Alchemy CLI

Use the Alchemy CLI (@alchemy/cli) for live blockchain queries, admin work, transaction signing, and local automation from the terminal. The CLI groups commands by chain (evm, solana, xchain) and by product area (wallet, app, webhook, auth, config), each with structured JSON output.

When to use this skill

Use alchemy-cli when all of the following are true:

• The user wants live agent work — live querying, analysis, admin work, or local automation that the agent runs now in this session
• @alchemy/cli is installed locally, or both the CLI and an MCP server are available, or neither is available (in which case install the CLI — see Install)

The CLI is the preferred local fallback runtime path for live agent work. When in doubt about CLI vs MCP, prefer the CLI.

When to use a different skill

Do not use this skill to write production application code — CLI commands are for live agent work, not for embedding into shipped software.

Install

npm i -g @alchemy/cli

If the CLI is not installed and the user wants live agent work, install it. Do not fall back to raw curl/HTTP calls — those are the API-key path covered by alchemy-api.

Bootstrap

Run this at the start of any session to get the full command contract (every command, flag, auth method, error code, and example):

alchemy --json --no-interactive agent-prompt

For wallet-scoped agent work, use the narrower contract that lists only wallet, EVM, Solana, and cross-chain commands plus the session-signer capability set:

alchemy --json --no-interactive agent-prompt --scope wallet

When the CLI is not installed yet but the agent needs the same contract, the unauthenticated npx variant works:

npx -y @alchemy/cli@latest --json --no-interactive agent-prompt --scope wallet

Execution rules

• ALWAYS pass --json --no-interactive on every command
• Parse stdout as JSON on exit code 0
• Parse stderr as JSON on nonzero exit code
• NEVER run bare alchemy without --json --no-interactive
• NEVER use curl or raw HTTP when an alchemy CLI command exists for the task — that's the alchemy-api (API-key) path, not this skill
• NEVER use the CLI to generate production application code; hand off to alchemy-api or agentic-gateway for shipped code
• For onchain actions (evm send, evm contract call, evm approve, evm swap, xchain bridge, solana send), run alchemy --json --no-interactive wallet status --verify first to confirm the session is still valid, then prefer --dry-run before broadcast. Treat sponsorship policies (--gas-policy-id, --fee-policy-id) as fee controls, not wallet spend limits.

Preflight

Before the first command, run both of these checks:

alchemy --json --no-interactive doctor
alchemy --json --no-interactive evm gas

doctor (alias: alchemy config status) reports what's configured plus a nextCommands list of remediation steps. Do not rely on its top-level OK alone — there is a known false positive where it reports the session is set up but RPC commands still fail with AUTH_REQUIRED because no API key has been derived from the auth token.

evm gas is a lightweight RPC smoke test that catches this. If it returns {"gasPrice": "0x...", ...}, RPC is wired up correctly. If it returns {"error": {"code": "AUTH_REQUIRED", ...}}, run alchemy auth login (which fetches and saves the API key) or alchemy config set api-key <key>, then re-run evm gas to confirm.

If doctor reports missing config, follow its nextCommands first, then run evm gas to verify.

Auth setup

The fastest way to authenticate is via browser login:

alchemy auth login

For headless environments (SSH, GitHub Codespaces, CI, sandboxes) where the browser can't reach the CLI's localhost callback, force the OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant flow:

alchemy auth login --device-code

Plain alchemy auth auto-detects non-interactive sessions and switches to device-code mode automatically. Requires @alchemy/cli 0.18.0 or later.

This opens a browser, completes the OAuth flow, and configures both the API key (for RPC/Data) and the Admin API access internally. There is no separate access key step anymore — admin commands (alchemy app ...) work straight after alchemy auth login.

To check auth status: alchemy auth status To log out: alchemy auth logout

Alternative auth methods

alchemy evm network list / alchemy solana network list and alchemy version / update-check need no auth.

Selecting a default app

Many app subcommands operate on a "default app." If you see APP_REQUIRED in an error response, select one:

alchemy --json --no-interactive app select <id>
# or equivalently
alchemy --json --no-interactive config set app <id>

Get an Alchemy account at dashboard.alchemy.com.

Task-to-command map

EVM — onchain reads

EVM — Data API

EVM — Simulation

EVM — wallet-signed transactions

Wallet-signed EVM actions return a smart wallet call ID. Use alchemy evm status <call-id-or-tx-hash> to check either value. Use --gas-sponsored and --gas-policy-id <id> on supported actions to request gas sponsorship; set defaults with alchemy config set evm-gas-sponsored true and alchemy config set evm-gas-policy-id <id>.

Native token address for swaps: 0xEeeeeEeeeEeEeeEeEeEeeEEEeeeeEeeeeeeeEEeE.

Most wallet-signed EVM commands accept --signer session|local to override the active signer for that invocation. When both signers are configured and no active one is chosen, the CLI defaults to session and prints a warning.

Solana

Solana transaction commands use a local Solana wallet (alchemy wallet connect --mode local --chain solana). Use --fee-sponsored and --fee-policy-id <id> on supported actions to request fee sponsorship; persist defaults with alchemy config set solana-fee-sponsored true / alchemy config set solana-fee-policy-id <id>.

alchemy solana swap is reserved for future support and is not implemented.

