---
description: Encode and decode ABI data, calldata, and function signatures with Cast.
---

## ABI encoding

Cast encodes and decodes data according to the Ethereum ABI specification.

### Encoding calldata

```bash [Encode a function call]
$ cast calldata "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xRecipient 1000000000000000000
```

```bash [Encode with named function]
$ cast calldata "approve(address spender, uint256 amount)" $SPENDER $AMOUNT
```

```bash [Encode constructor arguments]
$ cast abi-encode "constructor(string,uint256)" "MyToken" 1000000
```

### Decoding calldata

```bash [Decode with known signature]
$ cast calldata-decode "transfer(address,uint256)" 0xa9059cbb000000000000000000000000...
```

:::terminal
```bash [Decode using 4byte database]
// [!include ~/snippets/output/cast/cast-4byte-calldata:command]
```

```ansi
// [!include ~/snippets/output/cast/cast-4byte-calldata:output]
```
:::

```bash [Look up function selector]
$ cast 4byte 0xa9059cbb
```

### ABI encoding primitives

```bash [Encode raw ABI data]
$ cast abi-encode "foo(uint256,address)" 42 0xRecipient
```

```bash [Decode ABI data]
$ cast decode-abi --input "foo(uint256,address)" 0x000000000000000000000000...
```

```bash [Decode output data]
$ cast decode-abi "balanceOf(address)(uint256)" 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000de0b6b3a7640000
```

### Function selectors

```bash [Compute function selector]
$ cast sig "transfer(address,uint256)"
```

```bash [Get full signature from selector]
$ cast 4byte 0xa9059cbb
```

```bash [Compute event topic]
$ cast sig-event "Transfer(address indexed,address indexed,uint256)"
```

### Decoding events

```bash [Decode event data]
$ cast decode-event --sig "ValueChanged(uint256 value)" $DATA
```

```bash [Look up event by topic]
$ cast 4byte-event 0xddf252ad1be2c89b69c2b068fc378daa952ba7f163c4a11628f55a4df523b3ef
```

### Working with types

```bash [Encode bytes]
$ cast abi-encode "foo(bytes)" 0xdeadbeef
```

```bash [Encode dynamic array]
$ cast abi-encode "foo(uint256[])" "[1,2,3]"
```

```bash [Encode tuple]
$ cast abi-encode "foo((uint256,address))" "(42,0xRecipient)"
```

```bash [Encode nested struct with array field]
$ cast abi-encode "foo(((uint256)[],uint256))" "([(1)],123)"
```

```bash [Decode nested struct with array field]
$ ENCODED=$(cast abi-encode "foo(((uint256)[],uint256))" "([(1)],123)")
$ cast decode-abi --input "foo(((uint256)[],uint256))" "$ENCODED"
```

:::note
`cast abi-encode` encodes function arguments, not a single struct. To produce the same encoding as Solidity's `abi.encode(struct)`, wrap the struct's fields in an extra pair of parentheses — for example, `"foo(((uint256)[],uint256))"` encodes a function taking one tuple argument, while `"foo((uint256)[],uint256)"` encodes a function taking two separate arguments (an array and an integer). The two produce different ABI encodings.
:::

```bash [Encode string]
$ cast abi-encode "foo(string)" "Hello, World!"
```

### Type conversions

```bash [Parse units (e.g., ether to wei)]
$ cast to-wei 1.5 ether
```

```bash [Format units (e.g., wei to ether)]
$ cast from-wei 1500000000000000000
```

```bash [Convert to hex]
$ cast to-hex 255
```

```bash [Convert from hex]
$ cast to-dec 0xff
```

```bash [Convert to bytes32]
$ cast to-bytes32 "Hello"
```

```bash [Format bytes32 as string]
$ cast parse-bytes32-string 0x48656c6c6f000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
```

### Hashing

```bash [Keccak256 hash]
$ cast keccak "Hello, World!"
```

```bash [Hash raw bytes]
$ cast keccak 0xdeadbeef
```

```bash [Compute storage slot for mapping]
$ cast index address 0xOwner 0
```

### Interface utilities

```bash [Generate interface from ABI]
$ cast interface ./out/Counter.sol/Counter.json
```

```bash [Generate interface from Etherscan]
$ cast interface 0xContractAddress --etherscan-api-key $KEY
```

```bash [Pretty print ABI]
$ forge inspect Counter abi
```
