Overview
Evolution SDK is a free, open-source software development kit (SDK), a bundle of ready-made code that lets developers build, sign, and send blockchain transactions from their own apps. It handles the fiddly parts of each transaction for them: choosing which funds to spend, working out the network fee, and returning the change1. Because it is written entirely in TypeScript, the typed version of JavaScript, it needs no extra compiled components to run1.
Evolution SDK is a transaction builder for Cardano. No Witness Labs, a Cardano software firm, built it and remains its primary maintainer2. Intersect, a member-based Cardano governance organization, accepted it into its incubation program after review by its Open Source Committee and Technical Steering Committee2.
Key Features
- No coin math by hand. Evolution SDK picks which funds to spend, calculates the fee, and sends the change back automatically, so a developer only describes the transaction1.
- Runs on servers and in browsers alike. The library has no WebAssembly (compiled add-on code) or native binaries, so the same code works in web browsers, in server runtimes such as Node.js, Bun, and Deno, and in edge functions, small programs that run on a hosting provider's servers1.
- Works with the wallets people already use. Apps can connect to browser wallets such as Eternl and Lace through CIP-30, the standard wallet-connection protocol, and the user's keys never leave their own device3. Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets work through those browser extensions; direct hardware wallet support is on the project's roadmap4.
- Covers voting, staking, and smart contracts. Evolution SDK supports Cardano governance actions such as registering as a DRep (a representative that ADA holders delegate their voting power to) and casting votes, plus stake delegation and Plutus smart contracts, the programs that run on the blockchain4.
- A private test network on your own machine. A companion devnet package starts a local Cardano network inside Docker, a tool for running isolated software containers, and generates the setup files automatically5.
What to Expect
For developers, setup is a single install command through npm, the standard JavaScript package manager. The getting-started guide then walks through a first transaction on preprod, a public Cardano test network, using Blockfrost, a hosted service that reads and submits blockchain data6. The guide explains the core idea early: a client combines a provider (the service that talks to the blockchain) with a wallet, and a client without a wallet can still build unsigned transactions for someone else to sign6. Teams that run their own infrastructure can switch to Kupo and Ogmios, two self-hosted tools that index and serve blockchain data6. Maestro and Koios are also supported4.
Smart contract builders can read contract blueprint files produced by Aiken, a Cardano smart contract language, and sign messages under the CIP-8 message-signing standard through separate modules they import only when needed1. The docs site also hosts an interactive playground and links to a community Discord server1.
Developers coming from Lucid, an earlier TypeScript library for Cardano, will find a migration guide and a comparison with Lucid Evolution, a separate library7. Intersect notes that Evolution SDK moves away from CML, a compiled code library, and is written entirely with Effect, a TypeScript framework for structured error handling8.
For everyone else, Evolution SDK works behind the scenes. It is code other teams build into their DApps and tools, not an app you open. The Cardano Developer Portal lists it among its TypeScript SDKs and libraries9.
