Set Up

We'll be writing this bot in Typescript. Client libraries and examples for other languages will be available soon.

Starting a new bot project

First, some boilerplate project setup. Run these commands to set up a new typescript project.

mkdir simple-limit-order-bot && cd simple-limit-order-bot
yarn init
# install typescript & eslint dev dependencies
yarn add -D @types/node @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin @typescript-eslint/parser dotenv eslint eslint-plugin-tsdoc ts-node typescript
# install ethers & mev-share client
yarn add ethers @flashbots/mev-share-client

Now in your editor, make a src directory and add a new file called index.ts

Then, import the required dependencies.

src/index.ts

import MevShareClient, {IPendingTransaction} from '@flashbots/mev-share-client'
import { Contract, JsonRpcProvider, Wallet } from 'ethers'

We'll use the mev-share-client library to listen for new pending transactions, and we'll use ethers to create and sign our own transactions, and query the blockchain.

Lastly, we'll create a file called .env in the project root directory to store our private variables, such as private keys and RPC endpoints.

.env

RPC_URL=
EXECUTOR_KEY=
FB_REPUTATION_KEY=

Fill this in with your own values.

RPC_URL is the Ethereum RPC endpoint we'll use to query smart contract values and account balances. Alchemy, Quicknode, and Infura are popular options for free RPC endpoints.
EXECUTOR_KEY is the private key that will send transactions; it should have at least 0.05 ETH in it to pay for our trade (or more, if you want to make a larger trade than our example).
FB_REPUTATION_KEY is the private key used to sign the payload sent to Flashbots, and is used for tracking searcher reputation. If you earn a high reputation, you may be placed in a high-priority queue, which is prioritized during periods of high traffic. This account should not have any ETH in it.

Your project should now look like this:

Project setup

Use cast to generate private keys for cool addresses like this:

cast wallet vanity --starts-with babe

Starting to generate vanity address...
Successfully found vanity address in 0 seconds.
Address: 0xbabe32A9112Dc37a0A9274c86CAD0D1676fEA55a
Private Key: 😉

::: info

Next we'll read in the variables from our .env file with dotenv.

Add the following code to your project:

src/index.ts

import dotenv from "dotenv"
dotenv.config()

const RPC_URL = process.env.RPC_URL || 'http://127.0.0.1:8545'
const EXECUTOR_KEY = process.env.EXECUTOR_KEY || Wallet.createRandom().privateKey
const FB_REPUTATION_PRIVATE_KEY = process.env.FB_REPUTATION_KEY || Wallet.createRandom().privateKey

Notice we set default values with the || operator. You can omit these if you prefer the variables to remain undefined when they're not set in the .env file.

Connecting to smart contracts to get prices and make trades

To get the price of our trading pair and make trades, we'll need to interact with a few smart contracts: the Uniswap V2 Router, the ERC20 token contracts, and the factory contract.

Uniswap V2 Router contract: smart contract to trade tokens on Uniswap V2. We also use it to get the market price of the trading pair, by simulating a small trade.
factory contract: this is where Uniswap trading pairs are created. We use it to find the pair address for the tokens we want to trade (e.g. WETH/DAI).
ERC20 token contract: the tokens themselves; in our example, we use the WETH contract to call approve, so that the router can transfer our WETH tokens for us.

To do this in our code, we'll create contract instances using ethers. We instantiate contracts with the ABI and contract address of each contract we want to use. The ABI specifies the functions that can be called on the contract.

For convenience, we've gathered the ABIs required to create ethers contracts for Uniswap V2. Copy these into a new file src/abi.ts.

