Dflow Spot Trading

DFlow Spot Trading

Swap any pair of Solana tokens via DFlow. Trades are synchronous: one /order call returns a signed-ready transaction that you sign, submit, and confirm.

Prerequisites

• DFlow docs MCP (https://pond.dflow.net/mcp): install per the repo README. This skill is the recipe; the MCP is the reference. Look up endpoint shapes, parameter details, and error codes there rather than guessing.
  • Convention: a bare doc path in this skill (e.g. /resources/trading-api/order/order) is an MCP path. Read it with query_docs_filesystem_d_flow (cat/head the .mdx) or search_d_flow, not a browser fetch. Full https:// links are human-facing destinations (runnable recipes, the API-key signup) that you hand to the user.
• dflow CLI (optional, for command-line/agent use): install per the repo README.

Choose your surface

• CLI: command line, scripts, local agents. Manages keys, signs, and broadcasts.
• API: web/mobile apps, backends, automations with their own signer. Browser apps must proxy HTTP through their backend (the Trading API serves no CORS).

If unclear, ask once: "From the command line, or wired into an app?"

Workflows

Quote (read-only)

• CLI: dflow quote <atomic-amount> <FROM> <TO>
• API: GET /order doubles as a quote. Called without a userPublicKey, it returns the price fields with no transaction attached, which is what you want for a quote before the user has connected a wallet. /quote still works, but /order is the preferred surface for new integrations. (Quote/response field list: load /resources/trading-api/order/order via the docs MCP.)

Trade (/order)

Get a quote and a signed-ready VersionedTransaction in one call, then sign, submit, and confirm. Works with all SPL and Token-2022 mints.

Full request/response schema, every param, and the error codes: load /resources/trading-api/order/order via the docs MCP (query_docs_filesystem_d_flow).

• CLI: dflow trade <atomic-amount> <FROM> <TO> (add --confirm for agents/scripts that need to block until confirmed).
• API: GET /order?userPublicKey=&inputMint=&outputMint=&amount=, deserialize the base64 transaction into a VersionedTransaction, sign it, submit it through your RPC, and confirm. The DFlow quickstart pattern:

const { transaction } = await fetch("/api/order?...").then(r => r.json());
const tx = VersionedTransaction.deserialize(Buffer.from(transaction, "base64"));
tx.sign([keypair]);
const sig = await connection.sendTransaction(tx);
const { value } = await connection.confirmTransaction(sig, "confirmed");
if (value.err) throw new Error(`swap failed: ${JSON.stringify(value.err)}`);

Where each /order response field goes (DFlow owns the authoritative value, so display these rather than re-deriving them):

• transaction (base64): deserialize, sign, submit.
• inAmount / outAmount / otherAmountThreshold / priceImpactPct / slippageBps: display.
• prioritizationFeeLamports / prioritizationType: the server-resolved priority-fee choice after "auto" resolution; echo or log.
• contextSlot: logging / staleness checks.
• routePlan: optional display / debugging.

Fields marked "Specified if and only if the request included the user's public key" in the schema (transaction, lastValidBlockHeight, computeUnitLimit, prioritizationFeeLamports) are absent on quote-only calls, so check before using them.

Full runnable example: /spot/recipes/quickstart. Field-level schema: load /resources/trading-api/order/order via the docs MCP.

What to ASK the user (and what NOT to ask)

Trade shape (infer if unambiguous, confirm if not):

1. Input and output token as base58 mint addresses. The CLI resolves a small symbol set (SOL, USDC, USDT, JUP, BONK, and a few others); the API has no symbol resolver and accepts base58 mints only.
2. Amount in atomic units of the input token (500000 = $0.50 USDC, 1000000000 = 1 SOL). Convert before calling.

Infra (always ask, never infer):

