Solidity Development Skill

SkillSecurity

Deep expertise in Solidity language features, patterns, and best practices for secure smart contract development. Covers ERC standards, gas optimization, upgradeable contracts, and security patterns.

Instructions available. Your AI can read the instructions. Execution depends on the setup they require.

Add ahel to your AI once: Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code or Codex. Then ask it to use this.

Then ask your AI: use the Solidity Development Skill skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by a5c-ai/babysitter in library/specializations/cryptography-blockchain/skills/solidity-dev/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Expert-level Solidity smart contract development with emphasis on security patterns, gas optimization, and ERC standard compliance.

Capabilities

  • Secure Coding Patterns: Implement Checks-Effects-Interactions, reentrancy guards
  • Gas Optimization: Write gas-efficient code using assembly/Yul when appropriate
  • NatSpec Documentation: Generate comprehensive contract documentation
  • ERC Standards: Implement ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, ERC-4626 compliant tokens
  • OpenZeppelin Integration: Properly use and extend OZ contracts
  • Modern Solidity Features: Leverage 0.8+ features (custom errors, unchecked blocks)
  • Upgradeable Contracts: Implement UUPS and Transparent Proxy patterns

Security Patterns

Checks-Effects-Interactions (CEI)

function withdraw(uint256 amount) external {
    // CHECKS
    require(balances[msg.sender] >= amount, "Insufficient balance");

    // EFFECTS
    balances[msg.sender] -= amount;

    // INTERACTIONS
    (bool success, ) = msg.sender.call{value: amount}("");
    require(success, "Transfer failed");
}

Custom Errors (Gas Efficient)

// Instead of require strings
error InsufficientBalance(uint256 requested, uint256 available);
error Unauthorized(address caller);

function withdraw(uint256 amount) external {
    if (balances[msg.sender] < amount) {
        revert InsufficientBalance(amount, balances[msg.sender]);
    }
}

Unchecked Arithmetic

function increment(uint256 i) external pure returns (uint256) {
    // Safe when overflow is impossible
    unchecked {
        return i + 1; // Saves ~80 gas
    }
}

ERC Standard Templates

ERC-20 Token

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/extensions/ERC20Permit.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/extensions/ERC20Votes.sol";

contract GovernanceToken is ERC20, ERC20Permit, ERC20Votes {
    constructor() ERC20("MyToken", "MTK") ERC20Permit("MyToken") {
        _mint(msg.sender, 1000000 * 10**decimals());
    }

    // Required overrides for multiple inheritance
    function _afterTokenTransfer(address from, address to, uint256 amount)
        internal override(ERC20, ERC20Votes)
    {
        super._afterTokenTransfer(from, to, amount);
    }

    function _mint(address to, uint256 amount)
        internal override(ERC20, ERC20Votes)
    {
        super._mint(to, amount);
    }

    function _burn(address account, uint256 amount)
        internal override(ERC20, ERC20Votes)
    {
        super._burn(account, amount);
    }
}

ERC-721 NFT

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/ERC721.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721URIStorage.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721Royalty.sol";

contract MyNFT is ERC721, ERC721URIStorage, ERC721Royalty {
    uint256 private _tokenIdCounter;

    constructor() ERC721("MyNFT", "NFT") {
        _setDefaultRoyalty(msg.sender, 250); // 2.5%
    }

    function safeMint(address to, string memory uri) external {
        uint256 tokenId = _tokenIdCounter++;
        _safeMint(to, tokenId);
        _setTokenURI(tokenId, uri);
    }
}

Upgradeable Contract Pattern

UUPS Proxy

import "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/proxy/utils/UUPSUpgradeable.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/access/OwnableUpgradeable.sol";

contract MyContractV1 is UUPSUpgradeable, OwnableUpgradeable {
    uint256 public value;

    /// @custom:oz-upgrades-unsafe-allow constructor
    constructor() {
        _disableInitializers();
    }

    function initialize() public initializer {
        __Ownable_init();
        __UUPSUpgradeable_init();
    }

    function _authorizeUpgrade(address newImplementation)
        internal override onlyOwner
    {}

    function setValue(uint256 _value) external {
        value = _value;
    }
}

Gas Optimization Techniques

Storage Packing

// BAD: Uses 3 storage slots (96 bytes)
contract Unpacked {
    uint256 a;    // slot 0
    uint8 b;      // slot 1
    uint256 c;    // slot 2
}

// GOOD: Uses 2 storage slots (64 bytes)
contract Packed {
    uint256 a;    // slot 0
    uint256 c;    // slot 1
    uint8 b;      // slot 1 (packed with previous)
}

Calldata vs Memory

// Use calldata for read-only arrays
function processData(uint256[] calldata data) external pure returns (uint256) {
    uint256 sum;
    for (uint256 i; i < data.length;) {
        sum += data[i];
        unchecked { ++i; }
    }
    return sum;
}

Assembly Optimization

function efficientTransfer(address to, uint256 amount) external {
    assembly {
        // Load balance from storage
        let bal := sload(add(balances.slot, caller()))

        // Check balance
        if lt(bal, amount) {
            revert(0, 0)
        }

        // Update balances
        sstore(add(balances.slot, caller()), sub(bal, amount))
        sstore(add(balances.slot, to), add(sload(add(balances.slot, to)), amount))
    }
}

Process Integration

This skill integrates with:

ProcessPurpose
smart-contract-development-lifecycle.jsFull development workflow
erc20-token-implementation.jsERC-20 implementation
erc721-nft-collection.jsNFT collection development
erc1155-multi-token.jsMulti-token development
erc4626-tokenized-vault.jsVault implementation
gas-optimization.jsPerformance tuning
smart-contract-upgrade.jsProxy upgrades

Tools Reference

ToolPurposeInstallation
FoundryDevelopment frameworkcurl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash
HardhatDevelopment frameworknpm install hardhat
SolhintLinternpm install solhint
Prettier SolidityFormatternpm install prettier-plugin-solidity

Best Practices Checklist

  • Use latest stable Solidity version (0.8.x+)
  • Implement CEI pattern for external calls
  • Use custom errors instead of require strings
  • Add NatSpec documentation
  • Implement proper access control
  • Consider gas optimization
  • Add comprehensive tests
  • Run static analysis (Slither)
  • Document upgrade paths

See Also

  • skills/foundry-framework/SKILL.md - Foundry development
  • skills/hardhat-framework/SKILL.md - Hardhat development
  • skills/openzeppelin/SKILL.md - OpenZeppelin contracts
  • skills/gas-optimization/SKILL.md - Gas optimization
  • agents/solidity-auditor/AGENT.md - Security auditor agent

Signals

GitHub stars
2k
Forks
112
Last commit
Sep 2026

ahel review

  • K1info
    remote-installer-piped-to-shell
  • K1binfo
    installs-packages

Automated review, not a security audit. Ruleset v1+k2.

Advanced
Item type
skill
Key
solidity-dev
Source
github.com/a5c-ai/babysitter