Skip to main content

​
Setting Up an Agent

This guide walks through creating a Steward agent from scratch — wallet creation, policy configuration, and your first transaction.

​
Prerequisites

  • A Steward tenant with an API key (see Self-Hosting or contact the team)
  • Node.js 18+ or Bun
  • @stwd/sdk installed (Installation)

​
Step 1: Initialize the Client

import { StewardClient } from "@stwd/sdk";

const steward = new StewardClient({
  baseUrl: "https://api.steward.fi",
  apiKey: "stwd_your_tenant_api_key",
});

​
Step 2: Create the Agent

const agent = await steward.createWallet("my-trading-bot", "Trading Bot");

console.log("Agent created:", agent.id);
console.log("EVM wallet:", agent.walletAddresses.evm);
console.log("Solana wallet:", agent.walletAddresses.solana);
This creates:
  • An agent record in the database
  • An encrypted EVM keypair
  • An encrypted Solana keypair
  • Wallet entries for both chain families

​
Step 3: Configure Policies

Steward uses default deny — your agent can’t do anything without policies. Here’s a common setup for a trading agent: 
await steward.setPolicies("my-trading-bot", [
  // Limit per-transaction and daily spending
  {
    id: "spending-limit",
    type: "spending-limit",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      maxPerTransaction: "100000000000000000",  // 0.1 ETH
      maxPerDay: "1000000000000000000",         // 1 ETH
      maxPerWeek: "5000000000000000000",        // 5 ETH
    },
  },
  // Only interact with known DEX routers
  {
    id: "approved-dexes",
    type: "approved-addresses",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      addresses: [
        "0x1111111254EEB25477B68fb85Ed929f73A960582", // 1inch
        "0xDef1C0ded9bec7F1a1670819833240f027b25EfF", // 0x Protocol
      ],
    },
  },
  // Auto-approve small transactions
  {
    id: "auto-approve",
    type: "auto-approve-threshold",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      maxValue: "50000000000000000", // 0.05 ETH
    },
  },
  // Limit transaction frequency
  {
    id: "rate-limit",
    type: "rate-limit",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      maxPerMinute: 5,
      maxPerHour: 50,
    },
  },
  // Only trade during market hours
  {
    id: "trading-hours",
    type: "time-window",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      allowedHours: { start: 8, end: 22 },
      timezone: "UTC",
    },
  },
  // Restrict to Base mainnet
  {
    id: "chain-restriction",
    type: "allowed-chains",
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      chainIds: [8453],
    },
  },
]);
See the Policies Guide for detailed explanations of each policy type and common configurations.

​
Step 4: Generate an Agent Token

For the agent to authenticate its own requests, generate a scoped JWT: 
const tokenResponse = await fetch(
  "https://api.steward.fi/agents/my-trading-bot/token",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "X-Steward-Key": "stwd_your_tenant_api_key",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ expiresIn: "24h" }),
  }
);

const { data } = await tokenResponse.json();
console.log("Agent token:", data.token);
// This token goes into the agent container as STEWARD_AGENT_TOKEN

​
Step 5: Use the Agent Token

In your agent code, create a client with the agent token: 
const agentClient = new StewardClient({
  baseUrl: "https://api.steward.fi",
  bearerToken: process.env.STEWARD_AGENT_TOKEN,
});

// Sign a transaction
const result = await agentClient.signTransaction("my-trading-bot", {
  to: "0x1111111254EEB25477B68fb85Ed929f73A960582",
  value: "10000000000000000", // 0.01 ETH
  data: "0x...",              // swap calldata
  chainId: 8453,
});

// Check balance
const balance = await agentClient.getBalance("my-trading-bot", 8453);

​
Step 6: Fund the Wallet

Send ETH (or SOL) to the agent’s wallet address: 
const addresses = await agentClient.getAddresses("my-trading-bot");
const evmAddress = addresses.addresses.find(a => a.chainFamily === "evm")?.address;
console.log(`Send ETH on Base to: ${evmAddress}`);

​
Batch Creation

Creating multiple agents at once: 
const batch = await steward.createWalletBatch(
  [
    { id: "agent-1", name: "Agent One" },
    { id: "agent-2", name: "Agent Two" },
    { id: "agent-3", name: "Agent Three" },
  ],
  // Apply the same policies to all agents
  [
    {
      id: "spending-limit",
      type: "spending-limit",
      enabled: true,
      config: { maxPerTransaction: "100000000000000000", maxPerDay: "500000000000000000" },
    },
  ]
);

console.log(`Created: ${batch.created.length}, Errors: ${batch.errors.length}`);

​
What’s Next?

Policies Guide

Deep dive into policy configuration.

ElizaOS Plugin

Integrate with ElizaOS agents.

Secrets Guide

Manage API credentials securely.

SDK Reference

Full StewardClient API reference.