3. API only: wallet pubkey (base58), required for every /order call that returns a transaction.
4. API only: DFlow API key. Ask with a clean, neutral question: "Do you have a DFlow API key?" Don't presuppose where the key lives; phrasings like "is DFLOW_API_KEY set?" nudge the user toward env-var defaults they didn't ask for. It's one key for everything DFlow (the same x-api-key works across the REST APIs and the WebSocket streams). If yes, use prod host https://quote-api.dflow.net with x-api-key on every request. If no, use dev host https://dev-quote-api.dflow.net (same features, rate-limited, for testing only). Point them at https://pond.dflow.net/get-started/api-key for a prod key. The dflow CLI also requires a key, set once via dflow setup.
5. Priority fee (both surfaces): "Any priority-fee preference, or just use DFlow's default?" Default on both surfaces is DFlow-auto, capped at 0.005 SOL (documented default on /order). Surface this so the user knows the lever exists for congestion or cost-sensitive trades. Don't editorialize about what percentage of trades this covers; DFlow doesn't publish one.
   • API: pass prioritizationFeeLamports on /order as auto, medium, high, veryHigh, disabled, or integer lamports. Live estimates for tuning: GET /priority-fees (snapshot), /priority-fees/stream (WebSocket). Fee modes and the auto-cap: load /spot/trading/priority-fees via the docs MCP.
   • CLI: no tuning flag; dflow trade always uses the server-side default. For finer control (an exact lamport value, or disabled), drop to the API.
6. Sponsored / gasless (API only, skip for CLI): "Does the user need to hold SOL for this trade, or is your app covering fees?" Default is user pays. To sponsor, pass sponsor=<sponsor-wallet-base58> on /order and co-sign the returned transaction with the sponsor keypair (both user and sponsor sign). Optional sponsorExec=true|false picks sponsor-executes (default) vs. user-executes. Full semantics: load /resources/trading-api/order/order via the docs MCP. The CLI doesn't support sponsorship.

Do NOT ask about:

• RPC: CLI users set it during dflow setup. For the API, ask only when the app signs server-side and needs its own RPC to submit. When one is needed, use a reliable RPC provider.
• Slippage: both surfaces default to "auto". Override only on explicit user request (--slippage CLI; slippageBps API).
• DEX inclusion/exclusion, route length, Jito bundles, direct-only routes: defaults are right for typical swaps; surface these knobs only on explicit user need.
• Platform fee: off by default; relevant only if the user is monetizing their own distribution. See the Platform fees section below.

Gotchas (the docs MCP won't volunteer these)

• Atomic units always. The API rejects human-readable amounts. Confirm decimals each time (token metadata or RPC getParsedAccountInfo).
• API has no symbol resolver. inputMint and outputMint take base58 mint addresses only, so a symbol like "USDC" won't work on /order. (The CLI resolves a small symbol set; the API does not.)
• Browser apps must proxy. The Trading API serves no CORS, so call it from a backend (an edge function or API route), never directly from the browser.
• route_not_found. A likely cause is insufficient liquidity for the pair at your trade size. It's also worth confirming the mint addresses are correct and that amount is in atomic units.
• price_impact_too_high is real. Trade size exceeds available liquidity; reduce amount, or pass priceImpactTolerancePct only with the user's explicit consent.
• Onchain failure with slippage logs. Don't silently bump slippageBps on retry; surface it to the user.
• CLI and direct HTTP are separate auth sites. The CLI stores its key, wallet, and RPC at dflow setup, so shelling out to dflow trade plumbs nothing extra. A sibling HTTP client that calls /order directly needs its own key handed in (env var, .env, header); the CLI's stored key is not reused by it. Both need a key; they're just configured in different places.

Platform fees (builder cut)

Collect a fee on swaps your app routes, paid to a builder-controlled token account on successful execution. API only: these are /order params; the dflow CLI has no platform-fee flags.

• platformFeeBps: flat fee in basis points (50 = 0.5%).
• platformFeeMode: which side pays, outputMint (default) or inputMint.
• feeAccount: the SPL token account that receives the fee. It must already exist (DFlow won't create it); you need one ATA per token you collect in, owned by the builder wallet. Pass the one matching the mode's token per request.

Gotchas:

• Don't set platformFeeBps unless you're actually collecting. A declared fee is factored into the slippage budget, so a fee with no real feeAccount behind it spends that budget on nothing and worsens the user's price.
• Fees apply only on successful trades. Failed or reverted swaps charge nothing.

Ask the user: fee rate (bps), and the collection token(s) (and whether a matching builder-owned ATA already exists). For the full mode matrix, load /spot/trading/platform-fees via the docs MCP; runnable example: /spot/recipes/platform-fees.

When something doesn't fit

For anything not covered here (full parameter lists, full error tables, sponsorship fields), query the docs MCP (search_d_flow, query_docs_filesystem_d_flow).

For runnable code, point the user at the DFlow docs recipes: /spot/recipes/quickstart.

Sibling skills

Defer if the user pivots to:

• dflow-market-data: stream live prices, order book, or depth. Read-only market data; this skill executes trades, that one displays them. A "show me the live book / prices" ask belongs there.