# EVM Read Contract

> EVM Read Contract is a paid API for AI agents from bess-x402.onrender.com, paid per call via x402, $0.003/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-29).

Call any read-only EVM smart contract function by providing its signature with return types and arguments, returning decoded on-chain values without needing an ABI file.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://bess-x402.onrender.com/v1/evm/read?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.003/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/evm-read-contract-26b29460
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_gp35oWQmV8L0UnbWsBSPo

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability evm-read-contract-26b29460
```

Example prompt: What is the USDC balance of wallet 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045 on Ethereum? The USDC contract is 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 and the function signature is balanceOf(address)(uint256).

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to query on-chain EVM state for any contract without having to supply or parse a full ABI — especially useful for one-off reads across DeFi protocols, token contracts, or NFTs on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, or Polygon. Prefer it over full ABI-based tools when you know the specific function signature and want a lightweight, pay-per-call approach.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or non-existent contract address returns an error or empty response
- Wrong function signature (wrong argument or return types) causes decoding failure
- Arguments not matching the expected Solidity types cause a revert or parsing error
- Unsupported chain name returns a validation error
- Requesting a future or non-existent block number returns an error
- Rate limiting or payment failure returns a 402 response

## How this service works

Call any read-only contract function without a transaction or ABI file: give the signature with return types, e.g. balanceOf(address)(uint256) or getReserves()(uint112,uint112,uint32), plus arguments; returns decoded values.

## Output

The endpoint returns the decoded return values from the contract function call, mapped to their Solidity types (e.g., uint256, address, bool, tuple components). Values are returned as their JSON-native equivalents (numbers as strings for large integers, addresses as hex strings, booleans as true/false).

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "address",
      "signature"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "args": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Comma-separated arguments (arrays as JSON)"
      },
      "block": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Block number or latest"
      },
      "chain": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "ethereum, base, arbitrum, optimism or polygon"
      },
      "address": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Contract address"
      },
      "signature": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "name(argTypes)(returnTypes)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/evm-read-contract-26b29460/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from bess-x402.onrender.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/bess-x402.onrender.com/llms.txt)