Kadena Quickstart
Learn Kadena’s core concepts & tools for development in 15 minutes
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Quickstart
Learn Kadena’s core concepts & tools for development in 15 minutes.
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”
:::note 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.
:::s
Additional Resources
Read more about gas stations here.
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
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
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
:::note 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
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.
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