Lighter Protocol TypeScript SDK

A complete TypeScript SDK for Lighter Protocol - trade perpetual futures with built-in stop-loss and take-profit orders, position management, and comprehensive error handling.

🔐 Signer Integration

This SDK uses a WASM signer for cryptographic operations. The signer is compiled during the build process.

Key Features:

• ✅ Uses a WASM signer for transaction signing
• ✅ Automatic error recovery and nonce management
• ✅ Support for all transaction types
• ✅ Multiple API key support
• ✅ Production-ready and battle-tested

📦 Installation

npm install lighter-ts-sdk
# or
yarn add lighter-ts-sdk

🚀 What Does This SDK Do?

The Lighter TypeScript SDK provides everything you need to:

• Trade perpetual futures and SPOT Markets on Lighter Protocol
• Create orders (Market, Limit, TWAP) with automatic SL/TP
• Manage positions (open, close, update leverage)
• Transfer funds between accounts
• Monitor transactions with built-in status tracking
• Handle errors automatically with retry logic

🎯 Getting Started

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Create a .env file in your project root:

# Required credentials
API_PRIVATE_KEY=your_private_key_here
ACCOUNT_INDEX=0
API_KEY_INDEX=0
BASE_URL=https://mainnet.zklighter.elliot.ai

# Optional: for specific examples
MARKET_ID=0
SUB_ACCOUNT_INDEX=1
DEPOSIT_AMOUNT=1

Step 2: Install the SDK

npm install lighter-ts-sdk

Step 3: Your First Trade

import { SignerClient, OrderType } from 'lighter-ts-sdk';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';

dotenv.config();

async function placeOrder() {
  // Initialize the client
  const signerClient = new SignerClient({
    url: process.env.BASE_URL!,
    privateKey: process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY!,
    accountIndex: parseInt(process.env.ACCOUNT_INDEX!),
    apiKeyIndex: parseInt(process.env.API_KEY_INDEX!)
  });

  // Initialize WASM signer (required)
  await signerClient.initialize();
  await signerClient.ensureWasmClient();

  // Create a market order with SL/TP using OTOCO
  const result = await signerClient.createOtocoOrder({
    mainOrder: {
      marketIndex: 0,              // ETH market
      clientOrderIndex: Date.now(), // Unique ID
      baseAmount: 10000,           // 0.01 ETH (scaled: 1 ETH = 1,000,000)
      isAsk: false,                // BUY (true = SELL)
      orderType: OrderType.MARKET,
      
      // Slippage protection
      idealPrice: 400000,           // Ideal price ($4000)
      maxSlippage: 0.001           // Max 0.1% slippage
    },
    // Automatic stop-loss
    stopLoss: {
      triggerPrice: 380000,       // Stop loss at $3800
      isLimit: false              // Market SL
    },
    // Automatic take-profit
    takeProfit: {
      triggerPrice: 420000,       // Take profit at $4200
      isLimit: false              // Market TP
    }
  });

  // Check if order succeeded
  if (result.error || !result.hash) {
    console.error('❌ Order failed:', result.error);
    return;
  }

  console.log('✅ OTOCO order created!');
  console.log('Grouped order hash:', result.hash);

  // Wait for transaction confirmation
  await signerClient.waitForTransaction(result.hash, 30000);
  
  await signerClient.close();
}

placeOrder().catch(console.error);

📚 Core Concepts

Understanding Price Units

Lighter uses fixed decimal scaling:

• ETH amounts: 1 ETH = 1,000,000 units
• Prices: $1 = 100 units

// To buy 0.01 ETH at $4000:
baseAmount: 10000        // 0.01 ETH (10,000 / 1,000,000)
price: 400000           // $4000 (400,000 / 100)

Order Types

OrderType.MARKET    // Executes immediately at market price
OrderType.LIMIT     // Executes at your specified price
OrderType.TWAP      // Executes gradually over time

Direction (isAsk)

isAsk: false  // BUY - You're buying ETH
isAsk: true   // SELL - You're selling ETH

Stop-Loss and Take-Profit

SL/TP orders are automatically reduce-only - they only close positions:

stopLoss: {
  triggerPrice: 380000,  // When price hits this, close position
  isLimit: false         // false = market SL, true = limit SL
},
takeProfit: {
  triggerPrice: 420000,  // When price hits this, take profit
  isLimit: false         // false = market TP, true = limit TP
}

Important: SL/TP orders require an existing position. For Market orders, this works immediately. For Limit orders, SL/TP are created in the same batch.

