DEV Community

Neeraj Choubisa
Neeraj Choubisa Subscriber

Posted on

Beyond Static Code: Building an AI-Powered "VC Critic" on Somnia

#somnia #smartcontracts #blockchain #agents

For years, smart contracts have been described as "smart," but in reality, they have been static. They could move assets and follow rigid if/then rules, but they were "blind" to human language, nuance, and complex reasoning.

On the Somnia Network, that is changing. By integrating on-chain AI Agent invocation, we are moving from digital ledgers to Intelligent Agents. In this guide, we will build IdeaReview: a dApp that uses a high-performance LLM (Qwen3-30B) to provide brutal, structured, and consensus-verified feedback on startup ideas.

🌟 The Big Move: Why AI + Smart Contracts?

In a traditional Web3 setup, if you wanted AI to interact with a contract, you had to use a centralized oracle. This created a "trust gap."

Somnia AI Agents bridge this gap through Consensus-Based Inference:

  1. Intelligence as a Utility: Contracts can now "invoke" an AI brain as easily as they call a math library.
  2. From Data to Wisdom: Contracts no longer just store strings; they can interpret them.
  3. Decentralized Reasoning: The AI’s output is verified by multiple validators, ensuring the "opinion" is tamper-proof and decentralized.

⚙️ 1. Infrastructure & Agent Configuration

To build this, we utilize Somnia’s specialized LLM Inference Agent. This agent acts as the "brain" for our contract.

Agent Profile

  • Agent Name: LLM Inference (Qwen3-30B)
  • Agent ID: 12847293847561029384
  • Platform Requester: 0x037Bb9C718F3f7fe5eCBDB0b600D607b52706776
  • Execution Method: inferString(prompt, system, chainOfThought, allowedValues)

🛠 2. Environment Setup

We will use Hardhat with Viem for a modern, type-safe development experience.

Initialize Project 

mkdir somnia-vc-agent && cd somnia-vc-agent
npm init -y
npm install --save-dev hardhat @nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox @nomicfoundation/hardhat-viem viem dotenv
npx hardhat # Select "Create a TypeScript project"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

hardhat.config.ts

We must enable viaIR to handle the complex memory operations required for AI data structures.

import { HardhatUserConfig } from "hardhat/config";
import "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-toolbox";
import "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-viem";
import "dotenv/config";

const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
  solidity: {
    version: "0.8.24",
    settings: {
      viaIR: true,
      optimizer: { enabled: true, runs: 200 },
    },
  },
  networks: {
    somnia: {
      url: "https://api.infra.testnet.somnia.network",
      chainId: 50312,
      accounts: process.env.PRIVATE_KEY ? [process.env.PRIVATE_KEY] : [],
    },
  },
};

export default config;
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

📄 3. The Smart Contract (IdeaReview.sol)

This contract handles the prompt engineering, the STT (Somnia Token) deposit, and the asynchronous callback.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.24;

import "./interfaces/ISomniaAgents.sol";

contract IdeaReview {
    IAgentRequester public constant PLATFORM = IAgentRequester(0x037Bb9C718F3f7fe5eCBDB0b600D607b52706776);
    uint256 public constant LLM_AGENT_ID = 12847293847561029384;

    struct Review { string idea; string result; bool completed; }
    mapping(uint256 => Review) public reviews;

    event IdeaRequested(uint256 indexed requestId, string idea);
    event IdeaReviewed(uint256 indexed requestId, string review);

    function reviewIdea(string calldata idea) external payable returns (uint256 requestId) {
        // 1. Prompt Engineering: Wrapping the idea in a VC context
        string memory prompt = string.concat(
            "Critique this startup idea brutally. Format: \n",
            "Summary: [1 sentence]\nStrengths: [Bullets]\nWeaknesses: [Bullets]\nScore: [X/10]\n\n",
            "Idea: ", idea
        );

        // 2. Encode the Agent Payload
        bytes memory payload = abi.encodeWithSelector(
            ILLMAgent.inferString.selector,
            prompt,
            "You are a sophisticated VC investor.",
            false,           // chainOfThought
            new string[](0)  // no constraints
        );

