Hydra SDKHydra SDKDocumentation
Getting Started

Installation

Learn how to install Hydra SDK packages in your project
@hydra-sdk/bridge v2 is on the next tag. v2 targets hydra-node2.x and is a breaking change; the latest tag still resolves to 1.3.2, which speaks hydra-node1.x.Running a v2 node? Install explicitly:
pnpm add @hydra-sdk/bridge@next
See the migration guide before upgrading.
Using an AI assistant? Point it at INSTALL.md in the repo for a rule-based setup guide, or connect the docs MCP server so it can query these pages directly.

The Hydra SDK is published as individual packages on NPM, allowing you to install only what you need for your project.

Install with an AI assistant

Paste this prompt into your AI coding assistant (Claude, Cursor, Copilot…) to install and configure Hydra SDK. It points the assistant at the machine-readable docs and spells out the rules that commonly trip people up:

Install and configure Hydra SDK (@hydra-sdk) in this project.

Read these for the exact steps:
- https://hydrasdk.com/raw/getting-started/installation.md
- https://hydrasdk.com/raw/getting-started/configuration.md

Rules (follow strictly):
1. Always install @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm together with the other @hydra-sdk/* packages.
2. Never import @emurgo/cardano-serialization-lib directly — use @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm.
3. NETWORK_ID is a Record<Network, number> with keys MAINNET | PREPROD | PREVIEW (no TESTNET), not an enum.
4. For a browser build with Vite, add vite-plugin-wasm + vite-plugin-top-level-await + a buffer polyfill, and exclude @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm from optimizeDeps.

Then create an AppWallet on PREPROD and log its base address to verify the setup.

System Requirements

Before installing the SDK, ensure your system meets these requirements:

  • Node.js: >= 18.20.0
  • npm: >= 8.0.0 (or pnpm >= 8.0.0, yarn >= 1.22.0)
  • TypeScript: >= 5.0.0 (optional but recommended)

Core Packages

Install Individual Packages

Install the packages you need — but always include @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm:

# Core wallet functionality
npm install @hydra-sdk/core @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm

# Hydra Layer 2 integration
npm install @hydra-sdk/bridge @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm

# Transaction building utilities
npm install @hydra-sdk/transaction @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm
@hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm is the WASM core that every other package imports through. Even though it is pulled in transitively, install it as a direct dependency so your bundler can configure it (vite-plugin-wasm, excluding it from optimizeDeps) and so pnpm's strict node_modules resolves it. See Configuration for bundler setup.

Install Complete Bundle

For most projects, install the core packages together:

# Install all essential packages
npm install @hydra-sdk/core @hydra-sdk/bridge @hydra-sdk/transaction @hydra-sdk/cardano-wasm

Next Steps

Now that you have the SDK installed, continue with:

Introduction

What Hydra SDK is, how its packages fit together, and what you need to get started.

Quick Start

Build your first Cardano wallet application with Hydra SDK