Querying the EVM

Accurate guide to querying EVM data and contracts using the seid CLI, including address lookups, ERC20 queries, payload generation, and pointer resolution.

What is EVM Querying?

EVM querying allows you to interact with Ethereum-compatible smart contracts and state on Sei using read-only methods. These queries can extract data such as balances, token information, and contract configurations without initiating a transaction.

Prerequisites

If your machine is not running a Sei node, you’ll need to append the following to all query commands:

--node http://<sei-cosmos-rpc-url>

Refer to the RPC endpoints page for a list of available RPC endpoints.

Network Configuration

You must specify the correct RPC node if you are not running a local node:

--node http://<sei-cosmos-rpc-url>

Use this flag with all seid q evm commands.

Address Mapping

Get Sei Address from EVM Address

seid q evm sei-addr [evm address]

Example:

seid q evm sei-addr 0x1234abcd5678ef...

Output:

{
  "sei_address": "sei1xyz...",
  "associated": true
}

Get EVM Address from Sei Address

seid q evm evm-addr [sei address]

Example:

seid q evm evm-addr sei1xyz...

Output:

{
  "evm_address": "0x1234abcd5678ef...",
  "associated": true
}

ERC20 Contract Queries

Query standard ERC20 contract methods using:

seid q evm erc20 [contract address] [method] [arguments...]

Example:

seid q evm erc20 0xabc123... balanceOf 0xuser456...

Output:

500000000000000000000

Supported methods:

• name - Get token name
• symbol - Get token symbol
• decimals - Get token decimals
• totalSupply - Get total token supply
• balanceOf [address] - Get balance of specific address
• allowance [owner] [spender] - Get allowance amount

Payload Generation

Generate hex-encoded call data for contract methods. This is useful for crafting transactions manually.

ERC20

ERC20 Payload Generation

seid q evm erc20-payload [method] [arguments...]

Transfer tokens:

seid q evm erc20-payload transfer 0xrecipient... 1000000000000000000

Output:

a9059cbb000000000000000000000000recipient...0000000000000000000000000de0b6b3a7640000

Approve spender:

seid q evm erc20-payload approve 0xspender... 2000000000000000000

Output:

095ea7b3000000000000000000000000spender...0000000000000000000000001bc16d674ec80000

Transfer from:

seid q evm erc20-payload transferFrom 0xfrom... 0xto... 1500000000000000000

Output:

23b872dd000000000000000000000000from...000000000000000000000000to...00000000000000000000000014d1120d7b160000

Supported methods:

• transfer [to] [amount] - Transfer tokens to address
• approve [spender] [amount] - Approve spender for amount
• transferFrom [from] [to] [amount] - Transfer tokens from one address to another

Amounts should be specified in the token’s smallest unit (e.g., wei for 18-decimal tokens).

ERC721

ERC721 Payload Generation

seid q evm erc721-payload [method] [arguments...]

Approve token:

seid q evm erc721-payload approve 0xspender... 123

Output:

095ea7b3000000000000000000000000spender...000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000007b

Transfer token:

seid q evm erc721-payload transferFrom 0xfrom... 0xto... 123

Output:

23b872dd000000000000000000000000from...000000000000000000000000to...000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000007b

Set approval for all:

seid q evm erc721-payload setApprovalForAll 0xoperator... true

Output:

a22cb465000000000000000000000000operator...0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

Supported methods:

• approve [spender] [tokenId] - Approve specific token
• transferFrom [from] [to] [tokenId] - Transfer token
• setApprovalForAll [operator] [true|false] - Set approval for all tokens

ERC1155

ERC1155 Payload Generation

seid q evm erc1155-payload [method] [arguments...]

Safe transfer:

seid q evm erc1155-payload safeTransferFrom 0xfrom... 0xto... 123 5 0x

Output:

f242432a000000000000000000000000from...000000000000000000000000to...000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000007b0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000005

Safe batch transfer:

seid q evm erc1155-payload safeBatchTransferFrom 0xfrom... 0xto... [123,456] [5,10] 0x

Output:

2eb2c2d6000000000000000000000000from...000000000000000000000000to...00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000a0...

