Artifacts

Compiled contracts can be represented by so-called artifacts. These artifacts contain all information that is needed to interact with the smart contracts on-chain. Artifacts are stored in .json (or .ts) files so they can be shared and stored for later usage without having to recompile the contract.

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Artifacts allow any third-party SDKs to be developed, since these SDKs only need to import and use an artifact file, while the compilation of the contract is left to the official cashc compiler.

Artifact specification

interface Artifact {
  contractName: string // Contract name
  constructorInputs: AbiInput[] // Arguments required to instantiate a contract
  abi: AbiFunction[] // Public functions that can be called from the SDK
  bytecode: string // Compiled Script without constructor parameters added (in ASM format)
  source: string // Source code of the CashScript contract
  compiler: {
    name: string // Compiler used to compile this contract
    version: string // Compiler version used to compile this contract
    target?: string // Optional VM target required by this artifact (e.g. BCH_2026_05)
    options?: CompilerOptions // Compiler options used to compile this contract
  }
  debug?: {
    bytecode: string // unlike `bytecode` property above, this is a hex-encoded binary string
    sourceMap: string // see documentation for `generateSourceMap`
    logs: LogEntry[] // log entries generated from `console.log` statements
    requires: RequireStatement[] // messages for failing `require` statements
  }
  updatedAt: string // Last datetime this artifact was updated (in ISO format)
}

interface AbiInput {
  name: string // Input name
  type: string // Input type (see language documentation)
}

interface AbiFunction {
  name: string // Function name
  inputs: AbiInput[] // Function inputs / parameters
}

interface LogEntry {
  ip: number; // instruction pointer
  line: number; // line in the source code
  data: Array<StackItem | string>; // data to be logged
}

interface StackItem {
  type: string; // Type of the variable
  stackIndex: number; // Index of the variable on the stack
  ip: number; // Instruction pointer at which we can access the logged variable
  transformations?: string; // Transformations needed to obtain the logged item
}

interface RequireStatement {
  ip: number; // instruction pointer
  line: number; // line in the source code
  message?: string; // custom message for failing `require` statement
}

interface CompilerOptions {
  enforceFunctionParameterTypes?: boolean; // Enforce function parameter types (default: true)
  target?: 'BCH_2023_05' | 'BCH_2025_05' | 'BCH_2026_05' | 'BCH_SPEC'; // Optional explicit VM target recorded in the artifact metadata
}

note

Functions declared internal are excluded from the artifact ABI. They can still be called by other CashScript functions, but they are not exposed as public SDK entrypoints.

note

Artifacts using BCH function opcodes record a compatible target of at least BCH_2026_05. The compiler rejects lower explicit targets for contracts that require OP_DEFINE or OP_INVOKE. SDK integrations can use this to validate that their runtime/debug environment matches the contract's required VM semantics.