Cross-chain

Bridge supports EVM mainnets. For same-chain token exchanges, use alchemy evm swap.

Source network comes from -n, --network.

Wallets and signing

A wallet session is a CLI-bound signer that the user approves in the Agent Wallets dashboard. The agent never sees the private key. Sessions expire automatically and can be revoked from the CLI or the dashboard. Session signing capabilities the server may grant: evm.signMessage, evm.signTypedData, evm.signAuthorization, evm.prepareCalls, evm.sendCalls, solana.signTransaction. The session signer does not support raw EVM transaction signing — use the action commands (evm send, evm contract call, evm approve, evm swap, xchain bridge, solana send), which execute through Alchemy smart-wallet calls.

Run alchemy --json --no-interactive wallet status --verify before any state-changing wallet action — it returns the active signer, expiry, chain-specific session metadata, backend status, and enabled signer capabilities.

Webhook (Notify)

App management (Admin API)

The CLI's app and usage commands are thin wrappers over Alchemy's public Admin API (api.g.alchemy.com/admin-api/v1/...). Apps and Chains endpoints are public and self-serve; Usage endpoints are also self-serve for app-scoped queries. See references/operational-admin-api.md for the REST surface, auth model (x-alchemy-token bearer or the CLI's browser session), and endpoint enumeration.

Usage and metering

Range limits on timeseries queries (as of 2026-07-02):

• Free plan: 7 days maximum lookback.
• Pay-as-you-go: 30 days maximum lookback.
• Longer ranges: contact sales.

If the requested range exceeds the plan limit, the CLI does NOT error — it returns the allowed range and surfaces both the requested and returned range in the response so you can detect the truncation.

--metrics semantics differ by endpoint:

• alchemy usage timeseries accepts only amount. The usd metric is not valid on time-series responses (removed 2026-08-13 per API-side change); pass --metrics amount or omit the flag.
• alchemy usage summary accepts both amount and usd (comma-separated) on summary responses.

Auth: same browser session as alchemy app (Admin API access).

x402 payments (third-party APIs)

alchemy x402 request and alchemy x402 balance pay third-party APIs in USDC per RFC 402. This is a separate axis from --x402 / alchemy config set x402 true (which handles Alchemy-API auth for Alchemy's own gateway). Requires @alchemy/cli 0.22.0 or later.

• Pass --max-payment <usdc> in non-interactive mode; without it the CLI exits 9 (non-interactive without cap).
• Combining --yes with no --max-payment exits 2 (yes without cap).
• Uses Circle Gateway batched nanopayments or direct EIP-3009 settlement depending on the third-party server.
• Live example endpoint: https://nano.blockrun.ai (returns HTTP 402 on the first hit, then completes after the client-signed payment).

CLI admin and utilities

Global flags

Error handling

Errors return structured JSON on stderr. Each error has a code, an exitCode (1–9), a retryable boolean, and a recovery hint. Key codes (from agent-prompt):

Get the full canonical list any time with alchemy --json --no-interactive agent-prompt.

Handing off to other skills

Bridging into the alchemy-api flow (extract an API key)

If the user is starting an app-code project and $ALCHEMY_API_KEY isn't set in their shell, use the CLI to fetch a key from their Alchemy account, persist it to the project's .env so it survives across terminal sessions, and export it for the current shell so the agent can use it immediately.

Security: NEVER echo, print, or otherwise surface the extracted API key value in conversation output. Refer to it only as $ALCHEMY_API_KEY after exporting. Treat it the same as a password.

# 1. Try to read a cached key from CLI config (read-only, safe non-interactive).
KEY="$(alchemy --no-interactive --json --reveal config get api-key 2>/dev/null | jq -r .value)"

# 2. If empty/null, run the interactive flow.
#    Note: auth login opens a browser and app select shows a picker, so do NOT
#    pass --no-interactive here. If you already know the app id, pass it
#    explicitly to skip the picker: `alchemy --no-interactive --json app select <id>`.
if [ -z "$KEY" ] || [ "$KEY" = "null" ]; then
  alchemy auth login              # opens browser; sets up account credentials
  alchemy --json app select       # interactive picker (omit --no-interactive so it can render)
  KEY="$(alchemy --no-interactive --json --reveal config get api-key | jq -r .value)"
fi

# 3. Persist to the project's .env (standard practice — survives terminal restarts
#    and gets loaded by dotenv / framework env loaders at runtime).
#    Use .env.local if the project's framework expects that (e.g. Next.js).
ENV_FILE=".env"
touch "$ENV_FILE"
if grep -q '^ALCHEMY_API_KEY=' "$ENV_FILE"; then
  sed -i.bak "s|^ALCHEMY_API_KEY=.*|ALCHEMY_API_KEY=$KEY|" "$ENV_FILE" && rm "$ENV_FILE.bak"
else
  echo "ALCHEMY_API_KEY=$KEY" >> "$ENV_FILE"
fi
grep -qxF "$ENV_FILE" .gitignore 2>/dev/null || echo "$ENV_FILE" >> .gitignore

# 4. Export to the current shell so the agent can call the API immediately.
export ALCHEMY_API_KEY="$KEY"

Hand off to the alchemy-api skill once .env has the key and ALCHEMY_API_KEY is exported.

Official links

• CLI on npm
• Alchemy docs
• Get API key