tools

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Current Ethereum development tools, frameworks, libraries, RPCs, and block explorers. What actually works today for building on Ethereum. Includes tool discovery for AI agents — MCPs, abi.ninja, Foundry, Scaffold-ETH 2, Hardhat, and more. Use when setting up a dev environment, choosing tools, or when an agent needs to discover what's available.

13installs

Sourceaustintgriffith/ethskills

Added on2026-02-20

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add austintgriffith/ethskills tools

SKILL.md Content

View Translation Comparison →

Ethereum Development Tools

What You Probably Got Wrong

Blockscout MCP server exists: https://mcp.blockscout.com/mcp — gives AI agents structured blockchain data via Model Context Protocol. This is cutting-edge infra as of Feb 2026.

abi.ninja is essential: https://abi.ninja — paste any verified contract address, get a UI to call any function. Zero setup. Supports mainnet + all major L2s. Perfect for agent-driven contract exploration.

x402 has production SDKs:

@x402/fetch

(TS),

x402

(Python),

github.com/coinbase/x402/go

— production-ready libraries for HTTP payments.

Foundry is the default for new projects in 2026. Not Hardhat. 10-100x faster tests, Solidity-native testing, built-in fuzzing.

Tool Discovery Pattern for AI Agents

When an agent needs to interact with Ethereum:

Read operations: Blockscout MCP or Etherscan API
Write operations: Foundry
```
cast send
```
or ethers.js/viem
Contract exploration: abi.ninja (browser) or
```
cast interface
```
(CLI)
Testing: Fork mainnet with
```
anvil
```
, test locally
Deployment:
```
forge create
```
or
```
forge script
```
Verification:
```
forge verify-contract
```
or Etherscan API

Blockscout MCP Server

URL: https://mcp.blockscout.com/mcp

A Model Context Protocol server giving AI agents structured blockchain data:

Transaction, address, contract queries
Token info and balances
Smart contract interaction helpers
Multi-chain support
Standardized interface optimized for LLM consumption

Why this matters: Instead of scraping Etherscan or making raw API calls, agents get structured, type-safe blockchain data via MCP.

abi.ninja

URL: https://abi.ninja — Paste any contract address → interact with all functions. Multi-chain. Zero setup.

x402 SDKs (HTTP Payments)

TypeScript:

bash

npm install @x402/core @x402/evm @x402/fetch @x402/express

typescript

import { x402Fetch } from '@x402/fetch';
import { createWallet } from '@x402/evm';

const wallet = createWallet(privateKey);
const response = await x402Fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
  wallet,
  preferredNetwork: 'eip155:8453' // Base
});

Python:

pip install x402

Go:

go get github.com/coinbase/x402/go

Docs: https://www.x402.org | https://github.com/coinbase/x402

Scaffold-ETH 2

Setup:
```
npx create-eth@latest
```
What: Full-stack Ethereum toolkit: Solidity + Next.js + Foundry
Key feature: Auto-generates TypeScript types from contracts. Scaffold hooks make contract interaction trivial.
Deploy to IPFS:
```
yarn ipfs
```
(BuidlGuidl IPFS)
UI Components: https://ui.scaffoldeth.io/
Docs: https://docs.scaffoldeth.io/

Choosing Your Stack (2026)

Need	Tool
Rapid prototyping / full dApps	Scaffold-ETH 2
Contract-focused dev	Foundry (forge + cast + anvil)
Quick contract interaction	abi.ninja (browser) or cast (CLI)
React frontends	wagmi + viem (or SE2 which wraps these)
Agent blockchain reads	Blockscout MCP
Agent payments	x402 SDKs

Essential Foundry cast Commands

bash

# Read contract
cast call 0xAddr "balanceOf(address)(uint256)" 0xWallet --rpc-url $RPC

# Send transaction
cast send 0xAddr "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xTo 1000000 --private-key $KEY --rpc-url $RPC

# Gas price
cast gas-price --rpc-url $RPC

# Decode calldata
cast 4byte-decode 0xa9059cbb...

# ENS resolution
cast resolve-name vitalik.eth --rpc-url $RPC

# Fork mainnet locally
anvil --fork-url $RPC

RPC Providers

Free (testing):

```
https://eth.llamarpc.com
```
— LlamaNodes, no key
```
https://rpc.ankr.com/eth
```
— Ankr, free tier

Paid (production):

Alchemy — most popular, generous free tier (300M CU/month)
Infura — established, MetaMask default
QuickNode — performance-focused

Community:

rpc.buidlguidl.com

Block Explorers

Network	Explorer	API
Mainnet	https://etherscan.io	https://api.etherscan.io
Arbitrum	https://arbiscan.io	Etherscan-compatible
Base	https://basescan.org	Etherscan-compatible
Optimism	https://optimistic.etherscan.io	Etherscan-compatible

MCP Servers for Agents

Model Context Protocol — standard for giving AI agents structured access to external systems.

Blockscout MCP — multi-chain blockchain data (primary)
eth-mcp — community Ethereum RPC via MCP
Custom MCP wrappers emerging for DeFi protocols, ENS, wallets

MCP servers are composable — agents can use multiple together.

What Changed in 2025-2026

Foundry became default over Hardhat for new projects
Viem gaining on ethers.js (smaller, better TypeScript)
MCP servers emerged for agent-blockchain interaction
x402 SDKs went production-ready
ERC-8004 tooling emerging (agent registration/discovery)
Deprecated: Truffle (use Foundry/Hardhat), Goerli/Rinkeby (use Sepolia)

Testing Essentials

Fork mainnet locally:

bash

anvil --fork-url https://eth.llamarpc.com
# Now test against real contracts with fake ETH at http://localhost:8545

Primary testnet: Sepolia (Chain ID: 11155111). Goerli and Rinkeby are deprecated.

tools

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Ethereum Development Tools

What You Probably Got Wrong

Tool Discovery Pattern for AI Agents

Blockscout MCP Server

abi.ninja

x402 SDKs (HTTP Payments)

Scaffold-ETH 2

Choosing Your Stack (2026)

Essential Foundry cast Commands

RPC Providers

Block Explorers

MCP Servers for Agents

What Changed in 2025-2026

Testing Essentials