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Skill — Copyable reference implementation. Use as-is or customize. See Skills Philosophy.

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Contract Interaction

This guide covers reading contract state, writing transactions, and manual ABI encoding/decoding using Voltaire primitives.
Voltaire provides a reference implementation for Contract abstraction, not a library export. Copy the implementation from Contract Pattern into your project and customize as needed. See Primitives Philosophy for why.

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Prerequisites

  • A provider (EIP-1193 compatible)
  • Contract address and ABI
  • Contract implementation copied from Contract Pattern or examples/contract/

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Setup

// Contract.js copied from examples/contract/ or docs
import { Contract } from './Contract.js';

// Define ABI with 'as const' for type inference
const erc20Abi = [
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'name',
    stateMutability: 'view',
    inputs: [],
    outputs: [{ type: 'string', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'symbol',
    stateMutability: 'view',
    inputs: [],
    outputs: [{ type: 'string', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'decimals',
    stateMutability: 'view',
    inputs: [],
    outputs: [{ type: 'uint8', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'balanceOf',
    stateMutability: 'view',
    inputs: [{ type: 'address', name: 'account' }],
    outputs: [{ type: 'uint256', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'transfer',
    stateMutability: 'nonpayable',
    inputs: [
      { type: 'address', name: 'to' },
      { type: 'uint256', name: 'amount' }
    ],
    outputs: [{ type: 'bool', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'approve',
    stateMutability: 'nonpayable',
    inputs: [
      { type: 'address', name: 'spender' },
      { type: 'uint256', name: 'amount' }
    ],
    outputs: [{ type: 'bool', name: '' }]
  }
] as const;

// Create contract instance
const usdc = Contract({
  address: '0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48',
  abi: erc20Abi,
  provider
});
Always use as const when defining ABIs. This enables TypeScript to infer exact function names and parameter types.

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Reading Contract State

The read interface executes view/pure functions via eth_call. No gas required.

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Single Read

const balance = await usdc.read.balanceOf('0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e');
console.log(balance); // 1000000n (bigint)

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Multiple Reads in Parallel

const [name, symbol, decimals] = await Promise.all([
  usdc.read.name(),
  usdc.read.symbol(),
  usdc.read.decimals()
]);

console.log(`${name} (${symbol}) - ${decimals} decimals`);
// "USD Coin (USDC) - 6 decimals"

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How Read Works

Under the hood, read methods:
  1. ABI-encode the function call with arguments
  2. Send eth_call to the provider
  3. ABI-decode the return data
// This:
const balance = await usdc.read.balanceOf('0x742d35...');

// Is equivalent to:
const calldata = usdc.abi.encode('balanceOf', ['0x742d35...']);
const result = await provider.request({
  method: 'eth_call',
  params: [{ to: usdc.address, data: calldata }, 'latest']
});
const decoded = usdc.abi.decode('balanceOf', result);

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Writing to Contracts

The write interface sends transactions via eth_sendTransaction. Requires gas and modifies state.

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Send Transaction

const txHash = await usdc.write.transfer(
  '0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e',
  1000000n // 1 USDC (6 decimals)
);
console.log(`Transaction: ${txHash}`);

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Approve Spender

const txHash = await usdc.write.approve(
  '0xRouterAddress...',
  1000000000n // Approve 1000 USDC
);
Write methods return immediately after transaction submission. The transaction may still be pending or could revert during execution.

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Estimate Gas First

Use estimateGas to simulate before sending: 
try {
  const gas = await usdc.estimateGas.transfer('0x742d35...', 1000000n);
  console.log(`Estimated gas: ${gas}`);

  // Safe to send
  const txHash = await usdc.write.transfer('0x742d35...', 1000000n);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Transaction would fail:', error);
}

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Manual ABI Encoding

For advanced use cases, access the abi instance directly.

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Encode Function Call

// Encode transfer(address,uint256) calldata
const calldata = usdc.abi.encode('transfer', [
  '0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e',
  1000000n
]);

// calldata is Uint8Array: 0xa9059cbb + encoded params
console.log(calldata);

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Decode Return Values

// Simulate a call and decode the result
const result = await provider.request({
  method: 'eth_call',
  params: [{
    to: '0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48',
    data: usdc.abi.encode('balanceOf', ['0x742d35...'])
  }, 'latest']
});

// Decode the return value
const decoded = usdc.abi.decode('balanceOf', result);
console.log(decoded); // [1000000n]

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Build Custom Transaction

import { Hex } from '@tevm/voltaire/Hex';

const calldata = usdc.abi.encode('transfer', ['0x...', 1000000n]);

const tx = {
  to: Hex.fromBytes(usdc.address),
  data: Hex.fromBytes(calldata),
  gas: '0x5208'
};

const txHash = await provider.request({
  method: 'eth_sendTransaction',
  params: [tx]
});

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Return Value Handling

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Single Output

Functions with one output return the value directly: 
const balance: bigint = await usdc.read.balanceOf('0x...');

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Multiple Outputs

Functions with multiple outputs return an array: 
const pairAbi = [{
  type: 'function',
  name: 'getReserves',
  stateMutability: 'view',
  inputs: [],
  outputs: [
    { type: 'uint112', name: 'reserve0' },
    { type: 'uint112', name: 'reserve1' },
    { type: 'uint32', name: 'blockTimestampLast' }
  ]
}] as const;

const pair = Contract({ address: pairAddress, abi: pairAbi, provider });
const [reserve0, reserve1, timestamp] = await pair.read.getReserves();

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Error Handling

// Errors are defined in your local Contract implementation
import { ContractReadError, ContractWriteError } from './errors.js';

try {
  const balance = await usdc.read.balanceOf('0x...');
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof ContractReadError) {
    console.error('Read failed:', error.message);
  }
}

try {
  const txHash = await usdc.write.transfer('0x...', 1000n);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof ContractWriteError) {
    console.error('Write failed:', error.message);
  }
}

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Complete Example

// Contract.js copied from examples/contract/ or docs
import { Contract } from './Contract.js';
import type { TypedProvider } from '@tevm/voltaire/provider';

const erc20Abi = [
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'balanceOf',
    stateMutability: 'view',
    inputs: [{ type: 'address', name: 'account' }],
    outputs: [{ type: 'uint256', name: '' }]
  },
  {
    type: 'function',
    name: 'transfer',
    stateMutability: 'nonpayable',
    inputs: [
      { type: 'address', name: 'to' },
      { type: 'uint256', name: 'amount' }
    ],
    outputs: [{ type: 'bool', name: '' }]
  }
] as const;

async function transferTokens(
  provider: TypedProvider,
  tokenAddress: string,
  recipient: string,
  amount: bigint
) {
  const token = Contract({
    address: tokenAddress,
    abi: erc20Abi,
    provider
  });

  // Check balance first
  const balance = await token.read.balanceOf(recipient);
  console.log(`Current balance: ${balance}`);

  // Estimate gas
  const gas = await token.estimateGas.transfer(recipient, amount);
  console.log(`Estimated gas: ${gas}`);

  // Send transaction
  const txHash = await token.write.transfer(recipient, amount);
  console.log(`Transaction sent: ${txHash}`);

  return txHash;
}