Note for TWAP orders: TWAP orders execute over time, creating positions gradually. SL/TP cannot be created in the same batch as TWAP orders. You should create SL/TP orders separately after the TWAP has started creating positions.

🌐 Network-Aware Transaction Status Monitoring

Lighter Protocol transactions go through multiple network states. Use waitForTransaction() to monitor status changes with automatic error handling and recovery:

// Transaction status constants
enum TransactionStatus {
  PENDING = 0,        // Initial state, not yet queued
  QUEUED = 1,         // Queued for processing
  COMMITTED = 2,      // Committed to block
  EXECUTED = 3,       // Successfully executed
  FAILED = 4,         // Execution failed
  REJECTED = 5        // Transaction rejected
}

// Monitor transaction with built-in retry logic
try {
  const txResult = await signerClient.waitForTransaction(
    txHash,
    30000,  // maxWaitTime: wait up to 30 seconds
    2000    // pollInterval: check status every 2 seconds
  );
  
  console.log('Status:', txResult.status);  // Will be EXECUTED (3) if successful
  console.log('✅ Transaction confirmed on-chain');
} catch (error) {
  // Error handling is centralized here
  if (error.message.includes('timeout')) {
    console.error('❌ Transaction didn\'t confirm within timeout');
  } else if (error.message.includes('FAILED') || error.message.includes('REJECTED')) {
    console.error('❌ Transaction failed:', error.message);
  } else {
    console.error('❌ Unexpected error:', error.message);
  }
}

// Advanced: Manual status polling for fine-grained control
const checkStatus = async (hash: string) => {
  const txResult = await signerClient.getTransaction(hash);
  
  switch (txResult.status) {
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_PENDING:
      console.log('⏳ Still pending...');
      break;
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_QUEUED:
      console.log('📋 Queued for processing');
      break;
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_COMMITTED:
      console.log('✍️ Committed to block');
      break;
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_EXECUTED:
      console.log('✅ Transaction executed successfully');
      break;
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_FAILED:
      console.error('❌ Transaction execution failed');
      break;
    case SignerClient.TX_STATUS_REJECTED:
      console.error('❌ Transaction was rejected');
      break;
  }
  
  return txResult;
};

// Pattern: Fire-and-forget with error handling
const result = await signerClient.createOrder(orderParams);
if (result.hash) {
  // Schedule async confirmation check (don't block)
  signerClient.waitForTransaction(result.hash, 60000).catch(err => {
    console.error('Transaction confirmation failed:', err);
    // Handle error (alert user, retry, etc.)
  });
}

Key Points:

• waitForTransaction() centralizes error handling and automatic retries
• No need to parse transaction status manually after wait
• Throw errors are detected and propagated with context
• Use timeout to prevent indefinite waits in production systems

💰 Margin Management with Direction Constants

Lighter Protocol supports both cross-margin and isolated-margin modes. Margin direction constants determine whether you're adding or removing collateral:

Margin Mode Constants

// Margin mode
SignerClient.CROSS_MARGIN_MODE = 0      // Shared collateral across markets
SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_MODE = 1   // Per-market collateral

// Margin direction (when updating isolated margin)
SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_REMOVE_COLLATERAL = 0  // Remove collateral from position
SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_ADD_COLLATERAL = 1     // Add collateral to position

Adding Margin (Collateral) to Isolated Position

// Add 100 USDC collateral to ETH position in isolated mode
const [marginInfo, txHash, error] = await signerClient.updateMargin(
  0,      // marketIndex: 0 = ETH/USDC
  100,    // usdcAmount: 100 USDC to add
  SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_ADD_COLLATERAL  // direction: 1
);

if (error) {
  console.error('Failed to add margin:', error);
} else {
  console.log('✅ Margin added:', txHash);
  
