Add generate-abi-json CLI tool

Adds a standalone CLI entry point at src/cli/generate-abi-json.ts that
can be invoked via 'npx generate-abi-json' (after installing the SDK)
or 'node dist/common/cli/generate-abi-json.js' (after building).

Supports:
  --network (mainnet/testnet/devnet/local)
  --node-url (custom fullnode endpoint)
  --address / --module (required)
  --function (optional, to target a single function)
  --output (write to file instead of stdout)
  --pretty (pretty-print JSON)

Registered as a bin entry in package.json and added to tsup config.

Co-authored-by: Greg Nazario <greg@gnazar.io>

Author: cursoragent

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ All notable changes to the Aptos TypeScript SDK will be captured in this file. T
 
 - Add e2e tests for external signer flow (build → getSigningMessage → sign externally → submit) to verify the flow works correctly with the latest SDK version
 - Add ABI JSON generation tool: `generateModuleAbiJSON`, `generateEntryFunctionAbiJSON`, `generateViewFunctionAbiJSON` to fetch on-chain module ABIs and produce JSON-serializable output; `parseEntryFunctionAbiJSON` and `parseViewFunctionAbiJSON` to hydrate them back into SDK-native `EntryFunctionABI`/`ViewFunctionABI` types
+- Add `generate-abi-json` CLI tool (available via `npx generate-abi-json`) to generate ABI JSON from on-chain state without writing code
 - Add MultiKey (K-of-N mixed key types) transfer example (`examples/typescript/multikey_transfer.ts`)
 - Add MultiEd25519 (K-of-N Ed25519) transfer example (`examples/typescript/multi_ed25519_transfer.ts`)
 

package.json

@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-ts-sdk/issues/new/choose"
   },
   "homepage": "https://aptos-labs.github.io/aptos-ts-sdk/",
+  "bin": {
+    "generate-abi-json": "dist/common/cli/generate-abi-json.js"
+  },
   "main": "dist/common/index.js",
   "module": "dist/esm/index.mjs",
   "exports": {
@@ -47,6 +50,7 @@
     "doc": "scripts/generateDocs.sh",
     "check-version": "scripts/checkVersion.sh",
     "update-version": "scripts/updateVersion.sh && pnpm doc",
+    "generate-abi-json": "node dist/common/cli/generate-abi-json.js",
     "spec": "pnpm build && pnpm _spec",
     "_spec": "cucumber-js -p default"
   },

src/cli/generate-abi-json.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+// Copyright © Aptos Foundation
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { parseArgs } from "node:util";
+import { writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+import { AptosConfig } from "../api/aptosConfig";
+import { Network } from "../utils/apiEndpoints";
+import {
+  generateModuleAbiJSON,
+  generateEntryFunctionAbiJSON,
+  generateViewFunctionAbiJSON,
+} from "../transactions/transactionBuilder/abiJson";
+
+const USAGE = `
+Usage: generate-abi-json [options]
+
+Fetches on-chain Move module ABIs and outputs JSON-serializable entry/view
+function ABI definitions that can be embedded in application source code.
+
+Options:
+  --network <network>   Network to connect to: mainnet, testnet, devnet, local
+                        (default: mainnet)
+  --node-url <url>      Custom fullnode URL (overrides --network)
+  --address <address>   Account address of the module (required)
+  --module <name>       Module name (required)
+  --function <name>     Specific function name (omit to output all functions)
+  --output <file>       Write JSON to a file instead of stdout
+  --pretty              Pretty-print JSON with 2-space indentation
+  --help                Show this help message
+
+Examples:
+  # All entry/view ABIs for the coin module on mainnet
+  generate-abi-json --address 0x1 --module coin --pretty
+
+  # Single entry function, written to a file
+  generate-abi-json --address 0x1 --module coin --function transfer --output coin_transfer.json
+
+  # Use a custom node URL (include /v1 path)
+  generate-abi-json --node-url http://localhost:8080/v1 --address 0x1 --module coin
+`.trim();
+
+const NETWORK_MAP: Record<string, Network> = {
+  mainnet: Network.MAINNET,
+  testnet: Network.TESTNET,
+  devnet: Network.DEVNET,
+  local: Network.LOCAL,
+};
+
+async function main() {
+  const { values } = parseArgs({
+    options: {
+      network: { type: "string", default: "mainnet" },
+      "node-url": { type: "string" },
+      address: { type: "string" },
+      module: { type: "string" },
+      function: { type: "string" },
+      output: { type: "string" },
+      pretty: { type: "boolean", default: false },
+      help: { type: "boolean", default: false },
+    },
+    strict: true,
+  });
+
+  if (values.help) {
+    console.log(USAGE);
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+
+  if (!values.address) {
+    console.error("Error: --address is required\n");
+    console.error(USAGE);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  if (!values.module) {
+    console.error("Error: --module is required\n");
+    console.error(USAGE);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  const networkKey = values.network!.toLowerCase();
+  const network = NETWORK_MAP[networkKey];
+  if (!network && !values["node-url"]) {
+    console.error(`Error: unknown network '${values.network}'. Use one of: mainnet, testnet, devnet, local\n`);
+    console.error("Or provide --node-url for a custom endpoint.");
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  const aptosConfig = values["node-url"]
+    ? new AptosConfig({ fullnode: values["node-url"], network: Network.CUSTOM })
+    : new AptosConfig({ network });
+
+  try {
+    let result: unknown;
+
+    if (values.function) {
+      // Try entry function first, then view function
+      try {
+        result = await generateEntryFunctionAbiJSON({
+          aptosConfig,
+          accountAddress: values.address,
+          moduleName: values.module,
+          functionName: values.function,
+        });
+      } catch {
+        result = await generateViewFunctionAbiJSON({
+          aptosConfig,
+          accountAddress: values.address,
+          moduleName: values.module,
+          functionName: values.function,
+        });
+      }
+    } else {
+      result = await generateModuleAbiJSON({
+        aptosConfig,
+        accountAddress: values.address,
+        moduleName: values.module,
+      });
+    }
+
+    const jsonStr = values.pretty ? JSON.stringify(result, null, 2) : JSON.stringify(result);
+
+    if (values.output) {
+      writeFileSync(values.output, `${jsonStr}\n`, "utf-8");
+      console.error(`Wrote ABI JSON to ${values.output}`);
+    } else {
+      console.log(jsonStr);
+    }
+  } catch (err: unknown) {
+    const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    console.error(`Error: ${message}`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
+
+main();

tsup.config.ts

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const DEFAULT_CONFIG: Options = {
 // Common.js config
 const COMMON_CONFIG: MandatoryOptions = {
   ...DEFAULT_CONFIG,
-  entry: ["src/index.ts", "src/cli/index.ts"],
+  entry: ["src/index.ts", "src/cli/index.ts", "src/cli/generate-abi-json.ts"],
   format: "cjs",
   outDir: "dist/common",
 };