How do I transfer an SPL token using web3.js?

Question

I know the SPL-Token account and own some amount of the token in my account. How can I send some of it to another account using web3.js?

Answer 1

If you're just using web3.js:

const web3 = require("@solana/web3.js");
const { Token } = require("@solana/spl-token");

(async () => {
  // Connect to cluster
  const connection = new web3.Connection(
    web3.clusterApiUrl("devnet"),
    "confirmed"
  );

  // Generate a new wallet keypair and airdrop SOL
  var fromWallet = web3.Keypair.generate();
  var fromAirdropSignature = await connection.requestAirdrop(
    fromWallet.publicKey,
    web3.LAMPORTS_PER_SOL
  );
  // Wait for airdrop confirmation
  await connection.confirmTransaction(fromAirdropSignature);

  // Generate a new wallet to receive newly minted token
  const toWallet = web3.Keypair.generate();

  // Create new token mint
  const mint = await Token.createMint(
    connection,
    fromWallet,
    fromWallet.publicKey,
    null,
    9,
    splToken.TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID
  );

  // Get the token account of the fromWallet Solana address, if it does not exist, create it
  const fromTokenAccount = await mint.getOrCreateAssociatedAccountInfo(
    fromWallet.publicKey
  );

  //get the token account of the toWallet Solana address, if it does not exist, create it
  const toTokenAccount = await mint.getOrCreateAssociatedAccountInfo(
    toWallet.publicKey
  );

  // Minting 1 new token to the "fromTokenAccount" account we just returned/created
  await mint.mintTo(
    fromTokenAccount.address,
    fromWallet.publicKey,
    [],
    1000000000
  );

  // Add token transfer instructions to transaction
  const transaction = new web3.Transaction().add(
    splToken.Token.createTransferInstruction(
      splToken.TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID,
      fromTokenAccount.address,
      toTokenAccount.address,
      fromWallet.publicKey,
      [],
      1
    )
  );

  // Sign transaction, broadcast, and confirm
  await web3.sendAndConfirmTransaction(connection, transaction, [fromWallet]);
})();

If you're using wallet-adapter with web3.js:

import { WalletNotConnectedError } from "@solana/wallet-adapter-base";
import { useConnection, useWallet } from "@solana/wallet-adapter-react";
import { Keypair, SystemProgram, Transaction } from "@solana/web3.js";
import { TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID, createTransferInstruction } from "@solana/spl-token";
import React, { FC, useCallback } from "react";

export const SendSPLTokenToAddress: FC = (
  fromTokenAccount,
  toTokenAccount,
  fromWallet
) => {
  const { connection } = useConnection();
  const { publicKey, sendTransaction } = useWallet();

  const onClick = useCallback(async () => {
    if (!publicKey) throw new WalletNotConnectedError();

    const transaction = new Transaction().add(
      createTransferInstruction(
        fromTokenAccount.address,
        toTokenAccount.address,
        fromWallet.publicKey,
        1,
        [],
        TOKEN_PROGRAM_ID
      )
    );

    const signature = await sendTransaction(transaction, connection);

    await connection.confirmTransaction(signature, "processed");
  }, [publicKey, sendTransaction, connection]);

  return (
    <button onClick={onClick} disabled={!publicKey}>
      Send 1 lamport to a random address!
    </button>
  );
};

Answer 2

A good code example using web3 is here:

https://solanacookbook.com/references/basic-transactions.html#how-to-send-spl-tokens

Answer 3

The two examples posted before me didn't work

Found a working example at https://spl.solana.com/token#example-transferring-tokens-to-another-user (click JS)

Here it is for ease of reference:

import { createMint, getOrCreateAssociatedTokenAccount, mintTo, transfer } from '@solana/spl-token';

(async () => {
    // Connect to cluster
    const connection = new Connection(clusterApiUrl('devnet'), 'confirmed');

    // Generate a new wallet keypair and airdrop SOL
    const fromWallet = Keypair.generate();
    const fromAirdropSignature = await connection.requestAirdrop(fromWallet.publicKey, LAMPORTS_PER_SOL);

    // Wait for airdrop confirmation
    await connection.confirmTransaction(fromAirdropSignature);

    // Generate a new wallet to receive newly minted token
    const toWallet = Keypair.generate();

    // Create new token mint
    const mint = await createMint(connection, fromWallet, fromWallet.publicKey, null, 9);

    // Get the token account of the fromWallet address, and if it does not exist, create it
    const fromTokenAccount = await getOrCreateAssociatedTokenAccount(
        connection,
        fromWallet,
        mint,
        fromWallet.publicKey
    );

    // Get the token account of the toWallet address, and if it does not exist, create it
    const toTokenAccount = await getOrCreateAssociatedTokenAccount(connection, fromWallet, mint, toWallet.publicKey);

    // Mint 1 new token to the "fromTokenAccount" account we just created
    let signature = await mintTo(
        connection,
        fromWallet,
        mint,
        fromTokenAccount.address,
        fromWallet.publicKey,
        1000000000
    );
    console.log('mint tx:', signature);

    // Transfer the new token to the "toTokenAccount" we just created
    signature = await transfer(
        connection,
        fromWallet,
        fromTokenAccount.address,
        toTokenAccount.address,
        fromWallet.publicKey,
        50
    );
    
    console.log({signature})
})();```