Mysten Labs TypeScript SDK Docs

The Walrus TypeScript SDK works directly with Walrus storage nodes or with the Walrus upload relay. When you use the Walrus SDK without an upload relay, reading and writing Walrus blobs requires many requests (approximately 2200 to write a blob and approximately 335 to read a blob). The upload relay reduces the number of requests needed to write a blob, but reads through the Walrus SDK still require many requests. For many applications, using publishers and aggregators is recommended, but the TypeScript SDK is useful when building applications where the application needs to directly interact with Walrus, or when users need to pay for their own storage directly.

The Walrus SDK exposes high-level methods for reading and writing blobs, as well as lower-level methods for the individual steps in the process. You can use the lower-level methods to implement more complex flows when you want more control over optimization.

Installation

npm install --save @mysten/walrus @mysten/sui

Setup

To use the Walrus SDK, you need to create a client from the TypeScript SDK and extend it with the Walrus SDK.

import { SuiGrpcClient } from '@mysten/sui/grpc';
import { walrus } from '@mysten/walrus';

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(walrus());

The Walrus SDK includes all the relevant package and object IDs needed for connecting to Testnet. You can also manually configure the Walrus SDK to use a different set of IDs, allowing you to connect to a different network or updated deployment of the Walrus contracts.

import { SuiGrpcClient } from '@mysten/sui/grpc';
import { walrus } from '@mysten/walrus';

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		packageConfig: {
			systemObjectId: '0x98ebc47370603fe81d9e15491b2f1443d619d1dab720d586e429ed233e1255c1',
			stakingPoolId: '0x20266a17b4f1a216727f3eef5772f8d486a9e3b5e319af80a5b75809c035561d',
		},
	}),
);

Some environments require you to customize how data is fetched:

import { SuiGrpcClient } from '@mysten/sui/grpc';
import { walrus } from '@mysten/walrus';

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		storageNodeClientOptions: {
			fetch: (url, options) => {
				console.log('fetching', url);
				return fetch(url, options);
			},
			timeout: 60_000,
		},
	}),
);

You can use this approach to implement a fetch function with custom timeouts, rate limits, retry logic, or any other desired behavior.

`WalrusFile` API

The WalrusFile API provides a higher-level abstraction so that applications do not need to worry about how data is stored in Walrus. It handles data stored directly in blobs and data stored in quilts, but might expand to cover other storage patterns in the future.

Reading files

To read files, use the getFiles method. This method accepts both blob IDs and quilt IDs, and returns a WalrusFile.

Read files in batches when possible, which allows the client to be more efficient when loading multiple files from the same quilt.

const [file1, file2] = await client.walrus.getFiles({ ids: [anyBlobId, orQuiltId] });

A WalrusFile works like a Response object from the fetch API:

// get contents as a Uint8Array
const bytes = await file1.bytes();
// Parse the contents as a `utf-8` string
const text = await file1.text();
// Parse the contents as JSON
const json = await file2.json();

A WalrusFile might also have identifier and tags properties if the file was stored in a quilt.

const identifier: string | null = await file1.getIdentifier();
const tags: Record<string, string> = await file1.getTags();

`WalrusBlob`

You can also get a WalrusBlob instead of a WalrusFile if you have the blobId:

const blob = await client.walrus.getBlob({ blobId });

If the blob is a quilt, you can read the files in the quilt:

// Get all files:
const files = await blob.files();
// Get files by identifier
const [readme] = await blob.files({ identifiers: ['README.md'] });
// Get files by tag
const textFiles = await blob.files({ tags: [{ 'content-type': 'text/plain' }] });
// Get files by quilt id
const filesById = await blob.files({ ids: [quiltID] });

Writing files

You can also construct a WalrusFile from a Uint8Array, Blob, or a string, which you can then store on Walrus:

const file1 = WalrusFile.from({
	contents: new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]),
	identifier: 'file1.bin',
});
const file2 = WalrusFile.from({
	contents: new Blob([new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3])]),
	identifier: 'file2.bin',
});
const file3 = WalrusFile.from({
	contents: new TextEncoder().encode('Hello from the TS SDK!!!\n'),
	identifier: 'README.md',
	tags: {
		'content-type': 'text/plain',
	},
});

After you have your files, use the writeFiles method to write them to Walrus.

Along with the files, you also need to provide a Signer instance that signs and pays for the transaction and storage fees. The signer's address needs sufficient SUI to cover the transactions that register the blob and certify its availability after upload. The signer must own sufficient WAL to pay to store the blob for the specified number of epochs, as well as the write fee for writing the blob.

The exact costs depend on the size of the blobs, as well as the current gas and storage prices.

const results: {
	id: string;
	blobId: string;
	blobObject: Blob.$inferType;
}[] = await client.walrus.writeFiles({
	files: [file1, file2, file3],
	epochs: 3,
	deletable: true,
	signer: keypair,
});

The provided files are all written into a single quilt. Future versions of the SDK might optimize how files are stored to be more efficient by splitting files into multiple quilts.