  // Wait for confirmation
  await signerClient.waitForTransaction(txHash, 30000);
  console.log('✅ Margin update confirmed');
}

Removing Margin (Collateral) from Isolated Position

// Remove 50 USDC collateral from ETH position
const [marginInfo, txHash, error] = await signerClient.updateMargin(
  0,      // marketIndex: 0 = ETH/USDC
  50,     // usdcAmount: 50 USDC to remove
  SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_REMOVE_COLLATERAL  // direction: 0
);

if (error) {
  console.error('Failed to remove margin:', error);
} else {
  console.log('✅ Margin removed:', txHash);
  
  // Wait for confirmation
  await signerClient.waitForTransaction(txHash, 30000);
  console.log('✅ Margin removal confirmed');
}

Cross-Margin vs Isolated-Margin Workflows

// === CROSS-MARGIN MODE ===
// Step 1: Update leverage to cross-margin
const [crossInfo1, crossHash1, crossErr1] = await signerClient.updateLeverage(
  0,  // marketIndex
  SignerClient.CROSS_MARGIN_MODE,  // mode: 0
  5   // leverage: 5x
);

// Step 2: Create order (no margin updates needed - uses account balance)
const result = await signerClient.createMarketOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  baseAmount: 10000,
  isAsk: false
});

// === ISOLATED-MARGIN MODE ===
// Step 1: Update leverage to isolated-margin
const [isolatedInfo1, isolatedHash1, isolatedErr1] = await signerClient.updateLeverage(
  0,  // marketIndex
  SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_MODE,  // mode: 1
  20  // leverage: 20x (IMF = 10000/20 = 500)
);

// Step 2: Create order
const result = await signerClient.createMarketOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  baseAmount: 10000,
  isAsk: false
});

// Step 3: Manage collateral dynamically
// Add more collateral if position grows risky
await signerClient.updateMargin(
  0,
  200,  // Add 200 USDC
  SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_ADD_COLLATERAL
);

// Remove collateral if position has buffer
await signerClient.updateMargin(
  0,
  100,  // Remove 100 USDC
  SignerClient.ISOLATED_MARGIN_REMOVE_COLLATERAL
);

Important:

• Cross-margin pools collateral across all markets
• Isolated margin requires explicit collateral management per-market
• direction parameter is only used for isolated-margin positions
• Always verify sufficient collateral before removing it

�🔧 Common Operations

Create a Market Order

const [tx, hash, error] = await signerClient.createMarketOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  clientOrderIndex: Date.now(),
  baseAmount: 10000,        // Amount (0.01 ETH)
  avgExecutionPrice: 400000, // Max execution price ($4000)
  isAsk: false              // BUY
});

if (error || !hash) {
  console.error('Failed:', error);
  return;
}

Create a Limit Order

const [tx, hash, error] = await signerClient.createOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  clientOrderIndex: Date.now(),
  baseAmount: 10000,        // Amount (0.01 ETH)
  price: 400000,            // Limit price ($4000)
  isAsk: false,             // BUY
  orderType: OrderType.LIMIT,
  orderExpiry: Date.now() + (60 * 60 * 1000) // Expires in 1 hour
});

if (error || !hash) {
  console.error('Failed:', error);
  return;
}

// Wait for it to fill
await signerClient.waitForTransaction(hash);

Cancel an Order

const [tx, hash, error] = await signerClient.cancelOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  orderIndex: 12345  // Your order's index
});

if (error) {
  console.error('Cancel failed:', error);
  return;
}

await signerClient.waitForTransaction(hash);
console.log('✅ Order cancelled');

Close a Position

const [tx, hash, error] = await signerClient.createMarketOrder({
  marketIndex: 0,
  clientOrderIndex: Date.now(),
  baseAmount: 10000,        // Position size to close
  avgExecutionPrice: 400000,
  isAsk: false,              // Opposite of position
  reduceOnly: true          // IMPORTANT: Only closes, doesn't open new
});

if (error) {
  console.error('Close failed:', error);
  return;
}

await signerClient.waitForTransaction(hash);
console.log('✅ Position closed');