        // 3. Handle Deposit & Request
        uint256 deposit = PLATFORM.getRequestDeposit();
        require(msg.value >= deposit, "Insufficient deposit");

        requestId = PLATFORM.createRequest{value: deposit}(
            LLM_AGENT_ID, address(this), this.handleReview.selector, payload
        );

        reviews[requestId] = Review(idea, "", false);
        emit IdeaRequested(requestId, idea);
    }

    // 4. The Callback: Invoked by the Somnia platform after consensus
    function handleReview(uint256 requestId, Response[] memory responses, ResponseStatus status, Request memory) external {
        require(msg.sender == address(PLATFORM), "Only platform");

        if (status == ResponseStatus.Success && responses.length > 0) {
            string memory result = abi.decode(responses[0].result, (string));
            reviews[requestId].result = result;
            reviews[requestId].completed = true;
            emit IdeaReviewed(requestId, result);
        }
    }

    function getRequiredDeposit() external view returns (uint256) {
        return PLATFORM.getRequestDeposit();
    }

    receive() external payable {}
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🔍 Function Overview

  • reviewIdea: Converts a simple string into an AI-ready prompt. It calculates the necessary STT deposit and dispatches a non-blocking request.
  • handleReview: The "ear" of the contract. It waits for the decentralized validators to finish "thinking" and safely decodes the AI's opinion.
  • getRequiredDeposit: A critical helper that ensures users always know the real-time cost of AI inference.

🚀 4. Deployment & Invocation

Deployment (scripts/deploy.ts) 

import hre from "hardhat";

async function main() {
  const ideaReview = await hre.viem.deployContract("IdeaReview");
  console.log(`✅ Idea Review deployed at: ${ideaReview.address}`);
}

main().catch(console.error);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

High-Performance Invocation (scripts/invoke.ts)

Somnia is fast. This script uses a Sliding Window to poll for events, ensuring we don't hit the 1000-block RPC limit.

import hre from "hardhat";
import { formatUnits } from "viem";

async function main() {
  const ideaReview = await hre.viem.getContractAt("IdeaReview", "YOUR_ADDRESS");
  const publicClient = await hre.viem.getPublicClient();

  const deposit = await ideaReview.read.getRequiredDeposit();
  const hash = await ideaReview.write.reviewIdea(["AI-generated bedtime stories for parrots"], { value: deposit });

  const receipt = await publicClient.waitForTransactionReceipt({ hash });
  let lastBlock = receipt.blockNumber;

  console.log("⏳ Waiting for the on-chain VC to respond...");

  while (true) {
    const currentBlock = await publicClient.getBlockNumber();
    const fromBlock = (currentBlock - lastBlock > 999n) ? currentBlock - 999n : lastBlock;

    const events = await ideaReview.getEvents.IdeaReviewed({}, { fromBlock, toBlock: currentBlock });
    if (events.length > 0) {
      console.log("\n📝 VC FEEDBACK RECEIVED:\n", events[0].args.review);
      process.exit(0);
    }
    lastBlock = currentBlock;
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 3000));
  }
}

main().catch(console.error);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🏁 Conclusion: The Era of Intelligent Agents

We have moved beyond the "Static Age." By combining AI Agents with Somnia’s high-throughput network, smart contracts are no longer just digital ledgers—they are Autonomous Evaluators.

This "Big Move" means contracts can now:

  • Understand human intent instead of just parsing numbers.
  • Evaluate qualitative submissions (milestones, ideas, audits).
  • Operate with trustless intelligence, verified by a decentralized network of validators.

On Somnia, your code doesn't just run; it thinks. Whether you’re building AI-governed DAOs, sentiment-driven DeFi, or automated startup critiques, the bridge between Neural Networks and Blockchain Networks is officially open.

About Author

Full Stack Blockchain Developer focused on DeFi, smart contracts, AI + blockchain systems, and scalable Web3 infrastructure.

Active across ecosystems like Monad, Somnia, Midnight, and Ethereum — contributing through production-grade dApps, developer tooling, hackathons, workshops, and technical content.

  • 3+ years in Web3 development
  • 30+ hackathon wins
  • Developer Evangelist at Monad
  • Technical Advocate at Somnia

Links

Top comments (0)