The current quilt encoding is less efficient for single files, so writing multiple files together is recommended when possible. Writing raw blobs directly is also possible using the writeBlob API described below.

Writing files in browser environments

When the transactions to upload a blob are signed by a wallet in a browser, some wallets use popups to prompt you for a signature. If the popups are not opened in direct response to a user interaction, the browser might block them.

To avoid this, execute the transactions that register and certify the blob in separate event handlers by creating separate buttons for each step.

The client.writeFilesFlow method returns an object with a set of methods that break the write flow into several smaller steps:

encode: Encodes the files and generates a blobId.
register: Returns a transaction that registers the blob onchain.
upload: Uploads the data to storage nodes.
certify: Returns a transaction that certifies the blob onchain.
listFiles: Returns a list of the created files.

The following simplified example shows the core API usage with separate user interactions:

// Step 1: Create and encode the flow (can be done immediately when file is selected)
const flow = client.walrus.writeFilesFlow({
	files: [
		WalrusFile.from({
			contents: new Uint8Array(fileData),
			identifier: 'my-file.txt',
		}),
	],
});

await flow.encode();

// Step 2: Register the blob (triggered by user clicking a register button after the encode step)
async function handleRegister() {
	const registerTx = flow.register({
		epochs: 3,
		owner: currentAccount.address,
		deletable: true,
	});
	const result = await signAndExecuteTransaction({ transaction: registerTx });

	// Check transaction status
	if (result.$kind === 'FailedTransaction') {
		throw new Error(`Registration failed: ${result.FailedTransaction.status.error?.message}`);
	}

	// Step 3: Upload the data to storage nodes
	// This can be done immediately after the register step, or as a separate step the user initiates
	await flow.upload({ digest: result.Transaction.digest });
}

// Step 4: Certify the blob (triggered by user clicking a certify button after the blob is uploaded)
async function handleCertify() {
	const certifyTx = flow.certify();

	const result = await signAndExecuteTransaction({ transaction: certifyTx });

	// Check transaction status
	if (result.$kind === 'FailedTransaction') {
		throw new Error(`Certification failed: ${result.FailedTransaction.status.error?.message}`);
	}

	// Step 5: Get the new files
	const files = await flow.listFiles();
	console.log('Uploaded files', files);
}

This approach ensures that each transaction signing step is separated into different user interactions, allowing wallet popups to work properly without being blocked by the browser.

Running the full flow

If you do not need separate user interactions for each step, use run() to execute the full pipeline as an async iterator.

const flow = client.walrus.writeBlobFlow({ blob });

for await (const step of flow.run({ signer, epochs: 3, deletable: true })) {
	await db.save(fileId, step); // persist for crash recovery
}

The flow also provides executeRegister and executeCertify methods that handle signing and return typed step results:

const flow = client.walrus.writeBlobFlow({ blob });
const enc = await flow.encode();
const reg = await flow.executeRegister({ signer, epochs: 3, deletable: true, owner: address });
const up = await flow.upload({ digest: reg.txDigest });
const cert = await flow.executeCertify({ signer });

Resuming uploads

Each step executed by run() produces a WriteBlobStep that you can persist for crash recovery. To resume an upload after a crash, pass a saved WriteBlobStep as resume. The flow skips completed steps, validates the blobId, and only uploads slivers that are not already stored:

const saved = await db.load(fileId);
const flow = client.walrus.writeBlobFlow({ blob, resume: saved });

for await (const step of flow.run({ signer, epochs: 3, deletable: true })) {
	await db.save(fileId, step);
}

Using an upload relay

Writing blobs directly from a client requires many requests to write data to all the storage nodes. An upload relay offloads the work of these writes to a server, reducing complexity for the client.

To use an upload relay, add the uploadRelay option when adding the Walrus extension:

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		uploadRelay: {
			host: 'https://upload-relay.testnet.walrus.space',
			sendTip: {
				max: 1_000,
			},
		},
	}),
);

The host option is required and indicates the URL for your upload relay. Upload relays might require a tip to cover the cost of writing the blob. You can configure a maximum tip (paid in MIST) and the WalrusClient automatically determines the required tip for your upload relay. You can also manually configure the tip as shown below.

Find the tip required by an upload relay using the tip-config endpoint (for example, https://upload-relay.testnet.walrus.space/v1/tip-config). The tip is either a const or a linear type.

`const` tip

A const tip sends a fixed amount for each blob written to the upload relay.

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		uploadRelay: {
			host: 'https://upload-relay.testnet.walrus.space',
			sendTip: {
				address: '0x123...',
				kind: {
					const: 105,
				},
			},
		},
	}),
);

`linear` tip

A linear tip sends a fixed amount for each blob written to the upload relay, plus a multiplier based on the size of the blob.

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		uploadRelay: {
			host: 'https://upload-relay.testnet.walrus.space',
			sendTip: {
				address: '0x123...',
				kind: {
					linear: {
						base: 105,
						perEncodedKib: 10,
					},
				},
			},
		},
	}),
);

Interacting with blobs directly

If you do not want to use the WalrusFile abstractions, use the readBlob and writeBlob APIs directly.