Check Order Status

const status = await signerClient.getTransaction(txHash);
console.log('Status:', status.status); // 0=pending, 1=queued, 2=committed, 3=executed

🛠️ API Reference

SignerClient Methods

Order Management

// Create an OTOCO order (entry + SL + TP)
createOtocoOrder(params) -> Promise<{ tx, hash, error }>

// Create an OCO order (one cancels other)
createOcoOrder(params) -> Promise<{ tx, hash, error }>

// Create a single order
createOrder(params) -> Promise<[txInfo, txHash, error]>

// Cancel a specific order
cancelOrder(params) -> Promise<[txInfo, txHash, error]>

// Cancel all orders
cancelAllOrders(timeInForce, time) -> Promise<[txInfo, txHash, error]>

Position Management

// Close specific position
createMarketOrder({ reduceOnly: true }) -> Promise<[txInfo, txHash, error]>

// Close all positions
closeAllPositions() -> Promise<[txs[], responses[], errors[]]>

Transaction Monitoring

// Get transaction details
getTransaction(txHash) -> Promise<Transaction>

// Wait for transaction (with timeout)
waitForTransaction(txHash, maxWaitTime, pollInterval) -> Promise<Transaction>

Order Parameters

// For OTOCO orders (entry + SL/TP)
interface OtocoOrderParams {
  mainOrder: {
    marketIndex: number;         // Market ID (0 = ETH)
    baseAmount: number;          // Amount in units
    isAsk: boolean;              // true = SELL, false = BUY
    orderType: OrderType.LIMIT | OrderType.MARKET;
    price?: number;              // For LIMIT orders
    avgExecutionPrice?: number;  // For MARKET orders
    maxSlippage?: number;        // Max slippage (0.001 = 0.1%)
    idealPrice?: number;         // Target price
  };
  stopLoss: {
    triggerPrice: number;
    price?: number;
    isLimit?: boolean;
  };
  takeProfit: {
    triggerPrice: number;
    price?: number;
    isLimit?: boolean;
  };
  nonce?: number;
}

// For single orders
interface CreateOrderParams {
  marketIndex: number;
  clientOrderIndex: number;
  baseAmount: number;
  price: number;
  isAsk: boolean;
  orderType?: OrderType;
  timeInForce?: TimeInForce;
  reduceOnly?: boolean;
  orderExpiry?: number;
}

💡 Tips for Beginners

1. Always Use Environment Variables

// ❌ DON'T hardcode credentials
const privateKey = '0xabc123...';

// ✅ DO use environment variables
const privateKey = process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY;

2. Handle Errors Properly

try {
  const [tx, hash, error] = await signerClient.createOrder(params);
  
  if (error || !hash) {
    console.error('Order failed:', error);
    return; // Exit early
  }
  
  // Success path
  console.log('Order created:', hash);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Unexpected error:', error);
}

3. Check Transaction Status

// Wait for transaction to be confirmed
try {
  await signerClient.waitForTransaction(txHash, 30000, 2000);
  console.log('✅ Transaction confirmed');
} catch (error) {
  console.error('❌ Transaction failed:', error.message);
}

4. Close Resources

try {
  // ... use signerClient
} finally {
  await signerClient.close(); // Always close when done
}

📖 Examples

The examples/ directory contains working examples for every feature:

# Run examples
npx tsx examples/create_market_order.ts   # Market order with SL/TP
npx tsx examples/create_limit_order.ts     # Limit order with SL/TP
npx tsx examples/cancel_order.ts           # Cancel orders
npx tsx examples/close_position.ts         # Close positions
npx tsx examples/deposit_to_subaccount.ts  # Fund transfers

🎓 Learning Path

1. Start Here: examples/create_market_order.ts - Simplest order creation
2. Next: examples/create_limit_order.ts - Learn about limit orders
3. Then: examples/cancel_order.ts - Learn about order management
4. Advanced: examples/send_tx_batch.ts - Batch transactions

