Smart contract verification on Etherscan is a critical step in ensuring the security and transparency of contracts deployed on Ethereum, particularly due to the immutable nature of these contracts. The tutorial explores three methods for verifying smart contracts using the Hardhat development framework, emphasizing the use of the hardhat-etherscan plugin and the importance of obtaining an Etherscan API key. The process involves deploying a sample PriceFeedConsumer contract to the Goerli test network, using tools like npm or yarn for package management, and utilizing Chainlink for obtaining test Ethereum. The article provides detailed steps for setting up a Hardhat project, writing and compiling a smart contract, and finally verifying it on Etherscan either through deployment scripts or directly from the command line interface (CLI). Additionally, it touches on the alternative verification method using the Hardhat flatten task, which simplifies the contract code by merging imported files, thereby enabling successful verification and making the contract’s source code publicly accessible for review.