Reading blobs

The readBlob method reads a blob given the blobId and returns a Uint8Array containing the blob content:

const blob = await client.walrus.readBlob({ blobId });

Writing blobs

The writeBlob method writes a blob (as a Uint8Array) to Walrus. You need to specify how long the blob should be stored for and whether the blob should be deletable.

const file = new TextEncoder().encode('Hello from the TS SDK!!!\n');

const { blobId } = await client.walrus.writeBlob({
	blob: file,
	deletable: false,
	epochs: 3,
	signer: keypair,
});

writeBlob and writeFiles also support onStep and resume for crash-recoverable uploads:

const { blobId } = await client.walrus.writeBlob({
	blob: file,
	deletable: true,
	epochs: 3,
	signer: keypair,
	onStep: (step) => db.save(fileId, step),
	resume: await db.load(fileId), // pass a previously saved step to resume
});

Error handling

The SDK exports all the error classes for different types of errors that can be thrown. Walrus is a fault-tolerant distributed system where many types of errors can be recovered from. During epoch changes, the data cached in the WalrusClient can become invalid. Errors that result from this situation extend the RetryableWalrusClientError class.

You can check for these errors and reset the client before retrying:

import { RetryableWalrusClientError } from '@mysten/walrus';

if (error instanceof RetryableWalrusClientError) {
	client.walrus.reset();

	/* retry your operation */
}

RetryableWalrusClientError errors are not guaranteed to succeed after resetting the client and retrying, but this pattern handles some edge cases.

High-level methods like readBlob already handle various error cases and automatically retry when encountering these errors, as well as handling cases where only a subset of nodes need to respond successfully to read or publish a blob.

When using the lower-level methods to build your own read or publish flows, understand the number of shards and slivers that need to be successfully written or read for your operation to succeed. Gracefully handle cases where some nodes might be in a bad state.

Network errors

Walrus handles some nodes being down, and the SDK only throws errors when it cannot read from or write to enough storage nodes. When troubleshooting problems, figuring out what went wrong can be challenging because you do not see all the individual network errors.

Pass an onError option in the storageNodeClientOptions to get the individual errors from failed requests:

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		storageNodeClientOptions: {
			onError: (error) => console.log(error),
		},
	}),
);

Configuring network requests

Reading and writing blobs directly from storage nodes requires many requests. The Walrus SDK issues all requests needed to complete these operations, but does not handle all the complexities a robust aggregator or publisher might encounter.

By default, all requests use the global fetch for whatever runtime the SDK runs in.

This does not impose any limitations on concurrency, and is subject to default timeouts and behavior defined by your runtime. To customize how requests are made, provide a custom fetch method:

import type { RequestInfo, RequestInit } from 'undici';
import { Agent, fetch } from 'undici';

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		storageNodeClientOptions: {
			timeout: 60_000,
			fetch: (url, init) => {
				// Some casting may be required because undici types may not exactly match the @node/types types
				return fetch(url as RequestInfo, {
					...(init as RequestInit),
					dispatcher: new Agent({
						connectTimeout: 60_000,
					}),
				}) as unknown as Promise<Response>;
			},
		},
	}),
);

Loading the WASM module in Vite or client-side apps

The Walrus SDK requires WASM bindings to encode and decode blobs. When running in Node.js or Bun, and with some bundlers, this works without any additional configuration.

In some cases, you might need to manually specify where the SDK loads the WASM bindings from.

In Vite, get the URL for the WASM bindings by importing the WASM file with a ?url suffix, then pass it into the Walrus client:

import walrusWasmUrl from '@mysten/walrus-wasm/web/walrus_wasm_bg.wasm?url';

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		wasmUrl: walrusWasmUrl,
	}),
);

If you are unable to get a URL for the WASM file in your bundler or build system, you can self-host the WASM bindings or load them from a CDN:

const client = new SuiGrpcClient({
	network: 'testnet',
	baseUrl: 'https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443',
}).$extend(
	walrus({
		wasmUrl: 'https://unpkg.com/@mysten/walrus-wasm@latest/web/walrus_wasm_bg.wasm',
	}),
);

In Next.js, when using Walrus in API routes, you might need to tell Next.js to skip bundling for the Walrus packages:

// next.config.ts
const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
	serverExternalPackages: ['@mysten/walrus', '@mysten/walrus-wasm'],
};

Known fetch limitations

Some nodes can be slow to respond. When running in Node.js, the default connectTimeout is 10 seconds and can cause request timeouts.
In Bun, the abort signal stops requests from responding, but the requests still wait for completion before their promises reject.

Full API

For a complete overview of the available methods on the WalrusClient, reference the TypeDocs.

Examples

There are a number of examples you can reference in the ts-sdks repository that show things like building aggregators and publishers with the Walrus SDK.

Walrus SDK

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