abigen

Ethereum smart contract Go binding generator

TLDR

Generate Go bindings from a Solidity ABI

$ abigen --abi [contract.abi] --pkg [packagename] --out [contract.go]

Generate bindings from a compiled contract

$ abigen --bin [contract.bin] --abi [contract.abi] --pkg [packagename] --out [contract.go]

Generate from Solidity source directly

$ abigen --sol [contract.sol] --pkg [packagename] --out [contract.go]

Specify a custom struct type name

$ abigen --abi [contract.abi] --pkg [packagename] --type [MyContract] --out [contract.go]

SYNOPSIS

abigen [--abi file] [--bin file] [--sol file] [--pkg name] [--out file] [options]

abigen is an Ethereum tool that generates Go language bindings for interacting with smart contracts. It takes a contract's ABI (Application Binary Interface) and optionally its bytecode to produce type-safe Go code for deploying and calling contract methods.The generated code handles ABI encoding/decoding, transaction creation, and event filtering, making it straightforward to interact with Ethereum contracts from Go applications. This eliminates the need for manual ABI manipulation and provides compile-time type checking.

PARAMETERS

--abi file

Path to the contract ABI JSON file

--bin file

Path to the contract bytecode (required for deployment code generation)

--sol file

Path to Solidity source file (requires solc compiler)

--pkg name

Package name for the generated Go code

--out file

Output file path for generated code

--type name

Struct name for the contract binding (defaults to contract name)

--lang language

Target language for generated bindings (default: go).

--solc path

Solidity compiler path when using --sol.

--combined-json file

Path to the combined-json output from solc compiler.

--alias aliases

Comma-separated list of identifier aliases (original=replacement).

INSTALL

sudo apk add geth-tools

CAVEATS

When using --sol, the Solidity compiler (solc) must be installed and accessible. ABI changes require regenerating bindings. Complex Solidity types may produce verbose Go code. Ensure ABI and bytecode match when deploying contracts.

HISTORY

abigen was developed by the Ethereum Foundation as part of go-ethereum (geth), first appearing around 2015. It was created to provide idiomatic Go bindings for smart contracts, supporting the growing ecosystem of Go-based Ethereum tools and applications.