Etherscan AI Tool Code Reader Official Tutorial

Author: etherscan; translation: Golden Finance 0xxz

Code Reader is a tool that harnesses the power of AI to retrieve and interpret source code for specific contract addresses for users. By selecting a contract address, users can access and interact with the source code files of the contract. This tutorial walks you through how to use this tool and highlights some use cases.

Before using Code Reader, you need to understand the following:

*AI Generated Answers: These responses were generated by OpenAI’s Large Language Model (LLM) and are provided for informational purposes only. Always verify their accuracy and do not rely on them solely as evidence or for submitting bug bounties.

• Build Tip: To use this tool, you need a valid OpenAI API key and sufficient OpenAI usage restrictions. This tool does not store your API key.
• Chat Completion Mode: The tool currently only supports one-time prompts and does not allow continuous conversations.

Code Reader 5-step usage

1. First enter your OpenAI API key.

2. Paste the contract address you want to explore.

3. The tool will automatically fetch all files related to the contract provided.

4. Once the contract file is retrieved, you can select a specific source code file to read through. Additionally, you can modify the source code directly in the UI before sharing it with the AI.

5. Based on the selected source code, you can generate AI prompts to interact with the code and ask questions to deepen your understanding.

Use Case Demonstration

• Code Overview: Generate AI hints for a specific part of code or function, giving you a deeper understanding of that part of code. Get AI-generated explanations with targeted questions, allowing you to delve deeper into the inner workings of your code. This feature is especially valuable when interacting with a smart contract for the first time, as it provides a solid understanding of its operation and functionality. Also, leverage this feature to generate documentation for reference.
• Retrieve read/write functions: Get a complete list of smart contract functions related to reading and writing Ethereum data, along with detailed descriptions of their respective functions. Armed with this information, you can make an informed decision on how to interact with these functions directly under the “Read Contract” or “Write Contract” tabs on the corresponding contract address page.
• Explore dApp integrations: Dive into the code to gain a comprehensive understanding of how to seamlessly integrate your chosen smart contract with your decentralized application (dApp).

Restrictions on Proxy Contracts

When pasting the proxy contract address, the tool will not automatically obtain the contract file for executing the contract. To access the associated executing contract, you can go to the address page of the proxy contract, check the “Read/Write as Proxy” tab and copy the address:

If the “Read/Write as Proxy” tab is not available, you can navigate to the button below, click “Verify” on the Proxy Contract Verification page, and copy the found implementation address:

Click the “Is this a proxy?” button