Set approval for all:

seid q evm erc1155-payload setApprovalForAll 0xoperator... true

Output:

a22cb465000000000000000000000000operator...0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

Supported methods:

• safeTransferFrom [from] [to] [tokenId] [amount] [data] - Transfer single token
• safeBatchTransferFrom [from] [to] [tokenIds] [amounts] [data] - Transfer multiple tokens
• setApprovalForAll [operator] [true|false] - Set approval for all tokens

For batch operations, use square brackets for arrays: [123,456] for token IDs and [5,10] for amounts.

Custom ABI

Custom ABI Payload Generation

Generate payloads from custom ABI files:

seid q evm payload [abi-filepath] [method] [arguments...]

Example:

seid q evm payload ./MyContract.json myMethod arg1 arg2

Output:

a1b2c3d4000000000000000000000000...

The ABI file should be in JSON format containing the contract’s ABI definition.

Pointer System

The pointer system enables interoperability between different token standards (EVM, CosmWasm, Native).

Get Pointer Address

Retrieve pointer contracts that bridge tokens between EVM and other environments:

seid q evm pointer [type] [pointee]

Example:

seid q evm pointer NATIVE usei

Output:

{
  "pointer": "0xabc123...",
  "version": 1,
  "exists": true
}

Supported types: NATIVE, CW20, CW721, CW1155, ERC20, ERC721, ERC1155 Pointee: For tokens, use the contract address; for NATIVE, use the denom (e.g., usei)

Get Pointee Address

Get the original contract address from a pointer:

seid q evm pointee [type] [pointer]

Example:

seid q evm pointee ERC20 0xpointer123...

Output:

{
  "pointee": "0xoriginal456...",
  "version": 1,
  "exists": true
}

Get Pointer Version

Query the current pointer version and stored code ID:

seid q evm pointer-version [type]

Example:

seid q evm pointer-version ERC20

Output:

{
  "version": 1,
  "cw_code_id": "123"
}

Pointer contracts allow cross-environment interoperability between CosmWasm and EVM.

Transaction Lookup

Query Transaction by Hash

Query for a transaction by its hash (equivalent to eth_getTransactionByHash):

seid q evm tx [hash] --evm-rpc [EVM RPC endpoint]

Example:

seid q evm tx 0x1234567890abcdef... --evm-rpc http://127.0.0.1:8545

Output:

{
  "blockHash": "0xblock123...",
  "blockNumber": "0x123",
  "from": "0xsender...",
  "gas": "0x5208",
  "gasPrice": "0x3b9aca00",
  "hash": "0x1234567890abcdef...",
  "input": "0x",
  "nonce": "0x1",
  "to": "0xrecipient...",
  "transactionIndex": "0x0",
  "value": "0xde0b6b3a7640000",
  "v": "0x1c",
  "r": "0x...",
  "s": "0x..."
}

Note: This command is unique - it uses --evm-rpc flag with an EVM RPC endpoint (port 8545), not --node with a Cosmos RPC endpoint like other commands. By default, it uses http://127.0.0.1:8545. Refer to the RPC endpoints page for a list of available EVM RPC endpoints.

Common Use Cases

Check Token Balance and Info

# Get token info
seid q evm erc20 0xtoken... symbol
seid q evm erc20 0xtoken... decimals

# Check balance
seid q evm erc20 0xtoken... balanceOf 0xuser...

Prepare Transaction Data

# Generate transfer payload
seid q evm erc20-payload transfer 0xrecipient... 1000000000000000000

# Use the output in a transaction
seid tx evm call-contract 0xtoken... [payload-from-above] --from mykey

Bridge Token Information

# Find EVM pointer for a native token
seid q evm pointer NATIVE usei

# Find original contract from pointer
seid q evm pointee ERC20 0xpointer...

All payload generation commands output hex-encoded data that can be used directly in seid tx evm call-contract transactions.