Abstract Finding ways to produce dense and smooth perovskite films with negligible defects is vital for achieving high-efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we aim to enhance the quality of the perovskite films through the utilization of a multifunctional additive in the perovskite anti-solvent, a strategy referred to as anti-solvent additive engineering. Specifically, we introduce ortho-substituted-4′-(4,4″-di-tert-butyl-1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl)-graphdiyne (o-TB-GDY) as an AAE additive, characterized by its sp / sp 2 -cohybridized and highly π -conjugated structure, into the anti-solvent. o-TB-GDY not only significantly passivates undercoordinated lead defects (through potent coordination originating from specific high π –electron conjugation), but also serves as nucleation seeds to effectively enhance the nucleation and growth of perovskite crystals. This markedly reduces defects and non-radiative recombination, thereby increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 25.62% (certified as 25.01%). Meanwhile, the PSCs exhibit largely enhanced stability, maintaining 92.6% of their initial PCEs after 500 h continuous 1-sun illumination at ~ 23 °C in a nitrogen-filled glove box.