v6.0.0-beta

Version 6.0.0-beta

Here's how you can use this release:

cargo install --force --locked --version 6.0.0-beta cargo-contract 

[dependencies]
ink = { version = "6.0.0-beta" }

[dev-dependencies]
ink_e2e = { version = "6.0.0-beta" }

# we moved the sandbox testing environment to a separate crate
# this one cannot be published to crates.io yet
ink_sandbox = { git = "https://github.com/use-ink/ink.git", branch = "6.0.0-beta" }

You also need to install the latest ink-node release (there are binaries available for this release!).

If you use cargo install and are on Mac: click the link, there's a note for you, there's a system dependency required now.

Compatibility:

• Rust >= 1.88
• cargo-contract 6.0.0-beta
• ink-node v0.46.0
• polkadot-sdk from polkadot-sdk/cbab8ed4be1941420dd25dc81102fb79d8e2a7f0 (Oct 15, 2025)
• Paseo Passet Hub (was upgraded here)

Breaking Changes

We moved the sandbox testing environment to a separate crate.

It changes the current behaviour from:

[dev-dependencies]
ink_e2e = { version = "v6.0.0-alpha.4", feature = "sandbox" }

to

[dev-dependencies]
ink_e2e = { version = "6.0.0-beta" }
ink_sandbox = { git = "https://github.com/use-ink/ink.git", branch = "6.0.0-beta" }

In the tests, you need to apply this change when using sandbox. Instead of:

#[ink_e2e::test(backend(runtime_only(sandbox = sandbox_runtime::ContractCallerSandbox)))]

Change to:

#[ink_sandbox::test(backend(runtime_only(
    sandbox = sandbox_runtime::ContractCallerSandbox,
    client  = ink_sandbox::SandboxClient
)))]

Full Changelog

Added

• Implements the API for the pallet-revive host function gas_limit - #2691
• Implements the API for the pallet-revive host function to_account_id - #2578
• Add #[ink::contract_ref] attribute - #2648
• Add ink_revive_types (and remove pallet-revive dependency from ink_e2e) - #2657
• non-allocating Solidity ABI encoder - #2655
• Implement XCM precompile, stabilize XCM API - #2687

Changed

• Marks the pallet-revive host function account_id stable - #2578
• Stabilize is_contract - #2654
• Extract sandbox from ink_e2e into a new ink_sandbox crate - #2659
• Synchronize with polkadot-sdk/1b1cef306d9ceebf963fd15a04b5c79ee2618bce ‒ 2675
• Refactor AbiEncodeWith::encode_to_slice - #2676
• Refactor ArgumentList encoding and abstractions - #2678
• More flexible SolEncode implementation for ByteSlice - #2681
• Synchronize with polkadot-sdk/cbab8ed4be1941420dd25dc81102fb79d8e2a7f0 ‒ 2689

Fixed

• Fix decoding of HostFn::minimum_balance return value - #2656
• Fix handling of HostFn::code_hash and HostFn::weight_to_fee - #2672
• name override fixes for message id computation and trait definitions - #2649
• Add hotfix for generic-array breakage (issue) - #2688