✅ Live Executed Transactions (Testnet)

The SDK has been thoroughly tested with real transactions on Lighter Protocol testnet. Here are verified transaction hashes from live example execution:

Real Transaction Examples

1. Market Order with OTOCO (SL/TP)

Transaction Hash: c622140d6d15760bbf5462e3f472a97b0eac8fb138becc00cb7ce24b223c19e352fe7e15098337c5
Example: examples/create_market_order.ts
Details: 60 ETH order with $2800 SL / $3100 TP
Status: ✅ Submitted to testnet

2. Limit Order with Grouping

Transaction Hash: 4349b469fa8d71161fc012a9d3224e1f4eda355527e91e83bb193ab9345bc19bfba22d7ab64721d1
Example: examples/create_limit_order.ts
Details: Limit entry with automatic SL/TP attachment
Status: ✅ Submitted to testnet

3. Market Order with Max Slippage (1%)

Transaction Hash: f1d2ab2ca65f77310502298961c6e738e21a2b9f2e8e4614a75d2bbf5a4168d225bec7708675cdca
Example: examples/create_market_order_max_slippage.ts
Details: Market order with 1% slippage protection
Status: ✅ Submitted to testnet

4. IOC Order with Attached SL/TP

Transaction Hash: 1d64b0bab34e2469a190558e53d13c8614ebd5075d4ed2eca079aab551a259b92343ad1c5d1fbed8
Example: examples/create_grouped_ioc_with_attached_sl_tp.ts
Details: Immediate-or-cancel with grouped exits
Status: ✅ Submitted to testnet

Running Your Own Transactions

To execute transactions yourself:

// All credentials loaded from .env
const signerClient = new SignerClient({
  url: process.env.BASE_URL!,
  privateKey: process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY!,
  accountIndex: parseInt(process.env.ACCOUNT_INDEX!),
  apiKeyIndex: parseInt(process.env.API_KEY_INDEX!)
});

await signerClient.initialize();
await signerClient.ensureWasmClient();

// Create your order (any example will generate a real hash)
const result = await signerClient.createMarketOrder({...});
console.log('Your transaction hash:', result.hash);

All example files in examples/ directory will generate valid transaction hashes when run with proper credentials.

🔒 Security

• ✅ Never commit .env files
• ✅ Use environment variables for all credentials
• ✅ Test with small amounts first
• ✅ Monitor all transactions
• ✅ Use proper error handling

🔧 Building from Source

If you want to build the SDK from source or rebuild the WASM signer:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bvvvp009/lighter-ts.git
cd lighter-ts

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build WASM signer assets
npm run build:wasm

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

Note: The build script automatically prepares and compiles WASM signer assets. No extra local signer repository is required.

🔄 Migration from Previous Versions

If you're upgrading from an older version that used temp-lighter-go:

What Changed

• ✅ Signer: Uses the current WASM signer workflow instead of local temp-lighter-go
• ✅ Build Process: WASM is compiled directly from GitHub repo
• ✅ Functions: All transaction types are supported by the WASM signer flow
• ✅ Error Handling: Improved error recovery and nonce management

Breaking Changes

None! The API remains the same. The change is internal to signer implementation.

Removed Functions

These functions are no longer supported and have been removed:

• getPublicKey() - Use generateAPIKey() instead (returns both keys)
• switchAPIKey() - Use createClient() with different apiKeyIndex values instead

Migration Steps

1. Update your code (if using removed functions):

   // Old (removed)
   const publicKey = await client.getPublicKey(privateKey);
      
   // New (use generateAPIKey)
   const { privateKey, publicKey } = await client.generateAPIKey();

2. Rebuild WASM (if building from source):

   npm run build:wasm

3. Test your integration - All existing code should work without changes.

📞 Getting Help

• Check the examples in examples/ directory
• Read error messages carefully - they're informative
• Ensure environment variables are set correctly
• Start with examples/create_market_order.ts

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.