How to replace TypeChain with abitype in Hardhat project?

[codersjj]

I'm trying to use abitype instead of TypeChain in my Hardhat project. I've read the abitype documentation but still can't figure out how to implement it. Here's my current code:

import { assert, expect } from "chai"
import { ethers } from "hardhat"
import { SimpleStorage, SimpleStorage__factory } from "../typechain-types"
import { Abi, ExtractAbiFunctions, ExtractAbiFunction } from "abitype"
// import { erc20Abi } from 'abitype/abis'
// import SimpleStorage from "../artifacts/contracts/SimpleStorage.sol/SimpleStorage.json"
// import SimpleStorageArtifact from "../abi-ts/SimpleStorage.sol/SimpleStorage"

// const simpleStorageAbi = SimpleStorageArtifact.abi

// type Result = ExtractAbiFunctions<typeof simpleStorageAbi>
// type Result = ExtractAbiFunction<
//   typeof SimpleStorageArtifact.abi,
//   "retrieve"
// >

describe("SimpleStorage", () => {
  let simpleStorageContractFactory: SimpleStorage__factory
  let simpleStorageContract: SimpleStorage
  // let simpleStorageContractFactory, simpleStorageContract

  beforeEach(async () => {
    simpleStorageContractFactory = await ethers.getContractFactory(
      "SimpleStorage"
    )
    simpleStorageContract = await simpleStorageContractFactory.deploy()
  })

  it("Should start with a favorite number of 0", async () => {
    const currentvalue = await simpleStorageContract.retrieve()
    const expectedValue = "0"
    assert.equal(currentvalue.toString(), expectedValue)
  })

  it("Should update when we call store", async () => {
    const expectedValue = "7"
    const transactionResponse = await simpleStorageContract.store(expectedValue)
    await transactionResponse.wait(1)

    const currentValue = await simpleStorageContract.retrieve()
    assert.equal(currentValue.toString(), expectedValue)
  })

Key questions:

• How to properly import and use contract ABIs with abitype?
• How to generate type-safe contract interfaces like TypeChain does?
• What's the equivalent of Contract__factory and Contract pattern in abitype?

I'd appreciate a concrete example showing how to convert this TypeChain setup to abitype. ❤️