Building on Abstract

Abstract is a ZK Rollup on ZK Stack with native account abstraction, paymasters, and session keys. The developer experience differs from standard Ethereum in important ways — this skill covers project setup, contract deployment, AGW integration, and the critical EVM differences.

Operating Rules

• Identify whether the task is smart contract development, frontend/SDK integration, or both before recommending tooling.
• Read references/evm-differences.md before advising on contract deployment or Solidity patterns — Abstract's ZKsync VM has significant differences from standard EVM.
• Read references/agw-integration.md for AGW client and React SDK setup.
• Read references/paymaster-guide.md for gasless transaction patterns.
• Read references/network-config.md for RPC URLs, chain IDs, and system contracts.

Quick Start

New project from scratch

npx @abstract-foundation/create-abstract-app@latest my-app

Scaffolds a Next.js app with AGW integration pre-configured.

Smart contract development

Framework	Install	Notes
Foundry	foundry-zksync fork	forge build --zksync, forge create --zksync
Hardhat	@matterlabs/hardhat-zksync	Plugin handles zksolc compilation

Network configuration

Network	Chain ID	RPC	Explorer
Mainnet	2741	https://api.mainnet.abs.xyz	https://abscan.org
Testnet	11124	https://api.testnet.abs.xyz	https://sepolia.abscan.org

Contract Deployment via AGW CLI

Preview then deploy:

agw contract deploy --json '{
  "abi": [...],
  "bytecode": "0x..."
}' --dry-run

agw contract deploy --json '{
  "abi": [...],
  "bytecode": "0x..."
}' --execute

Verify on Abscan after deployment.

Key Architecture Decisions

Native Account Abstraction

Every account on Abstract is a smart contract implementing IAccount. This is built into the protocol (not ERC-4337). Enables passkey wallets, session keys, batch transactions, and gas sponsorship natively.

Paymasters

Smart contracts that pay gas on behalf of users. Two flows:

• General: Sponsor all transactions (e.g., onboarding)
• Approval-Based: Users pay gas with ERC-20 tokens (e.g., USDC)

Provider: Zyfi (https://zyfi.org)

Session Keys

Temporary, scoped credentials for pre-approved tx execution without user confirmation. Mainnet requires security review + registration with Session Key Policy Registry at 0xA146c7118A46b32aBD0e1ACA41DF4e61061b6b93.

EVM Differences (Critical)

Abstract uses ZKsync VM, not standard EVM. Key differences:

• Contract deployment routes through ContractDeployer system contract
• factoryDeps field required in deployment transactions
• CREATE/CREATE2 address derivation differs from Ethereum
• Gas model: dual off-chain + on-chain cost
• Unsupported opcodes: SELFDESTRUCT, CALLCODE

Read references/evm-differences.md before writing contracts.

AGW Integration

Client SDK (@abstract-foundation/agw-client)

npm install @abstract-foundation/agw-client viem

Key actions: sendTransaction, writeContract, deployContract, sendCalls (batch), signMessage.

React SDK (@abstract-foundation/agw-react)

npm install @abstract-foundation/agw-react

Key hooks: useLoginWithAbstract, useAbstractClient, useWriteContractSponsored, useCreateSession, useRevokeSessions.

Read references/agw-integration.md for setup details and code examples.

Escalation

• Route transaction execution questions to executing-agw-transactions.
• Route wallet/balance queries to reading-agw-wallet.
• Route Uniswap trading to trading-on-uniswap.
• Route bridging to bridging-to-abstract.