Transactions

Torsten CLI supports the full transaction lifecycle: building, signing, submitting, and inspecting transactions.

Building a Transaction

torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in <tx_hash>#<index> \
  --tx-out <address>+<lovelace> \
  --change-address <address> \
  --fee <lovelace> \
  --out-file tx.body

Arguments

Argument	Description
`--tx-in`	Transaction input in `tx_hash#index` format. Can be specified multiple times
`--tx-out`	Transaction output in `address+lovelace` format. Can be specified multiple times
`--change-address`	Address to receive change
`--fee`	Fee in lovelace (default: 200000)
`--ttl`	Time-to-live slot number (optional)
`--certificate-file`	Path to a certificate file to include (can be repeated)
`--withdrawal`	Withdrawal in `stake_address+lovelace` format (can be repeated)
`--metadata-json-file`	Path to a JSON metadata file (optional)
`--out-file`	Output file for the transaction body

Example: Simple ADA Transfer

torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in "abc123...#0" \
  --tx-out "addr_test1qz...+5000000" \
  --change-address "addr_test1qp..." \
  --fee 200000 \
  --ttl 50000000 \
  --out-file tx.body

Multi-Asset Outputs

To include native tokens in an output, use the extended format:

address+lovelace+"policy_id.asset_name quantity"

Example:

torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in "abc123...#0" \
  --tx-out 'addr_test1qz...+2000000+"a1b2c3...d4e5f6.4d79546f6b656e 100"' \
  --change-address "addr_test1qp..." \
  --fee 200000 \
  --out-file tx.body

Multiple tokens can be separated with + inside the quoted string:

"policy1.asset1 100+policy2.asset2 50"

Including Certificates

torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in "abc123...#0" \
  --tx-out "addr_test1qz...+5000000" \
  --change-address "addr_test1qp..." \
  --fee 200000 \
  --certificate-file stake-reg.cert \
  --certificate-file stake-deleg.cert \
  --out-file tx.body

Including Metadata

Create a metadata JSON file with integer keys:

{
  "674": {
    "msg": ["Hello, Cardano!"]
  }
}

torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in "abc123...#0" \
  --tx-out "addr_test1qz...+5000000" \
  --change-address "addr_test1qp..." \
  --fee 200000 \
  --metadata-json-file metadata.json \
  --out-file tx.body

Signing a Transaction

torsten-cli transaction sign \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --signing-key-file payment.skey \
  --out-file tx.signed

Multiple signing keys can be provided:

torsten-cli transaction sign \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --signing-key-file payment.skey \
  --signing-key-file stake.skey \
  --out-file tx.signed

Submitting a Transaction

torsten-cli transaction submit \
  --tx-file tx.signed \
  --socket-path ./node.sock

The node validates the transaction (Phase-1 and Phase-2 for Plutus transactions) and, if valid, adds it to the mempool for propagation.

Viewing a Transaction

torsten-cli transaction view --tx-file tx.signed

Output includes:

Transaction type
CBOR size
Transaction hash
Number of inputs and outputs
Fee
TTL (if set)

Transaction ID

Compute the transaction hash:

torsten-cli transaction txid --tx-file tx.body

Works with both transaction body files and signed transaction files.

Calculate Minimum Fee

torsten-cli transaction calculate-min-fee \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --witness-count 2 \
  --protocol-params-file protocol-params.json

The fee is calculated as: fee = txFeePerByte * tx_size + txFeeFixed

To get the current protocol parameters:

torsten-cli query protocol-parameters \
  --socket-path ./node.sock \
  --out-file protocol-params.json

Creating Witnesses

For multi-signature workflows, you can create witnesses separately and assemble them:

Create a Witness

torsten-cli transaction witness \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --signing-key-file payment.skey \
  --out-file payment.witness

Assemble a Transaction

torsten-cli transaction assemble \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --witness-file payment.witness \
  --witness-file stake.witness \
  --out-file tx.signed

Policy ID

Compute the policy ID (Blake2b-224 hash) of a native script:

torsten-cli transaction policyid --script-file policy.script

Complete Workflow

# 1. Query UTxOs to find inputs
torsten-cli query utxo \
  --address addr_test1qz... \
  --socket-path ./node.sock \
  --testnet-magic 2

# 2. Get protocol parameters for fee calculation
torsten-cli query protocol-parameters \
  --socket-path ./node.sock \
  --testnet-magic 2 \
  --out-file pp.json

# 3. Build the transaction
torsten-cli transaction build \
  --tx-in "abc123...#0" \
  --tx-out "addr_test1qr...+5000000" \
  --change-address "addr_test1qz..." \
  --fee 200000 \
  --out-file tx.body

# 4. Calculate the exact fee
torsten-cli transaction calculate-min-fee \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --witness-count 1 \
  --protocol-params-file pp.json

# 5. Rebuild with the correct fee (repeat step 3 with updated --fee)

# 6. Sign
torsten-cli transaction sign \
  --tx-body-file tx.body \
  --signing-key-file payment.skey \
  --out-file tx.signed

# 7. Submit
torsten-cli transaction submit \
  --tx-file tx.signed \
  --socket-path ./node.sock

Torsten Documentation