Guides

Integrate from Cardano-CLI

Learn how to use Cardano-CLI generated keys with Hydra SDK using CardanoCliWallet.

Learn how to use keys generated from Cardano-CLI with Hydra SDK. The CardanoCliWallet class allows you to use existing CLI keys in your Node.js applications for programmatic transaction signing and blockchain interactions.

Reference: Cardano-CLI Documentation

Generate Keys with Cardano-CLI

Generate a payment key pair using Cardano-CLI:

cardano-cli address key-gen \
  --verification-key-file payment.vkey \
  --signing-key-file payment.skey

This will create two files:

payment.vkey (Verification Key):

{
    "type": "PaymentVerificationKeyShelley_ed25519",
    "description": "Payment Verification Key",
    "cborHex": "5820832ba166c8ba8afda5b9d85dfe13dd8fffd460da79a2c3cf34e107216637985b"
}

payment.skey (Signing Key):

{
    "type": "PaymentSigningKeyShelley_ed25519",
    "description": "Payment Signing Key",
    "cborHex": "5820bd09ad4f98cd103e059ab62d17a6a7d920b16d9f0eed3eb6b77d3ca8f61dc117"
}

⚠️ Security Warning: Never share your signing key (payment.skey) or commit it to version control.

Verify Keys (Optional)

Verify your keys by building an address:

cardano-cli address build \
  --payment-verification-key-file payment.vkey \
  --testnet-magic 1 \
  --out-file payment.addr

Output (payment.addr):

addr_test1vz5hhyn6ecl66a2ca3cwfnwu8ddnp24hakfq2k37rhk28ysk8g0wz

This is an enterprise address (payment-only, no staking key) following CIP-19.

Use with Hydra SDK

Basic Setup

import { CardanoCliWallet, NETWORK_ID } from '@hydra-sdk/core';

// Extract the cborHex values from your key files
const skey = '5820bd09ad4f98cd103e059ab62d17a6a7d920b16d9f0eed3eb6b77d3ca8f61dc117';
const vkey = '5820832ba166c8ba8afda5b9d85dfe13dd8fffd460da79a2c3cf34e107216637985b';

// Initialize the wallet
const wallet = new CardanoCliWallet({ 
    skey, 
    vkey, 
    networkId: NETWORK_ID.PREPROD 
});

// Get address in Bech32 format
const address = wallet.getAddressBech32();
console.log('Wallet Address:', address);
// Output: addr_test1vz5hhyn6ecl66a2ca3cwfnwu8ddnp24hakfq2k37rhk28ysk8g0wz

Transaction Example

import { 
    CardanoCliWallet, 
    NETWORK_ID,
    ProviderUtils
} from '@hydra-sdk/core';
import { TxBuilder } from '@hydra-sdk/transaction';

// Initialize wallet with CLI keys
const wallet = new CardanoCliWallet({ 
    skey: '5820bd09ad4f98cd103e059ab62d17a6a7d920b16d9f0eed3eb6b77d3ca8f61dc117',
    vkey: '5820832ba166c8ba8afda5b9d85dfe13dd8fffd460da79a2c3cf34e107216637985b',
    networkId: NETWORK_ID.PREPROD 
});

// Setup provider
const provider = new ProviderUtils.BlockfrostProvider({
    apiKey: 'your-blockfrost-project-id',
    network: 'preprod'
});

// Build transaction
const txBuilder = new TxBuilder({
    fetcher: provider.fetcher,
    submitter: provider.submitter
});
const unsignedTx = await txBuilder
    // ...
    .complete();

// Sign transaction
const signedTxCbor = await wallet.signTx(unsignedTx.to_hex());
console.log('Signed Transaction:', signedTxCbor);

API Reference

Constructor

new CardanoCliWallet(options: CardanoCliWalletConfig)

Options:

skey (required): CBOR hex of the signing key (format: 5820...)
vkey (required): CBOR hex of the verification key (format: 5820...)
networkId (optional): NETWORK_ID.MAINNET (1) or NETWORK_ID.PREPROD (0), default is MAINNET
fetcher (optional): Custom fetcher for querying UTxOs
submitter (optional): Custom submitter for transaction submission

Methods

// Get address in Bech32 format
getAddressBech32(): string

// Sign a transaction
signTx(unsignedTxHex: string, partialSign?: boolean): Promise<string>

// Get network ID
getNetworkId(): number

// Submit transaction (requires submitter in constructor)
submitTx(tx: string): Promise<string>

// Query UTxOs (requires fetcher in constructor)
queryUTxOs(address: string): Promise<UTxO[]>

Properties

// Get payment signing key
paymentSKey: CardanoWASM.PrivateKey

// Get payment verification key
paymentVKey: CardanoWASM.PublicKey

Next Steps

Utilities Cookbook

Task-oriented recipes for the Hydra SDK utility namespaces — datums, redeemers, time, policies, providers, and more.

Why Hydra?

Understanding the benefits and use cases of Hydra Layer 2 scaling solution