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<h1>What is ethers.js<a class="headerlink" href="#what-is-ethers-js" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h1>
<p>The ethers.js library aims to be a complete and compact library for interacting
with the Ethereum Blockchain and its ecosystem. It was originally designed for
use with <a class="reference external" href="https://ethers.io">ethers.io</a> and has since expanded into a much more general-purpose
library.</p>
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<div class="section" id="features">
<h2>Features<a class="headerlink" href="#features" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li>Keep your private keys in your client, <strong>safe</strong> and sound</li>
<li>Import and export <strong>JSON wallets</strong> (Geth, Parity and crowdsale)</li>
<li>Import and export BIP 39 <strong>mnemonic phrases</strong> (12 word backup phrases) and HD Wallets (English, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese; more coming soon)</li>
<li>Meta-classes create JavaScript objects from any contract ABI, including <strong>ABIv2</strong> and <strong>Human-Readable</strong> ABI</li>
<li>Connect to Ethereum nodes over <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/JSON-RPC">JSON-RPC</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://infura.io/">INFURA</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://etherscan.io/">Etherscan</a>, or <a class="reference external" href="https://metamask.io/">MetaMask</a>.</li>
<li><strong>ENS names</strong> are first-class citizens; they can be used anywhere an Ethereum addresses can be used</li>
<li><strong>Tiny</strong> (~88kb compressed; 284kb uncompressed)</li>
<li><strong>Complete</strong> functionality for all your Ethereum needs</li>
<li>Extensive <a class="reference external" href="https://docs.ethers.io">documentation</a></li>
<li>Large collection of <strong>test cases</strong> which are maintained and added to</li>
<li>Fully <strong>TypeScript</strong> ready, with definition files and full TypeScript source</li>
<li><strong>MIT License</strong> (including ALL dependencies); completely open source to do with as you please</li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="getting-started.html#installing-in-node-js">Installing in Node.js</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="getting-started.html#importing">Importing</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="getting-started.html#including-in-web-applications">Including in Web Applications</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-wallet.html">Wallets and Signers</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-wallet.html#wallet">Wallet</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-wallet.html#signer-api">Signer API</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html">Providers</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#connecting-to-ethereum">Connecting to Ethereum</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#properties">Properties</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#network">Network</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#account">Account</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#blockchain-status">Blockchain Status</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#contract-execution">Contract Execution</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#contract-state">Contract State</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#events">Events</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-providers.html#objects-and-types">Objects and Types</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-contract.html#application-binary-interface-abi">Application Binary Interface (ABI)</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-utils.html#big-numbers">Big Numbers</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-utils.html#constants">Constants</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-utils.html#cryptographic-functions">Cryptographic Functions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-utils.html#ether-strings-and-wei">Ether Strings and Wei</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#abi-coder">ABI Coder</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#creating-instances">Creating Instances</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#prototype">Prototype</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#hdnode">HDNode</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id1">Creating Instances</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id2">Prototype</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#deriving-child-and-neutered-nodes">Deriving Child and Neutered Nodes</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#static-methods">Static Methods</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#creating-an-instance">Creating an Instance</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id3">Prototype</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#parsing-objects">Parsing Objects</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#object-test-functions">Object Test Functions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#descriptions">Descriptions</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#provider-sub-classing">Provider (Sub-Classing)</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id4">Static Methods</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id5">Prototype</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#recursive-length-prefixed-encoding-rlp">Recursive-Length Prefixed Encoding (RLP)</a><ul>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#signing-key">Signing Key</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id7">Creating Instances</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#id8">Prototype</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="api-advanced.html#cryptographic-operations">Cryptographic Operations</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html">Accounts</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#dump-all-json-wallet-balances-in-current-directory">Dump All JSON Wallet Balances (in current directory)</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#sweep-an-account-into-another">Sweep an Account into Another</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#coalesce-jaxx-wallets">Coalesce Jaxx Wallets</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#access-funds-in-a-mnemonic-phrase-wallet">Access Funds in a Mnemonic Phrase Wallet</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#random-mnemonic">Random Mnemonic</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-accounts.html#get-transaction-history">Get Transaction History</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-contracts.html">Contracts</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-contracts.html#return-a-value-from-a-state-changing-method">Return a Value from a State-Changing Method</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-contracts.html#economic-incentives-and-economic-value">Economic Incentives and Economic Value</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-providers.html">Providers</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-providers.html#metamask">MetaMask</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-providers.html#testrpc-ganache">TestRPC / Ganache</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-providers.html#custom-provider">Custom Provider</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-signing.html">Signing Messages</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-signing.html#signing-a-string-message">Signing a String Message</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-signing.html#signing-a-digest-hash">Signing a Digest Hash</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-testing.html">Testing</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-testing.html#contract-events">Contract Events</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-testing.html#using-multiple-accounts">Using Multiple Accounts</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-react.html">React Native</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-react.html#shims">Shims</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-react.html#wordlists">Wordlists</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="cookbook-react.html#other-notes">Other Notes</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html">Migration Guides</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#migrating-from-web3-to-ethers-v4">Migrating from Web3 to ethers v4</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#migrating-from-ethers-v3-to-ethers-v4">Migrating from ethers v3 to ethers v4</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#constants">Constants</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#deploying-contracts">Deploying Contracts</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#encrypted-wallets">Encrypted Wallets</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#events">Events</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#fetching-json">Fetching JSON</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#interfaces">Interfaces</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#networks">Networks</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#parsing-transactions">Parsing Transactions</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#custom-signer">Custom Signer</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#default-provider">Default Provider</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#big-number">Big Number</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#jsonrpcprovider">JsonRpcProvider</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#verifying-messages">Verifying Messages</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="migration.html#waiting-for-transactions">Waiting for Transactions</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html">Notes</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#why-can-t-i-just-use-numbers">Why cant I just use numbers?</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#promises">Promises</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#checksum-address">Checksum Address</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#icap-address">ICAP Address</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#supported-platforms">Supported Platforms</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#contributing">Contributing</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#security">Security</a><ul>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#the-github-and-npm-package">The GitHub and NPM Package</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#memory-hard-brute-force-encrpyting">Memory Hard Brute-Force Encrpyting</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="notes.html#responsible-disclosure">Responsible Disclosure</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="testing.html">Testing</a></li>
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<h2>Legacy Documentation<a class="headerlink" href="#legacy-documentation" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h2>
<p>For documentation of older versions, we will keep a list here.</p>
<blockquote>
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<li><a class="reference external" href="/v3/">version 3.0</a></li>
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