abi-typegen

abi-typegen is a Rust CLI. It reads compiled Solidity artifacts and writes typed bindings for 14 targets: six TypeScript SDKs, Python, Go, Rust, Swift, C#, Kotlin, Solidity interfaces, and YAML. It reads Foundry and Hardhat layouts, and it can generate several targets in one run.

Why abi-typegen

When you compile a contract, the compiler writes a JSON file called the ABI that lists its functions, events, and errors. abi-typegen turns that file into typed code, so your editor and compiler catch a wrong argument before it reaches the chain.

• One native binary. No Node or Python runtime is needed to generate.
• Reads Foundry out/ and Hardhat artifacts/contracts/.
• generate --check fails CI when committed bindings are stale.
• diff shows what would change. json prints the parsed ABI.
• fetch downloads a verified ABI from any Etherscan-compatible explorer.
• A Hardhat plugin regenerates on every compile. For Foundry, abi-typegen forge-install prints a shell function that adds forge typegen.

Install

Install the CLI with cargo, download a prebuilt binary, or add the npm package to a JavaScript project.

Rust CLI

cargo install abi-typegen

Prebuilt binaries are on GitHub Releases.

Hardhat plugin

pnpm add -D @0xdoublesharp/hardhat-abi-typegen

To add only the packaged binary to a Node project:

pnpm add -D @0xdoublesharp/abi-typegen

Quick start

After your contracts compile, one command writes the typed files into your project.

Foundry

Build the contracts, then generate:

forge build
abi-typegen generate

Minimal foundry.toml:

[abi-typegen]
out = "src/generated"
target = "viem"            # or "viem,python" or ["viem", "python"]

watch regenerates whenever the artifacts change:

abi-typegen watch

The zod target emits Zod 4 code, so install zod@4 in the consuming project.

Hardhat

import { defineConfig } from "hardhat/config";
import abiTypegen from "@0xdoublesharp/hardhat-abi-typegen";

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [abiTypegen],
  solidity: "0.8.34",
  typegen: {
    out: "src/generated",
    target: "viem",
    contracts: ["Token"],
    exclude: ["*Test"],
  },
});

The plugin generates bindings on every compile:

npx hardhat compile

Hardhat 2 configs can still import "@0xdoublesharp/hardhat-abi-typegen", which loads a CommonJS fallback. The fallback is also available directly at @0xdoublesharp/hardhat-abi-typegen/hardhat2.

Multi-target generation

Set several targets in the config file or on the command line:

# foundry.toml
[abi-typegen]
target = ["viem", "python", "rust"]   # also accepts "viem,python,rust"

abi-typegen generate --target viem,python,rust

Each target gets its own subdirectory under the output path:

src/generated/
  viem/
  python/
  rust/

Fetch and generate from a block explorer

You can generate bindings for a contract you didn't compile, as long as its source is verified on an Etherscan-compatible explorer. fetch downloads the ABI, saves it as a local artifact, and generates bindings in one command:

abi-typegen fetch --name WETH --network mainnet \
  0xc02aaa39b223fe8d0a0e5c4f27ead9083c756cc2

With the default viem target, that writes:

out/WETH.sol/WETH.json      ← saved artifact
src/generated/WETH.abi.ts
src/generated/WETH.viem.ts
src/generated/index.ts

From a local ABI file

--file skips the network request. It accepts a bare ABI array ([...]) or a Foundry/Hardhat artifact ({"abi": [...]}):

abi-typegen fetch --name WETH --file ./WETH.abi.json

API key

Most explorers need an API key. Put it in .env in the working directory or export it:

# .env
ETHERSCAN_API_KEY=your_key_here

You can also pass it per command:

abi-typegen fetch --name WETH --network mainnet --api-key $KEY 0xc02aaa...

Supported networks

--network has shortcuts for more than 80 networks, including these:

Group	Names
Ethereum	mainnet, sepolia, holesky, hoodi
OP Stack	optimism, base, blast, fraxtal, worldchain, unichain
Arbitrum	arbitrum, arbitrum-nova, arbitrum-sepolia
Polygon	polygon, polygon-amoy
BNB Chain	bsc, opbnb
Avalanche	avalanche, fuji
Other L2s	linea, scroll, zksync, mantle, sonic, taiko
Alt L1s	gnosis, moonbeam, moonriver, celo, fantom, cronos, berachain, sei
Newer chains	hyperevm, abstract, monad, megaeth, apechain, katana

For an explorer that isn't listed, pass its API URL with --url:

abi-typegen fetch --name MyToken --url https://api.sonicscan.org/api 0xabc...

The tool uses the Etherscan V2 unified endpoint, so every chain on docs.etherscan.io/supported-chains works.

Targets

Each target writes code for a specific library, so pick the one your app already uses.

