Plinth - A Plugin-Powered Language Built on Haskell - Experience Report

Explore the development journey of Plinth, a domain-specific language for Cardano blockchain smart contracts that leverages Haskell syntax and GHC plugins in this 29-minute conference presentation from Haskell 2025. Learn how the Input Output team created a language that reuses Haskell syntax while compiling to Plutus for blockchain execution, making it the first language to target the Cardano platform's proof-of-stake blockchain system. Discover the unconventional design choices behind Plinth's architecture, including its sophisticated GHC plugin implementation, specialized compiler optimizations tailored for on-chain execution constraints, and runtime execution on an instrumented CEK machine with formal Agda specifications. Examine the technical challenges and solutions involved in adapting Haskell's System Fω with recursion for blockchain smart contract development, including cost modeling considerations and performance optimizations specific to distributed ledger environments. Gain insights into the practical aspects of building a production-ready language that has been commercially deployed since 2021, supporting multiple currencies and distributed governance models on the Cardano blockchain. Understand the relationship between Plinth (formerly Plutus Tx) and the broader Plutus ecosystem, including how it serves as a foundation for other languages that compile to the same target platform.