Get the read-only ABI of any contract

Get the read-only ABI from a contract address

The Contract ABI tool reads any contract address and returns its read-only ABI, the view and pure functions, as a plain JSON array ready to drop into viem, ethers, or a script that needs it. No hunting for a verified source file, no pasting bytecode into a decompiler, just the address and the chain.

1. Paste the contract address into the form above.
2. Pick the chain the contract is deployed to.
3. Run the query and read the ABI JSON in the result panel.
4. Copy it to the clipboard or download it as a .json file.

Below the JSON block, a compact list shows every resolved method with a badge for where its ABI entry came from, so you can spot at a glance whether a method’s shape is trustworthy or a best-effort signature match.

What the ABI includes

The returned ABI covers view and pure functions only, the calls that read contract state without sending a transaction. Write functions, events, and custom errors aren’t included. For the complete ABI of a verified contract, including its write functions and events, check its Sourcify entry or the Etherscan contract tab.

Proxy contracts: the implementation’s read-only ABI, not the proxy’s

Most non-trivial contracts on Ethereum are proxies: a thin contract that forwards every call to an implementation address it can upgrade independently. The proxy’s own bytecode exposes almost nothing, a handful of admin functions at most, so reading its ABI directly gives you the wrong shape entirely. This tool resolves the proxy chain first and returns the implementation’s read-only ABI, the one that actually matches the view and pure functions you can call. If you also want to see the resolved proxy hops themselves, the Contract Inspector shows the full chain alongside the method schema.

Unverified contracts: where the ABI comes from

evmquery tries verified source first, Sourcify and Etherscan, then falls back through a chain of best-effort matches: code-reuse against known bytecode, metadata pinned to IPFS, known interfaces, and signature databases (OpenChain, 4byte, Evmole). Each resolved method carries a source, shown as a badge next to its name in the list below the JSON, so an unverified contract’s read-only ABI is still usable, just with a visible confidence signal instead of a false promise of certainty.

Use the ABI JSON in viem or ethers

The copied or downloaded array is a plain ABI covering the contract’s view and pure functions. Pass it straight to getContract in viem or the Contract constructor in ethers to read those functions, no reformatting needed. Since the ABI has no write functions, only the read side of each library applies here: viem’s contract.read or readContract, ethers’ plain call methods.

import { createPublicClient, http, getContract } from "viem";
import { mainnet } from "viem/chains";

const abi = /* paste the copied ABI JSON here */ [];

const client = createPublicClient({ chain: mainnet, transport: http() });
const contract = getContract({
  address: "0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48",
  abi,
  client,
});

const supply = await contract.read.totalSupply();

import { ethers } from "ethers";

const abi = /* paste the copied ABI JSON here */ [];

const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider(process.env.RPC_URL);
const contract = new ethers.Contract(
  "0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48",
  abi,
  provider,
);

const supply = await contract.totalSupply();

The same resolution is available over the REST API if you would rather fetch the ABI at request time instead of pasting a static copy:

curl -X POST https://api.evmquery.com/api/v1/query/describe \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chain": "evm_ethereum",
    "schema": {
      "contracts": { "target": { "address": "0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48" } }
    },
    "include": ["resolution"]
  }'

The response’s contracts[0].methods array carries each method’s abi field, the read-only ABI entry for that method, the same shape this tool returns. The free tier has no monthly cap. Get a free API key to drop this into your project.

FAQ

Limits and accuracy

• An ABI resolved from signature databases rather than verified source can carry an imprecise parameter list. Check the source badge next to a method before relying on its exact shape.
• Proxies can be upgraded after the read, so an ABI resolved today may describe a different implementation tomorrow.
• The demo is rate limited per browser. If you hit the limit, grab a free API key and the limit goes away.

Related

• Contract Inspector: the full proxy chain and method schema for an address, including each method’s execution target
• Calldata Decoder: decode a specific call against the ABI this tool resolves
• Proxy Contract Detector: a narrower read on the proxy chain this tool resolves through
• Smart contract ABI explained: what an ABI is and how it maps to calldata
• ABI of an unverified or proxy contract: recovering the interface by hand
• ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155 ABI JSON: the standard interfaces, ready to copy
• evmquery for developers: the full integration story