How-To Guides

Practical examples for the most common tasks when building on DecentralChain. These use the transactions and node-api-js packages — see Client Libraries and SDK for the full package list.

Both packages are ESM-only and require Node.js 24+.

Build, Sign, and Broadcast a Transaction

This example builds a Transfer transaction, signs it with a seed phrase, and broadcasts it. broadcast() is exported by @decentralchain/transactions itself — you don’t need node-api-js just to send a transaction.

npm install @decentralchain/transactions

import { transfer, broadcast } from '@decentralchain/transactions';

const seed = 'your secret seed phrase here';

// Build and sign a Transfer transaction
const signedTx = transfer(
  {
    recipient: '3P4H4E4DYpaMr84SpAfNNWwSZM5RqQNbmgN', // recipient address or alias
    amount: 100_000_000,                               // 1 DCC (8 decimals, i.e. 10^8 Decentralites)
  },
  seed,
);

// Broadcast it
const result = await broadcast(signedTx, 'https://nodes.decentralchain.io');
console.log('Transaction ID:', result.id);

A raw seed phrase should only ever be used server-side, or in scripts/tests you control. Never ask a user for their seed phrase in a dApp — see Wallet Integration for the browser-safe flow.

Every other transaction type has a matching builder exported from @decentralchain/transactions: issue(), reissue(), burn(), lease(), cancelLease(), massTransfer(), data(), setScript(), setAssetScript(), invokeScript(), exchange().

Issuing a Token

To issue a new token, use issue() the same way:

import { issue, broadcast } from '@decentralchain/transactions';

const seed = 'your secret seed phrase here';

const signedTx = issue(
  {
    name: 'MyToken',
    description: 'A token issued on DecentralChain',
    quantity: 1_000_000,
    decimals: 2,
    reissuable: true,
  },
  seed,
);

await broadcast(signedTx, 'https://nodes.decentralchain.io');

See Token (Asset) for the full meaning of each issue parameter.

Reading Blockchain Data

Use node-api-js to query account balances and other node state without running your own indexer. create(nodeUrl) returns a client namespaced by API area (addresses, assets, blocks, transactions, leasing, and more):

npm install @decentralchain/node-api-js

import { create } from '@decentralchain/node-api-js';

const api = create('https://nodes.decentralchain.io');

const { balance } = await api.addresses.fetchBalance('3P4H4E4DYpaMr84SpAfNNWwSZM5RqQNbmgN');
console.log('DCC balance (in Decentralites):', balance);

const { height } = await api.blocks.fetchHeight();
console.log('Current height:', height);

For richer historical queries (asset search, DEX order history, aggregated transaction data) use data-service-client-js against the data service API instead of querying a node directly.