# [](https://www.bigchaindb.com)
> Official JavaScript driver for [BigchainDB](https://github.com/bigchaindb/bigchaindb) to create transactions in Node.js and the browser.
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- [Main Documentation](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/js-driver/en/latest/usage.html)
- [Driver API reference](API.md)
## Compatibility
| BigchainDB Server | BigchainDB JavaScript Driver |
| ----------------- |------------------------------|
| `0.10` | `0.1.x` |
| `1.0.0` | `0.3.x` |
| `1.3.x` | `3.x.x` |
| `>= 2.0.0` | `4.x.x` |
## Breaking changes
- **Version 4.0** of BigchainDB JavaScript Driver makes the driver compatible with BigchainDB 2.0. There are new functions for sending off transactions along with other changes. Check [older versions](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/js-driver/en/latest/readme.html#features)
- **Version 3.2** of BigchainDB JavaScript Driver introduces a new way of creating transfer transactions. Check [older versions](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/js-driver/en/latest/readme.html#features)
## Table of Contents
- [Installation and Usage](#installation-and-usage)
- [Example: Create a transaction](#example-create-a-transaction)
- [Browser usage](#browser-usage)
- [BigchainDB Documentation](#bigchaindb-documentation)
- [Speed Optimizations](#speed-optimizations)
- [Development](#development)
- [Authors](#authors)
- [License](#license)
---
## Installation and Usage
```bash
npm install bigchaindb-driver
```
```js
const driver = require('bigchaindb-driver')
// or ES6+
import driver from 'bigchaindb-driver'
```
### Example: Create a transaction
```js
const driver = require('bigchaindb-driver')
// BigchainDB server instance (e.g. https://example.com/api/v1/)
const API_PATH = 'http://localhost:9984/api/v1/'
// Create a new keypair.
const alice = new driver.Ed25519Keypair()
// Construct a transaction payload
const tx = driver.Transaction.makeCreateTransaction(
// Define the asset to store, in this example it is the current temperature
// (in Celsius) for the city of Berlin.
{ city: 'Berlin, DE', temperature: 22, datetime: new Date().toString() },
// Metadata contains information about the transaction itself
// (can be `null` if not needed)
{ what: 'My first BigchainDB transaction' },
// A transaction needs an output
[ driver.Transaction.makeOutput(
driver.Transaction.makeEd25519Condition(alice.publicKey))
],
alice.publicKey
)
// Sign the transaction with private keys
const txSigned = driver.Transaction.signTransaction(tx, alice.privateKey)
// Send the transaction off to BigchainDB
const conn = new driver.Connection(API_PATH)
conn.postTransactionCommit(txSigned)
.then(retrievedTx => console.log('Transaction', retrievedTx.id, 'successfully posted.'))
```
### Browser usage
```html
BigchainDB boilerplate
Hello BigchainDB
Your transaction id is: processing
```
## BigchainDB Documentation
- [The Hitchhiker's Guide to BigchainDB](https://www.bigchaindb.com/developers/guide/)
- [HTTP API Reference](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/server/en/latest/http-client-server-api.html)
- [The Transaction Model](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/server/en/latest/data-models/transaction-model.html?highlight=crypto%20conditions)
- [Inputs and Outputs](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/server/en/latest/data-models/inputs-outputs.html)
- [Asset Transfer](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/projects/py-driver/en/latest/usage.html#asset-transfer)
- [All BigchainDB Documentation](https://docs.bigchaindb.com/)
## Speed Optimizations
This implementation plays "safe" by using JS-native (or downgradable) libraries for its crypto-related functions to keep compatibilities with the browser. If you do want some more speed, feel free to explore the following:
* [chloride](https://github.com/dominictarr/chloride), or its underlying [sodium](https://github.com/paixaop/node-sodium) library
* [node-sha3](https://github.com/phusion/node-sha3) -- **MAKE SURE** to use [steakknife's fork](https://github.com/steakknife/node-sha3) if [the FIPS 202 upgrade](https://github.com/phusion/node-sha3/pull/25) hasn't been merged (otherwise, you'll run into all kinds of hashing problems)
## Development
```js
git clone git@github.com:bigchaindb/js-bigchaindb-driver.git
cd js-bigchaindb-driver/
npm i
npm run dev
```
After updating source files in `src/`, make sure to update the API documentation. The following command will scan all source files and create the Markdown output into `./API.md`:
```bash
npm run doc
```
## Authors
* inspired by [`js-bigchaindb-quickstart`](https://github.com/sohkai/js-bigchaindb-quickstart) of @sohkhai [thanks]
* BigchainDB
* BigchainDB contributors
## Licenses
See [LICENSE](LICENSE) and [LICENSE-docs](LICENSE-docs).