viem

Viem is an open-source JavaScript and TypeScript library designed for interacting with Ethereum‑compatible blockchains. It emphasizes type safety, performance, and a lightweight footprint, providing developers with a structured way to read data from and write data to on‑chain contracts and accounts. The project is framework-agnostic but is commonly used in modern dApp stacks to complement other tooling in the Ethereum ecosystem.

At the core, viem introduces a modular client architecture that separates read-only operations from signed actions. A publicClient handles read operations against a blockchain node, such as contract calls, balance lookups, and data queries, while a walletClient manages actions that require signing, like sending transactions. The library supports multiple networks through configurable chain definitions and transport layers (for example JSON‑RPC over HTTP or WebSocket), enabling a single codebase to interact with mainnets, testnets, and local networks. Viem also emphasizes type safety by generating TypeScript types from ABIs and chain data, allowing developers to work with strongly typed contracts and events, reducing runtime errors and improving developer experience.

Common use cases include contract reads and writes, event filtering and decoding, and general blockchain data retrieval. Viem provides a set of high-level abstractions and utility functions to streamline these tasks, while remaining compatible with other parts of a dApp stack. The project is widely used in the Ethereum tooling ecosystem and is often paired with other libraries to build robust, scalable frontend and backend blockchain applications. Viem is maintained as an open-source project with ongoing development and community contributions.