Target	Flag	Language	Primary ecosystem
viem	--target viem	TypeScript	viem contract helpers
zod	--target zod	TypeScript	Zod 4 validation schemas
wagmi	--target wagmi	TypeScript	wagmi v2 and v3 React hooks
ethers v6	--target ethers	TypeScript	ethers v6
ethers v5	--target ethers5	TypeScript	ethers v5
web3.js	--target web3js	TypeScript	web3.js v4
Python	--target python	Python	web3.py
Go	--target go	Go	go-ethereum
Rust	--target rust	Rust	alloy
Swift	--target swift	Swift	web3swift
C#	--target csharp	C#	Nethereum
Kotlin	--target kotlin	Kotlin	web3j
Solidity interfaces	--target solidity	Solidity	External contract interfaces
YAML	--target yaml	YAML	Human-readable ABI descriptions

Configuration

Settings live in foundry.toml or hardhat.config.ts, so every run uses the same options. Command-line flags override them for a single run.

Foundry (foundry.toml)

[abi-typegen]
out       = "src/generated"          # output directory
target    = "viem"                   # string, "a,b,c", or ["a", "b", "c"]
wrappers  = true                     # emit typed wrapper files when supported
contracts = []                       # [] = all; or ["MyToken", "Vault"]
exclude   = []                       # glob patterns: ["*Test", "*Mock", "I*"]

Hardhat (hardhat.config.ts)

typegen: {
  out: "src/generated",
  target: "viem",              // string, "a,b,c", or ["a", "b", "c"]
  wrappers: true,
  contracts: [],
  exclude: [],
}

CLI overrides

abi-typegen generate \
  --artifacts ./out \
  --out ./types \
  --target viem \
  --contracts Token,Vault \
  --exclude "*Test,*Mock" \
  --no-wrappers \
  --clean

Commands

generate writes the bindings. The other commands check, preview, watch, or fetch.

abi-typegen generate             # write generated bindings
abi-typegen generate --hardhat   # use Hardhat artifact layout
abi-typegen generate --check     # fail if output is stale
abi-typegen generate --clean     # remove stale generated files
abi-typegen diff                 # show what would change without writing
abi-typegen json --pretty        # dump parsed ABI summary as JSON
abi-typegen watch                # watch artifacts and regenerate on change
abi-typegen fetch --name <NAME> --network <NETWORK> <ADDRESS>
                                 # fetch ABI from a block explorer and generate bindings
abi-typegen fetch --name <NAME> --file <ABI.json>
                                 # import a local ABI file and generate bindings
abi-typegen init                 # scaffold [abi-typegen] in foundry.toml
abi-typegen forge-install        # install Forge shell integration

What gets generated

Each contract produces one or two files. TypeScript targets get the ABI plus a typed wrapper, and other languages get a single file:

• TypeScript wrapper targets emit <Name>.abi.ts and a wrapper such as <Name>.viem.ts or <Name>.ethers.ts.
• zod emits <Name>.abi.ts and <Name>.zod.ts, written against Zod 4 (import * as z from 'zod').
• solidity emits I<Name>.sol with the interface, events, custom errors, and structs rebuilt from ABI tuples.
• Other targets emit one file per contract (.py, .go, .rs, .swift, .cs, .kt, or .yaml).
• Multi-target runs write each target to its own directory.

Overloaded functions get a suffix built from their parameter types:

• deposit(uint256) -> depositUint256
• deposit(uint256,address) -> depositUint256Address

Wrappers also type transaction options. Payable functions accept a value in every TypeScript wrapper: ethers overrides, the wagmi write options, web3 send, and viem's own write options.

Example output

viem:

export function getTokenContract<TClient extends Client>(
  address: Address,
  client: TClient,
): GetContractReturnType<typeof TokenAbi, TClient> {
  return getContract({ address, abi: TokenAbi, client });
}

export type TokenTransferParams = {
  to: `0x${string}`;
  amount: bigint;
};

Rust:

#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
pub struct TokenTransferParams {
    pub to: Address,
    pub amount: U256,
}

docs/generated-output.md covers every target in more detail.

Performance

Generation speed depends on your machine and contracts, so the repo includes a benchmark you can run yourself. ./e2e/bench.sh 10 compares the sample generation workflows. Results depend on tool versions, targets, contracts, and whether you count build and task overhead. Comparison and benchmark guidance explains the method and its limits.

CI

A CI check catches a contract change that was committed without regenerated bindings.

Foundry

- run: forge build
- run: abi-typegen generate --check

Hardhat

- run: npx hardhat compile
- run: git diff --exit-code src/generated/

Docs

This README covers the basics, and docs/ has the details. Start with the documentation index:

• Installation and download verification
• Configuration and generated output
• Forge integration
• Development and optional build/cache storage
• Release process and changelog

Contributing

Bug reports and fixes are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md covers setup, code conventions, tests, and pull requests. Bug fixes need a regression test.

Disposable build storage

This section is optional and only matters if you work on abi-typegen itself. Builds and package installs use their normal local paths by default, and nothing requires a Scratch volume or compiler cache. To send build output and caches to another directory, run python3 .cargo/setup-scratch.py --root PATH once. Cargo, pnpm, and Make then read that saved setting. python3 .cargo/setup-scratch.py --disable turns it off. The storage guide covers requirements, moving the location, and keeping existing data.