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@taqueria/plugin-contract-types

This plugin provides a taq generate types command which will generate and export TypeScript types from compiled Michelson smart contracts. These generated types then work with your IDE and Taquito, providing type safety and an improved code authoring experience

Benefits of using generated types:

  • Static types used to call smart contract methods are checked at compile time, improving code reliability
  • Generated types enable auto-completion and syntax highlighting in your IDE
  • Developing apps with Taquito is faster and more reliable
  • The VS Code Extension provides tooltip hints for parameter types used to call a smart contract method
  • Calling smart contract methods with types is done directly, removing the need for utility methods
  • Simplifies your code and improves readability

Requirements​

  • Taqueria v0.42.0 or later
  • Node.js v18.18 or later.

Installation​

To install the Contract Types plugin on a Taqueria project, navigate to the project folder and run:

taq install @taqueria/plugin-contract-types

Configuration​

This plugin will look for Michelson files according to the artifactsDir configured in .taq/config.json. By default, this value is artifacts but can be changed as needed

Usage​

The plugin provides a single command to Taqueria: taq generate types

This will look for .tz files in the artifacts directory and will generate a series of related .ts files in the /types directory (default folder created to store the generated files). These files export type definitions for each method which can then be used by Taquito and your IDE

The generate types Command​

Syntax​

taq generate types [typeOutputDir]

Parameters​

parameterrequireddescription
typeOutputDirnoThe output directory for the .ts files generated

CLI Aliases​

The following aliases are interchangable with generate types

  • gen
  • gentypes

Options​

The generate types command will accept the following optional parameters:

flagnamedescription
-ttypeAliasModeUse type aliases in the generated types

Taquito Workflow Improvements​

The generated TS types can be used in a Taquito project which provides an improved developing experience, and simplifies the way types are provided to Taquito method calls. Some examples of how these changes are put into use are detailed below

note

You can view the full example in the example-usage.ts file on Github: example-usage.ts

Calling the .at Method of a Contract​

Traditionally, calling the .at method of a contract with Taquito required the developer to pass the parameter's type via a utility method:

const contract = await Tezos.contract.at(`KT123...`, contractAbstractionComposer<TestContractType>());

or a cast:

const contract = await Tezos.contract.at(`KT123...`) as ContractProviderFromContractType<TestContractType>;

When using generated types, the developer can now directly use the type in the call to .at:

const contract = await Tezos.contract.at<TestContract>(`KT123...`);

Using a Wallet​

Using a wallet is simplified in a similar way:

const contract = await Tezos.wallet.at(`KT123...`, walletAbstractionComposer<TestContractType>());

Becomes:

const contract = await Tezos.wallet.at<TestWalletContract>(`KT123...`);

Contract Origination​

The Taquito contract origination did not have any way to provide a type, so this used to require a cast:

const originationResult = await Tezos.contract.originate({...});
const contract = await originationResult.contract(5) as ContractProviderFromContractType<TestContractType2>;

Now, it can directly accept a type:

const originationResult = await Tezos.contract.originate({...});
const contract = await originationResult.contract<TestContract2>(5);

Storage​

When accessing storage, there was no way to pass the type through the contract class. This required providing the type a second time:

const contract = await Tezos.contract.at(`KT123...`) as ContractProviderFromContractType<TestContractType>;
const storage = await contract.storage<StorageFromContractType<TestContractType>>();

Now, the contract type provides the default storage type:

const contract = await Tezos.contract.at<TestContract>(`KT123...`);
const storage = await contract.storage();

Plugin Architecture​

This is a plugin developed for Taqueria built on NodeJS using the Taqueria Node SDK and distributed via NPM