Get Started with Lucid Evolution

Lucid Evolution is a highly scalable, production-ready transaction builder & off-chain framework for users and DApps. It provides a TypeScript library for building transactions and designing off-chain code.

In this guide, we will walk you through just 3 easy steps to install the lucid-evolution package, instantiate the Lucid Evolution library, create/choose a wallet, and build and submit a transaction. The library is capable of much more and is one of the popular tools for building off-chain code for Cardano dApps.

For more examples and use cases, please refer to the official Lucid Evolution documentation.

Come say hi on Discord if you have any questions!

Installation

pnpm

pnpm i @lucid-evolution/lucid

npm

npm i @lucid-evolution/lucid

yarn

yarn add @lucid-evolution/lucid

bun

bun i @lucid-evolution/lucid

note

Installing the lucid package will automatically export all other Lucid Evolution packages as well. For more information on more granular package definitions for lightweight development, please refer to the the Evolution library installation guide.

Instantiate Lucid Evolution

Lucid Evolution can be used with or without a blockchain provider, which allows you to query data and submit transactions. Evolution library supports the Mainnet, Preprod, Preview and Custom networks.

Provider Selection

Blockfrost

import { Lucid, Blockfrost } from "@lucid-evolution/lucid";

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Blockfrost("https://cardano-preprod.blockfrost.io/api/v0", "<projectId>"),
  "Preprod"
);

Kupmios

import { Lucid, Kupmios } from "@lucid-evolution/lucid";

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Kupmios(
    "http://localhost:1442", // Kupo endpoint
    "http://localhost:1337" // Ogmios endpoint
  ),
  "Preview"
);

or with API Keys

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Kupmios("http://localhost:1442", "http://localhost:1337", {
    kupoHeader: { "priv-api-key": "<kupo-api-key>" }, // for example: "dmtr-api-key": "<kupo-api-key>"
    ogmiosHeader: { "priv-api-key": "<ogmios-api-key>" },
  }),
  "Preview"
);

note

Kupmios is a mix of Ogmios and Kupo.

Maestro

import { Lucid, Maestro } from "@lucid-evolution/lucid";

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Maestro({
    network: "Preprod", // For MAINNET: "Mainnet" (1)
    apiKey: "<Your-API-Key>", // Get yours by visiting https://docs.gomaestro.org/docs/Getting-started/Sign-up-login
    turboSubmit: false, // Read about paid turbo transaction submission feature at https://docs.gomaestro.org/docs/Dapp%20Platform/Turbo%20Transaction
  }),
  "Preprod" // For MAINNET: "Mainnet" (2)
);

Koios

import { Lucid, Koios } from "@lucid-evolution/lucid";

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Koios("https://preprod.koios.rest/api/v1"),
  "Preprod"
);

or with a bearer token

const lucid = await Lucid(
  new Koios("<koios-api-url>", "<koios-bearer-token>"),
  "Preprod"
);