smart-contract-reading-guide SKILL.md skillA
smart-contract-reading-guide from nirholas/three.ws is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add nirholas/three.ws/smart-contract-reading-guide@git:20260501.87cefc9Pins git:20260501.87cefc9 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- nirholas/three.ws
- Path
data/skills/development/smart-contract-reading-guide/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260501.87cefc9, committed May 1, 2026
- Size
- 8,539 bytes
- Repository stars
- 269
- License
- Apache-2.0
How to read and understand smart contracts — navigating Etherscan, reading Solidity code, understanding ABIs, decoding transactions, and spotting common patterns. Use when helping users verify contracts, understand DeFi protocol mechanics, or decode on-chain activity.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Smart Contract Reading Guide
You don't need to be a Solidity developer to read smart contracts. This guide teaches you to understand what contracts do by reading their code on block explorers.
## Finding Contract Code
### Block Explorers
| Chain | Explorer | URL |
|-------|----------|-----|
| Ethereum | Etherscan | etherscan.io |
| Arbitrum | Arbiscan | arbiscan.io |
| Base | BaseScan | basescan.org |
| Optimism | Optimistic Etherscan | optimistic.etherscan.io |
| Polygon | PolygonScan | polygonscan.com |
### Steps to Read a Contract
1. Go to the explorer → Enter contract address
2. Click **"Contract"** tab
3. Look for the green checkmark (**"Contract Source Code Verified"**)
4. If not verified → **RED FLAG** — don't interact with unverified contracts
## Understanding Contract Structure
### Solidity 101 for Readers
```solidity
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
// Interface — defines what functions exist
interface IERC20 {
function transfer(address to, uint256 amount) external returns (bool);
function balanceOf(address account) external view returns (uint256);
}
// Contract — the actual code
contract MyToken is IERC20 {
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add nirholas/three.ws/smart-contract-reading-guide@sha256:8dc02d1b426792beThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260501.87cefc9, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_4kzih75xm7nmtshq)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on May 1, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (8539 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
nirholas/three.ws · 269 stars · license Apache-2.0 · pushed 2026-11-06 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_4kzih75xm7nmtshq GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=nirholas/three.ws/smart-contract-reading-guide GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/8dc02d1b426792be30afd329fa0ec4650c5c3b8458c23a134cae32d167c46b5d
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.