WakeUp Labs - Update Thread: AssemblyScript Integration for the Arbitrum Stylus SDK

DAO Programs & Initiatives
6

Milestone #3 & #4 Completed: Core Development and Feature Implementation

TL;DR:

We’ve completed our third and fourth milestones, pushing AssemblyScript support for Stylus into real development workflows. From APIs and compilation to ERC standards and CLI tooling developers can now start experimenting with AssemblyScript smart contracts on Arbitrum.

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What We Achieved

Milestone #3 – Core Development

This phase was focused on laying the technical foundation for AssemblyScript on Stylus:

  • :white_check_mark: Built a WebAssembly compilation workflow tailored for AssemblyScript and compatible with Stylus constraints.
  • :white_check_mark: Defined early-stage AssemblyScript APIs to expose essential types and contract patterns.
  • :white_check_mark: Delivered a minimal example contract in AssemblyScript to illustrate the development flow.
  • :white_check_mark: Introduced an initial ABI generation process to support tooling compatibility.

Deliverables

As part of this milestone, we focused both on proving the technical workflow and on making the developer experience more tangible. Here’s what we shipped:

Demo

  • Example Contract: a minimal smart contract written in AssemblyScript, showing the basic development flow on Stylus.
  • ABI Output Tooling: a prototype tool that automatically generates ABI specs from AssemblyScript source.
  • Developer Experience: early insights into how the SDK feels to use, including workflow steps and usability notes.

Report

  • Compilation Workflow: a detailed overview of the AssemblyScript → WebAssembly → Stylus compilation pipeline.
  • Interfaces Definition: documentation of the key design decisions around which types are supported by the AssemblyScript SDK.

Milestone #4 – Feature Implementation

With the core in place, we extended the SDK to cover more advanced use cases and developer experience:

  • Added support for essential Stylus SDK features enabling low-level system interactions.
  • Expanded the toolchain for WebAssembly-specific requirements.
  • ERC-20 compatibility: full implementation for token contracts.
  • ERC-721 compatibility: progress toward NFT development workflows.
  • Released our first CLI (available on npm) to create, compile, and deploy AssemblyScript contracts.

Deliverables:

  • CLI Demo: How to create, compile, and deploy AssemblyScript contracts using the CLI.
  • Playground Demo: Interactive environment to experiment with deployed AssemblyScript contracts.
  • Developer Documentation: Usage guides, API references, and workflow instructions.
  • Developer Playground: A web-based playground where developers can experiment with and interact directly with their AssemblyScript smart contracts.

Useful Links

Why This Matters

AssemblyScript and TypeScript share a familiar syntax, lowering the barrier for thousands of developers to build on Stylus. Bringing this to Stylus makes Arbitrum more accessible while preserving the performance and safety of WebAssembly.

We’ll continue sharing progress as we move into the next milestones. Stay up to date by following us on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn, where we post regular updates, demos, and opportunities to get involved.

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