keeper-compatible contract.
2. Deploy your contract onto a supported testnet.
3. Get LINK on the testnet that you want to use.
4. Many token bridges give you ERC-20 LINK tokens. Use PegSwap to convert Chainlink tokens (LINK) to be ERC-677 compatible.
5. Register your Upkeep on the testnet.
6. Test, iterate, and finalize your Keeper-compatible contract.
7. Deploy your fully tested contract onto the Mainnet.
8. Register your Upkeep on the Mainnet.
9. Fund your upkeep on the Mainnet.
10. Confirm the first performance of your Upkeep.

If you have questions, read the Keepers Frequently Asked Questions page or reach out to us.