Skip to content
Build
SDKs
TypeScript SDK
Building and Sending Transactions
Multi-Agent Transactions

Multi-Agent Transactions

Multi-agent transactions allow multiple accounts to participate in the logic of a Move contract.

This can be used to require multiple parties agree to a transaction before executing or to use resources from multiple accounts.

Writing Multi-Agent Transactions

Creating and executing a multi-agent transaction follows a similar flow to the simple transaction flow, but with several notable differences.

Instead of .simple, multi-agent transaction functions use .multiAgent.

Build the transaction by including secondarySignerAddresses with a list of each additional agent.

Make sure to replace the function field below with your entry function that requires multiple agents to sign.

multi-agent.ts
const transaction = await aptos.transaction.build.multiAgent({
  sender: alice.accountAddress,
  secondarySignerAddresses: [bob.accountAddress],
  data: {
    // REPLACE WITH YOUR MULTI-AGENT FUNCTION HERE
    function:
      "<REPLACE WITH YOUR MULTI AGENT MOVE ENTRY FUNCTION> (Syntax {address}::{module}::{function})",
    // Pass in arguments for the function you specify above
    functionArguments: [],
  },
});

Simulate the transaction by passing in all additional public keys to secondarySignersPublicKeys. (Optional)

multi-agent.ts
const [userTransactionResponse] = await aptos.transaction.simulate.multiAgent(
  {
    signerPublicKey: alice.publicKey,
    secondarySignersPublicKeys: [bob.publicKey],
    transaction,
  },
);

Sign once for each agent.

You will combine these signatures in the next step.

multi-agent.ts
const aliceSenderAuthenticator = aptos.transaction.sign({
  signer: alice,
  transaction,
});
// Bob is a secondary signer for this transaction
const bobSenderAuthenticator = aptos.transaction.sign({
  signer: bob,
  transaction,
});

Submit the transaction by combining all agent signatures via the additionalSignerAuthenticators parameter.

multi-agent.ts
const committedTransaction = await aptos.transaction.submit.multiAgent({
  transaction,
  senderAuthenticator: aliceSenderAuthenticator,
  additionalSignersAuthenticators: [bobSenderAuthenticator],
});

Lastly, wait for the transaction to resolve.

multi-agent.ts
const executedTransaction = await aptos.waitForTransaction({
  transactionHash: committedTransaction.hash,
});

Full TypeScript Multi-Agent Code Snippet

⚠️

The below snippet needs light editing to work properly! (See below steps)

  1. Install @aptos-labs/ts-sdk by running pnpm i @aptos-labs/ts-sdk or using whichever package manager is most comfortable for you.
  2. Update the below snippet to build a transaction that requires multi-agent signing.
    1. Replace the function and parameters below this comment: // REPLACE WITH YOUR MULTI-AGENT FUNCTION HERE
    2. This customization is needed as there are no pre-made Aptos contracts which need multi-agent signatures. If you want to deploy your own example multi-agent contract, you can deploy the “transfer two by two” example Move contract.
multi-agent.ts
/**
 * This example shows how to use the Aptos SDK to send a transaction.
 */
 
import { Account, Aptos, AptosConfig, Network } from "@aptos-labs/ts-sdk";
 
async function example() {
  console.log(
    "This example will create two accounts (Alice and Bob) and send a transaction transfering APT to Bob's account.",
  );
 
  // 0. Setup the client and test accounts
  const config = new AptosConfig({ network: Network.DEVNET });
  const aptos = new Aptos(config);
 
  let alice = Account.generate();
  let bob = Account.generate();
  let carol = Account.generate();
 
  console.log("=== Addresses ===\n");
  console.log(`Alice's address is: ${alice.accountAddress}`);
  console.log(`Bob's address is: ${bob.accountAddress}`);
  console.log(`Carol's address is: ${carol.accountAddress}`);
 
  console.log("\n=== Funding accounts ===\n");
  await aptos.fundAccount({
    accountAddress: alice.accountAddress,
    amount: 100_000_000,
  });
  await aptos.fundAccount({
    accountAddress: bob.accountAddress,
    amount: 100_000_000,
  });
  await aptos.fundAccount({
    accountAddress: carol.accountAddress,
    amount: 100_000_000,
  });
  console.log("Done funding Alice, Bob, and Carol's accounts.");
 
  // 1. Build
  console.log("\n=== 1. Building the transaction ===\n");
  const transaction = await aptos.transaction.build.multiAgent({
    sender: alice.accountAddress,
    secondarySignerAddresses: [bob.accountAddress],
    data: {
      // REPLACE WITH YOUR MULTI-AGENT FUNCTION HERE
      function:
        "<REPLACE WITH YOUR MULTI AGENT MOVE ENTRY FUNCTION> (Syntax {address}::{module}::{function})",
      functionArguments: [],
    },
  });
  console.log("Transaction:", transaction);
 
  // 2. Simulate (Optional)
  console.log("\n === 2. Simulating Response (Optional) === \n");
  const [userTransactionResponse] = await aptos.transaction.simulate.multiAgent(
    {
      signerPublicKey: alice.publicKey,
      secondarySignersPublicKeys: [bob.publicKey],
      transaction,
    },
  );
  console.log(userTransactionResponse);
 
  // 3. Sign
  console.log("\n=== 3. Signing transaction ===\n");
  const aliceSenderAuthenticator = aptos.transaction.sign({
    signer: alice,
    transaction,
  });
  const bobSenderAuthenticator = aptos.transaction.sign({
    signer: bob,
    transaction,
  });
  console.log(aliceSenderAuthenticator);
  console.log(bobSenderAuthenticator);
 
  // 4. Submit
  console.log("\n=== 4. Submitting transaction ===\n");
  const committedTransaction = await aptos.transaction.submit.multiAgent({
    transaction,
    senderAuthenticator: aliceSenderAuthenticator,
    additionalSignersAuthenticators: [bobSenderAuthenticator],
  });
  console.log("Submitted transaction hash:", committedTransaction.hash);
 
  // 5. Wait for results
  console.log("\n=== 5. Waiting for result of transaction ===\n");
  const executedTransaction = await aptos.waitForTransaction({
    transactionHash: committedTransaction.hash,
  });
  console.log(executedTransaction);
}
 
example();

Common Errors

NUMBER_OF_SIGNER_ARGUMENTS_MISMATCH - This happens when you are attempting to do multi-agent signing for a function which does not require that number of accounts. For example, if you try using multiple signatures for a 0x1::aptos_account::transfer function - it only expects one address, and so produces an error when more than one is provided.

Building and Sending TransactionsSponsoring Transactions