diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6b64b633..ce25b0f8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,4 +21,3 @@ build/
 
 .update.timestamp
 dagger.nims
-deployment-localhost.json
diff --git a/dagger.nimble b/dagger.nimble
index f81f1acf..bc4ebc68 100644
--- a/dagger.nimble
+++ b/dagger.nimble
@@ -37,12 +37,7 @@ task testContracts, "Build, deploy and test contracts":
   exec "cd vendor/dagger-contracts && npm install"
 
   # start node
-  # Note: combining this command with the previous does not work
-  exec "cd vendor/dagger-contracts && npx hardhat node --no-deploy &"
-
-  # deploy contracts
-  exec "sleep 3 && " &
-       "cd vendor/dagger-contracts && npx hardhat deploy --network localhost --export '../../deployment-localhost.json'"
+  exec "cd vendor/dagger-contracts && npm start &"
 
   # run contract tests using deployed contracts
   try:
diff --git a/dagger/contracts/deployment.nim b/dagger/contracts/deployment.nim
index bb38fc8b..a6ddacc7 100644
--- a/dagger/contracts/deployment.nim
+++ b/dagger/contracts/deployment.nim
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import pkg/questionable
 type Deployment* = object
   json: JsonNode
 
-const defaultFile = "./deployment-localhost.json"
+const defaultFile = "vendor/dagger-contracts/deployment-localhost.json"
 
 ## Reads deployment information from a json file. It expects a file that has
 ## been exported with Hardhat deploy.