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Overview

The Transaction class provides a high-level interface for creating, signing, and broadcasting transactions to the Hive blockchain. It handles transaction creation, operation management, signature collection, and broadcasting with automatic retry logic.

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Constructor

const tx = new Transaction(options?)
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options
TransactionOptions
Configuration options for the transaction

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Example

import { Transaction } from 'hive-tx'

// Create new transaction with default 60 second expiration
const tx = new Transaction()

// Create with custom expiration (5 minutes)
const tx = new Transaction({ expiration: 300_000 })

// Wrap existing transaction
const tx = new Transaction({ transaction: existingTx })

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Methods

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addOperation

Adds an operation to the transaction. If no transaction exists, creates one automatically by fetching current blockchain state. 
await tx.addOperation(operationName, operationBody)
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operationName
OperationName
required
The type of operation to add (e.g., ‘transfer’, ‘vote’, ‘comment’, ‘custom_json’)
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operationBody
OperationBody<O>
required
The operation data/parameters for the specified operation type. Type-safe based on operation name.
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returns
Promise<void>
Promise that resolves when the operation is added

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Example

import { Transaction } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()

// Add a transfer operation
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'bob',
  amount: '1.000 HIVE',
  memo: 'Payment for services'
})

// Add a vote operation
await tx.addOperation('vote', {
  voter: 'alice',
  author: 'bob',
  permlink: 'my-post',
  weight: 10000
})

// Multiple operations in one transaction
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'bob',
  amount: '5.000 HIVE',
  memo: ''
})
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'carol',
  amount: '3.000 HIVE',
  memo: ''
})

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sign

Signs the transaction with one or more private keys. Supports multi-signature transactions by accepting an array of keys or calling this method multiple times. 
const signedTx = tx.sign(keys)
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keys
PrivateKey | PrivateKey[]
required
Single private key or array of private keys to sign with
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returns
TransactionType
The signed transaction object with signatures appended

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Example

import { Transaction, PrivateKey } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'bob',
  amount: '1.000 HIVE',
  memo: ''
})

// Sign with single key
const activeKey = PrivateKey.fromString('5JdeC9P7Pbd1uGdFVEsJ41EkEnADbbHGq6p1BwFxm6txNBsQnsw')
const signedTx = tx.sign(activeKey)

// Sign with multiple keys at once (multi-sig)
const key1 = PrivateKey.fromLogin('alice', 'password', 'active')
const key2 = PrivateKey.fromLogin('bob', 'password', 'active')
tx.sign([key1, key2])

// Or sign individually for multi-sig
tx.sign(key1)
tx.sign(key2)

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broadcast

Broadcasts the signed transaction to the Hive network. Automatically handles retries and duplicate transaction detection. 
const result = await tx.broadcast(checkStatus?)
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checkStatus
boolean
default:"false"
Whether to wait for transaction confirmation:
  • false (default): Returns immediately after broadcast. Transaction is not guaranteed to be included in a block.
  • true: Waits for transaction to be included in an irreversible block or expire before returning.
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returns
Promise<BroadcastResult>
Broadcast result containing transaction ID and status

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Example

import { Transaction, PrivateKey } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'bob',
  amount: '1.000 HIVE',
  memo: ''
})

const key = PrivateKey.fromLogin('alice', 'password', 'active')
tx.sign(key)

// Broadcast without waiting
const result = await tx.broadcast()
console.log(`Transaction ID: ${result.tx_id}`)
console.log(`Status: ${result.status}`) // 'unknown'

// Broadcast and wait for confirmation
const result = await tx.broadcast(true)
console.log(`Transaction ID: ${result.tx_id}`)
console.log(`Status: ${result.status}`) // 'within_irreversible_block'

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digest

Computes the transaction digest containing the transaction ID and hash. The digest is used for signature creation and verification. 
const digestData = tx.digest()
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returns
DigestData
Digest data containing transaction hash and ID

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Example

import { Transaction } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()
await tx.addOperation('vote', {
  voter: 'alice',
  author: 'bob',
  permlink: 'my-post',
  weight: 10000
})

const { digest, txId } = tx.digest()
console.log('Transaction ID:', txId)
console.log('Digest bytes:', digest)

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addSignature

Adds a pre-computed signature to the transaction. Useful for external signing tools or hardware wallets. 
const signedTx = tx.addSignature(signature)
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signature
string
required
Hex-encoded signature string (exactly 130 characters)
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returns
TransactionType
The transaction with the signature added

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Example

import { Transaction } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()
await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
  from: 'alice',
  to: 'bob',
  amount: '1.000 HIVE',
  memo: ''
})

// Get digest for external signing
const { digest } = tx.digest()

// Sign externally (e.g., hardware wallet)
const externalSignature = await hardwareWallet.sign(digest)

// Add signature to transaction
tx.addSignature(externalSignature)

// Broadcast
await tx.broadcast()

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checkStatus

Checks the current status of the transaction on the blockchain. Usually called internally after broadcasting. 
const status = await tx.checkStatus()
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returns
Promise<TransactionStatus>
Current transaction status from the blockchain

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Example

import { Transaction, PrivateKey } from 'hive-tx'

const tx = new Transaction()
await tx.addOperation('vote', {
  voter: 'alice',
  author: 'bob',
  permlink: 'my-post',
  weight: 10000
})

const key = PrivateKey.fromLogin('alice', 'password', 'posting')
tx.sign(key)

// Broadcast
await tx.broadcast()

// Check status manually
const status = await tx.checkStatus()
console.log('Transaction status:', status)

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Complete Example

import { Transaction, PrivateKey } from 'hive-tx'

async function sendTransfer() {
  try {
    // Create transaction with 5 minute expiration
    const tx = new Transaction({ expiration: 300_000 })
    
    // Add transfer operation
    await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
      from: 'alice',
      to: 'bob',
      amount: '10.000 HIVE',
      memo: 'Payment for services rendered'
    })
    
    // Sign with active key
    const activeKey = PrivateKey.fromLogin('alice', 'password', 'active')
    tx.sign(activeKey)
    
    // Broadcast and wait for confirmation
    const result = await tx.broadcast(true)
    
    console.log('Transfer successful!')
    console.log('Transaction ID:', result.tx_id)
    console.log('Status:', result.status)
    
    return result
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Transaction failed:', error.message)
    throw error
  }
}

sendTransfer()

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Error Handling

import { Transaction, PrivateKey, RPCError } from 'hive-tx'

try {
  const tx = new Transaction()
  await tx.addOperation('transfer', {
    from: 'alice',
    to: 'bob',
    amount: '1000000.000 HIVE', // Insufficient balance
    memo: ''
  })
  
  const key = PrivateKey.fromLogin('alice', 'password', 'active')
  tx.sign(key)
  
  await tx.broadcast()
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof RPCError) {
    console.error('RPC Error:', error.message)
    console.error('Error code:', error.code)
  } else {
    console.error('Error:', error.message)
  }
}

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See Also

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