Send SOL

This guide explains how to send native SOL, sign a transaction without broadcasting, quote and send a signed transaction, estimate transaction fees, cap native transaction fees, quote or send a TransactionMessage, use dynamic fee rates, and run a complete SOL transfer flow.

BigInt Usage: Always use BigInt (the n suffix) for monetary values to avoid precision loss with large numbers.

On Solana, values are expressed in lamports (1 SOL = 10^9 lamports). Fees are calculated based on the recent blockhash and instruction count.

Send Native SOL

Use account.sendTransaction() to transfer SOL to a recipient address.

Send SOL

const result = await account.sendTransaction({
  to: 'publicKey', // Recipient's base58-encoded public key
  value: 1000000000n // 1 SOL in lamports
})
console.log('Transaction hash:', result.hash)
console.log('Transaction fee:', result.fee, 'lamports')

Sign a Transaction Without Broadcasting

Use account.signTransaction() when you need a fully signed transaction but want another process to review, relay, or submit it.

Sign SOL Transaction

const signedTransaction = await account.signTransaction({
  to: '11111111111111111111111111111112',
  value: 1000000000n
})
console.log('Signed transaction:', signedTransaction)

Quote and Send a Signed Transaction

Pass the FullySignedTransaction returned by signTransaction() to the quote and send methods when review and submission are separate steps.

Quote and Send Signed Bytes

const signedTransaction = await account.signTransaction({
  to: '11111111111111111111111111111112',
  value: 1000000000n
})

const quote = await account.quoteSendTransaction(signedTransaction)
console.log('Estimated fee:', quote.fee, 'lamports')

const result = await account.sendTransaction(signedTransaction)
console.log('Transaction signature:', result.hash)

Signing seals the recent blockhash or durable nonce into the message. WDK broadcasts the signed bytes unchanged and does not refresh the transaction lifetime or re-sign it. Submit the transaction before that lifetime becomes invalid. sendTransaction() quotes it again and enforces transactionMaxFee.

Estimate Transaction Fees

Use account.quoteSendTransaction() to get a fee estimate before sending.

Quote Transaction Fee

const quote = await account.quoteSendTransaction({
  to: 'publicKey',
  value: 1000000000n
})
console.log('Estimated fee:', quote.fee, 'lamports')

Cap Native Transaction Fees

Set transactionMaxFee when you create the wallet to stop native sendTransaction() and signTransaction() calls if the estimated fee is greater than your limit. A fee equal to the configured cap is allowed. Use transferMaxFee separately for SPL token transfers.

Set a Native Transaction Fee Cap

const wallet = new WalletManagerSolana(seedPhrase, {
  provider: 'https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com',
  transactionMaxFee: 10000000n // 0.01 SOL in lamports
})

Quote or Send a TransactionMessage

Use a prebuilt TransactionMessage when you need custom instructions or a durable nonce flow.

If the transaction message already includes a recent blockhash or durable nonce lifetime, WDK preserves it. If it does not, WDK fetches the latest blockhash before quoting or sending. When you set feePayer, it must match the wallet address.

Quote and Send a TransactionMessage

const quote = await account.quoteSendTransaction(txMessage)
console.log('Estimated fee:', quote.fee, 'lamports')

const result = await account.sendTransaction(txMessage)
console.log('Transaction hash:', result.hash)

Use Dynamic Fee Rates

Retrieve current fee rates using wallet.getFeeRates(). Rates are calculated based on the recent blockhash and compute unit prices.

Dynamic Fee Rates

const feeRates = await wallet.getFeeRates()
console.log('Normal fee rate:', feeRates.normal, 'lamports')
console.log('Fast fee rate:', feeRates.fast, 'lamports')

Complete Example

Full SOL Transfer Flow

async function sendSOLTransfer(account, wallet) {
  const solBalance = await account.getBalance()
  const transferAmount = 1000000000n // 1 SOL

  if (solBalance < transferAmount) {
    throw new Error('Insufficient SOL balance')
  }

  const quote = await account.quoteSendTransaction({
    to: '11111111111111111111111111111112',
    value: transferAmount
  })
  console.log('Estimated fee:', quote.fee, 'lamports')

  const result = await account.sendTransaction({
    to: '11111111111111111111111111111112',
    value: transferAmount
  })

  console.log('Transaction hash:', result.hash)
  console.log('Fee paid:', result.fee, 'lamports')

  return result
}

Next Steps

To transfer SPL tokens instead of native SOL, see Transfer SPL Tokens.

Send SOL

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