Prerequisites
What you need to build with Cipher. Each adapter may add its own requirements — those are listed in the adapter’s own docs.
On-chain tooling
| Tool | Version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Node.js | 20+ | Runtime for scripts and tooling |
| npm / yarn / pnpm | latest | Package management |
| Hardhat or Foundry | latest | Smart-contract development |
| Solidity | ^0.8.27 | Cipher contracts target 0.8.27 (Cancun EVM) |
Peer dependencies
Installed alongside the contracts (see Installation):
@fhevm/solidity^0.11.1— Zama’s FHE Solidity library@openzeppelin/contracts^5.6.0— standard contract primitives
Off-chain tooling
Cipher’s contracts are on-chain only. Adapters that use ZK and/or FHE need a client (frontend or backend) to generate proofs and encrypt inputs. The common stack:
| Package | Purpose |
|---|---|
@noir-lang/noir_js | Execute a compiled Noir circuit → witness |
@aztec/bb.js | Poseidon2 hashing + UltraHonk proving |
@zama-fhe/relayer-sdk | Encrypt inputs, fetch KMS decryptions |
ethers or viem | ABI encoding + hex utilities |
Exact versions are pinned per adapter — using the versions an adapter’s deployed verifier was built with is what makes proofs verify. See the adapter’s docs.
Concepts in 60 seconds
You don’t need to be a cryptographer, but these help:
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)
Computation on encrypted data. Cipher encrypts sensitive values so a contract can compute on them — add them, compare them, tally them — and store encrypted results no one can read, decrypting only the intended output.
Zero-Knowledge proofs (ZK)
Prove a statement is true without revealing the underlying data — for example, “I’m eligible” without revealing who you are. Cipher uses Noir circuits verified on-chain.
Adapters combine these: FHE keeps the data confidential, ZK proves the rules were followed.
Next steps
- Installation — add Cipher to your project
- Adapters — pick an adapter to integrate