# hex\_to\_bytes

Convert a hex string to raw bytes, stripping an optional `0x` prefix.

## Signature

```python
def hex_to_bytes(hex_string: str) -> bytes
```

## Parameters

| Parameter    | Type  | Required | Description                                       |
| ------------ | ----- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| `hex_string` | `str` | Yes      | Hex-encoded string, with or without `"0x"` prefix |

## Returns

| Type    | Description       |
| ------- | ----------------- |
| `bytes` | Decoded raw bytes |

Raises `ValueError` if `hex_string` contains non-hex characters or has odd length.

## Example

```python
from seismic_web3 import hex_to_bytes

data = hex_to_bytes("0xdeadbeef")  # b'\xde\xad\xbe\xef'
data = hex_to_bytes("deadbeef")    # same result
```

## Notes

* Equivalent to `bytes.fromhex(hex_string.removeprefix("0x"))`
* Does not validate length — use [`Bytes32`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/api-reference/types/bytes32) or [`PrivateKey`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/api-reference/types/private-key) for length-checked values
* For loading private keys from hex, prefer [`PrivateKey.from_hex_str()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/api-reference/types/private-key) which combines decoding and validation

## See Also

* [PrivateKey.from\_hex\_str()](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/api-reference/types/private-key) — hex string to private key
* [Bytes32](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/api-reference/types/bytes32) — 32-byte value type