Welcome to the developer-friendly blockchain.
Building useful applications on a blockchain doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. This Developer Quickstart is designed to remove the friction from onboarding so that you can understand how to build with Kadena quickly and easily.
Sign the Memory Wall
Engrave your name with the Kadena “Memory Wall” smart contract.
What you will accomplish
- Perform a real Mainnet transaction
- View your transaction on the Block Explorer
Step-by-step instructions
- Go to hello.chainweb.com
- Type your name and then submit
- Wait for the transaction to be mined in a block
- Upon success, click the Block Explorer link or go to explorer.chainweb.com to find your transaction under “Recent Transactions”
Key takeaway
Something hidden just allowed you to instantly interact with a real blockchain, yet you did not have to create an account or own tokens to pay the transaction’s gas. This is possible thanks to gas stations, an autonomous account that exists only to fund gas payments on behalf of other users under specific conditions. By having a gas station pay user onboarding costs, we remove the friction of acquiring tokens in advance of signup, which allows a user’s first interaction with a dApp to become as easy as filling out a web form.
Additional Resources
- Read more about gas stations here.
- See the Smart Contract Code for Memory Wall
Setup Chainweaver
Setup Chainweaver, Kadena’s official wallet and developer workbench.
What you will accomplish
- Setup a secure KDA wallet
- Get introduced to Kadena's primary developer workbench & IDE
Step-by-step instructions
- Go to kadena.io/chainweaver
- Agree to the terms of service and click "Create new wallet"
- Follow the 3-step process for creating a new wallet:
- Set password
- Record recovery phrase
- Verify recovery phrase
To download Chainweaver and find detailed instructions on Chainweaver usage go here Chainweaver User Guide.
Testnet Account Setup
Create and fund a Testnet account on chain 1 using the “Coin Faucet” smart contract.
What you will accomplish
- Create an account
- Get some Testnet KDA coins
Step-by-step instructions
- In the Keys section of Chainweaver and copy your public key
- Go to faucet.testnet.chainweb.com
- Select “Create and fund new account”
- Enter your public key in the “Public Key” field
- Enter some unique name in the “Account Name” field
- Select “Create and fund new account”
- Wait about 30 seconds, then select “Check Request Status” to see the transaction confirmation message
- Go back to Chainweaver and in the account section click on "+ Watch Account"
- Type the account name you have chosen for yourself and click "Add"
- You should see all 20 tokens you have received from the Testnet faucet!
Additional Resources
Pacty Parrots
Play the “Pacty Parrots” game to see how dApps and wallets interact.
What you will accomplish
- Sign a transaction
- See how dApps interact with wallets
- Win some coins! (Maybe)
Step-by-step instructions
- Make sure Chainweaver is still open on your computer
- Go to pactyparrots.testnet.chainweb.com
- Skim through the game rules and then enter the account name you recently created
- Select “Start new round” to begin the game
- When Chainweaver pops up you will be prompted with a signing request which has 3 parts:
- Configuration: View transaction info and adjust settings if desired
- Sign: Select your public key in each of the 3 “Grant Capabilities” fields
- Preview: You should see a Raw Response of “Write succeeded!” and if so select “Submit”
- Watch the parrots dance and wait for your result
- Choose to “Spin again” or “Cash out” which will prompt another transaction to sign via Chainweaver
Key Takeaways
For developers and end users, navigating wallet-dApp interaction can be a challenging experience. For example, developing with Ethereum requires wallets and dApps to integrate intricate web3.js code in order to perform necessary signing operations.
Kadena simplifies this interaction with a signing API. There is no need to embed a web browser or to store private keys in a browser plug-in.
As a developer on Kadena, when your dApp needs to send a signed transaction, simply make an AJAX request to the signing API on localhost port 9467. Then the user's wallet will handle the details of transaction signing.
Additional Resources
- See the Smart Contract Code for Pacty Parrots
- See the Documentation for Implementing the Signing API
Apply your knowledge to build a brand new dApp
What you’ve accomplished
- Created and funded an account
- Performed multiple transactions
- Interacted with Mainnet and Testnet
- Used a gas station and signing API
- Used Block Explorer and Chainweaver
What’s Next?
You are now familiar with the core concepts and tools for developing powerful and user-friendly applications with Kadena. Take your learning to the next level with any of these paths:
Follow a guided template to create a complete dApp with a React frontend.
Learn Pact, Kadena’s human-readable smart contract language.
Deepen your understanding of Pact and the Kadena ecosystem by following the Real World Pact core concepts guide and tutorial series, building from a testnet faucet to a DeFi lending platform.
Already have a dApp idea? Apply to our Developer Program to get technical and marketing support from Kadena.