viem Integration

Integrate EVM blockchains using viem for TypeScript/JavaScript applications.

Quick Decision Guide

Installation

# Core library
npm install viem

# For React apps, also install wagmi
npm install wagmi viem @tanstack/react-query

Core Concepts

Clients

viem uses two client types:

Transports

Chains

viem includes 50+ chain definitions. Import from viem/chains:

import { mainnet, arbitrum, optimism, base, polygon } from 'viem/chains';

Input Validation Rules

Before interpolating ANY user-provided value into generated TypeScript code:

• Ethereum addresses: MUST match ^0x[a-fA-F0-9]{40}$ — use viem's isAddress() for validation
• Chain IDs: MUST be from viem's supported chain definitions
• Private keys: MUST NEVER be hardcoded — always use process.env.PRIVATE_KEY with runtime validation
• RPC URLs: MUST use https:// or wss:// protocols only
• ABI inputs: Validate types match expected Solidity types before encoding

Quick Start Examples

Read Balance

import { createPublicClient, http, formatEther } from 'viem';
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains';

const client = createPublicClient({
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
});

const balance = await client.getBalance({
  address: '0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045',
});

console.log(`Balance: ${formatEther(balance)} ETH`);

Read Contract

import { createPublicClient, http, parseAbi } from 'viem';
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains';

const client = createPublicClient({
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
});

const abi = parseAbi([
  'function balanceOf(address) view returns (uint256)',
  'function decimals() view returns (uint8)',
]);

const balance = await client.readContract({
  address: '0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48', // USDC
  abi,
  functionName: 'balanceOf',
  args: ['0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045'],
});

Send Transaction

import { createWalletClient, http, parseEther } from 'viem';
import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts';
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains';

const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.PRIVATE_KEY as `0x${string}`);

const client = createWalletClient({
  account,
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
});

const hash = await client.sendTransaction({
  to: '0x...',
  value: parseEther('0.1'),
});

console.log(`Transaction hash: ${hash}`);

Write to Contract

import { createWalletClient, createPublicClient, http, parseAbi, parseUnits } from 'viem';
import { privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts';
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains';

const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.PRIVATE_KEY as `0x${string}`);

const walletClient = createWalletClient({
  account,
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
});

const publicClient = createPublicClient({
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
});

const abi = parseAbi(['function transfer(address to, uint256 amount) returns (bool)']);

// Simulate first to catch errors
const { request } = await publicClient.simulateContract({
  address: '0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48',
  abi,
  functionName: 'transfer',
  args: ['0x...', parseUnits('100', 6)],
  account,
});

// Execute the transaction
const hash = await walletClient.writeContract(request);

// Wait for confirmation
const receipt = await publicClient.waitForTransactionReceipt({ hash });
console.log(`Confirmed in block ${receipt.blockNumber}`);

Reference Documentation

For deeper coverage of specific topics: