Address Eras

The AddressEras module is a full-spectrum address parser that handles every Cardano address type -- including legacy Byron addresses and deprecated Pointer addresses that the simplified Address module does not cover.

When to Use AddressEras vs Address

Feature	Address	AddressEras
Base addresses	Yes	Yes
Enterprise addresses	Yes	Yes
Byron addresses	No	Yes
Pointer addresses	No	Yes
Reward accounts	No	Yes
Simplified API	Yes	No

Use Address for most application code. Use AddressEras when parsing UTxOs or transactions that may contain legacy formats.

Parsing Any Address

AddressEras.fromBech32 accepts any valid Bech32-encoded Cardano address and returns a discriminated union tagged by _tag:

import {  } from "@evolution-sdk/evolution"

// Parse any Cardano address format
const  = .(
  "addr_test1vrm9x2dgvdau8vckj4duc89m638t8djmluqw5pdrFollw8qd9k63"
)
const  = .(
  "stake1uyehkck0lajq8gr28t9uxnuvgcqrc6070x3k9r8048z8y5gh6ffgw"
)

// Type narrowing by _tag
if (. === "BaseAddress") {
  .("Payment:", .)
  .("Stake:", .)
} else if (. === "EnterpriseAddress") {
  .("Payment only:", .)
} else if (. === "RewardAccount") {
  .("Stake credential:", .)
}

The Five Address Types

AddressEras is a union of all five Cardano address types:

`_tag`	Fields	Bech32 prefix	Use case
`BaseAddress`	`networkId`, `paymentCredential`, `stakeCredential`	`addr` / `addr_test`	Standard address with payment and staking
`EnterpriseAddress`	`networkId`, `paymentCredential`	`addr` / `addr_test`	Payment only, no staking rewards
`PointerAddress`	`networkId`, `paymentCredential`, `pointer`	`addr` / `addr_test`	Deprecated pointer to on-chain stake registration
`RewardAccount`	`networkId`, `stakeCredential`	`stake` / `stake_test`	Staking reward withdrawal address
`ByronAddress`	`networkId`, `bytes`	N/A (Base58)	Legacy Byron-era address

Each type is a Schema.TaggedClass, so you can use _tag for exhaustive pattern matching.

Format Conversion

AddressEras provides symmetric parsing and encoding functions for all three formats:

Bech32

import {  } from "@evolution-sdk/evolution"

const  = .(
  "addr_test1vrm9x2dgvdau8vckj4duc89m638t8djmluqw5pdrFollw8qd9k63"
)

const  = .()

Hex

import {  } from "@evolution-sdk/evolution"

const  = .(
  "019493315cd92eb5d8c4304e67b7e16ae36d61d34502694657811a2c8e32c728d3861e164cab28cb8f006448139c8f1740ffb8e7aa9e5232dc"
)

const  = .()

Bytes

import {  } from "@evolution-sdk/evolution"

const  = .(
  "019493315cd92eb5d8c4304e67b7e16ae36d61d34502694657811a2c8e32c728d3861e164cab28cb8f006448139c8f1740ffb8e7aa9e5232dc"
)

const  = .()
const  = .()

Handling Legacy Addresses

When iterating UTxOs from the chain, you may encounter Byron addresses that Address cannot parse. Use AddressEras to handle them:

import {  } from "@evolution-sdk/evolution"

type  = { : string; : bigint }

function (: ) {
  const  = .(.)

  switch (.) {
    case "BaseAddress":
    case "EnterpriseAddress":
    case "PointerAddress":
      return .
    case "RewardAccount":
      return null // Reward accounts have no payment credential
    case "ByronAddress":
      return null // Byron addresses store opaque bytes
  }
}

Summary

Function	Purpose
`fromBech32()`	Parse Bech32 address string (any type)
`fromHex()`	Parse hex-encoded address bytes
`fromBytes()`	Parse raw `Uint8Array` address
`toBech32()`	Encode to Bech32 string
`toHex()`	Encode to hex string
`toBytes()`	Encode to raw `Uint8Array`
`isAddress()`	Type guard for the `AddressEras` union

Next Steps

Address - Simplified API for modern address types
Address Types - Overview of all Cardano address types
Address Conversion - Transform between Bech32, hex, and byte formats

Address Eras

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