src/abi.ts

export const UNISWAP_V2_ABI = [{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_factory","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"_WETH","type":"address"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"constructor"},{"inputs":[],"name":"WETH","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenA","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenB","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountADesired","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountBDesired","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountAMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountBMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"addLiquidity","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountA","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountB","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"token","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenDesired","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETHMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"addLiquidityETH","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountToken","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETH","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"payable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"factory","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveOut","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getAmountIn","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"pure","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveOut","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getAmountOut","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"pure","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"}],"name":"getAmountsIn","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"}],"name":"getAmountsOut","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountA","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveA","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"reserveB","type":"uint256"}],"name":"quote","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountB","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"pure","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenA","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenB","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountAMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountBMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"removeLiquidity","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountA","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountB","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"token","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETHMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"removeLiquidityETH","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountToken","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETH","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"token","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETHMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"removeLiquidityETHSupportingFeeOnTransferTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETH","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"token","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETHMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"bool","name":"approveMax","type":"bool"},{"internalType":"uint8","name":"v","type":"uint8"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"r","type":"bytes32"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"s","type":"bytes32"}],"name":"removeLiquidityETHWithPermit","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountToken","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETH","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"token","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountTokenMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETHMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"bool","name":"approveMax","type":"bool"},{"internalType":"uint8","name":"v","type":"uint8"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"r","type":"bytes32"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"s","type":"bytes32"}],"name":"removeLiquidityETHWithPermitSupportingFeeOnTransferTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountETH","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenA","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenB","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"liquidity","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountAMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountBMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"bool","name":"approveMax","type":"bool"},{"internalType":"uint8","name":"v","type":"uint8"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"r","type":"bytes32"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"s","type":"bytes32"}],"name":"removeLiquidityWithPermit","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountA","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountB","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapETHForExactTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"payable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactETHForTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"payable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactETHForTokensSupportingFeeOnTransferTokens","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"payable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactTokensForETH","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactTokensForETHSupportingFeeOnTransferTokens","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactTokensForTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountIn","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOutMin","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapExactTokensForTokensSupportingFeeOnTransferTokens","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountInMax","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapTokensForExactETH","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountOut","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amountInMax","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address[]","name":"path","type":"address[]"},{"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deadline","type":"uint256"}],"name":"swapTokensForExactTokens","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"amounts","type":"uint256[]"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"stateMutability":"payable","type":"receive"}]
export const UNISWAP_FACTORY_ABI = [{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_feeToSetter","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"constructor"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"token0","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"token1","type":"address"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"address","name":"pair","type":"address"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"PairCreated","type":"event"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"allPairs","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"allPairsLength","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenA","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"tokenB","type":"address"}],"name":"createPair","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"pair","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"feeTo","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"feeToSetter","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"name":"getPair","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_feeTo","type":"address"}],"name":"setFeeTo","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_feeToSetter","type":"address"}],"name":"setFeeToSetter","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"}]
export const ERC20_ABI = [{ "constant": true, "inputs": [], "name": "name", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "string" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "constant": false, "inputs": [{ "name": "_spender", "type": "address" }, { "name": "_value", "type": "uint256" }], "name": "approve", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "bool" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "nonpayable", "type": "function" }, { "constant": true, "inputs": [], "name": "totalSupply", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "uint256" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "constant": false, "inputs": [{ "name": "_from", "type": "address" }, { "name": "_to", "type": "address" }, { "name": "_value", "type": "uint256" }], "name": "transferFrom", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "bool" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "nonpayable", "type": "function" }, { "constant": true, "inputs": [], "name": "decimals", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "uint8" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "constant": true, "inputs": [{ "name": "_owner", "type": "address" }], "name": "balanceOf", "outputs": [{ "name": "balance", "type": "uint256" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "constant": true, "inputs": [], "name": "symbol", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "string" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "constant": false, "inputs": [{ "name": "_to", "type": "address" }, { "name": "_value", "type": "uint256" }], "name": "transfer", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "bool" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "nonpayable", "type": "function" }, { "constant": true, "inputs": [{ "name": "_owner", "type": "address" }, { "name": "_spender", "type": "address" }], "name": "allowance", "outputs": [{ "name": "", "type": "uint256" }], "payable": false, "stateMutability": "view", "type": "function" }, { "payable": true, "stateMutability": "payable", "type": "fallback" }, { "anonymous": false, "inputs": [{ "indexed": true, "name": "owner", "type": "address" }, { "indexed": true, "name": "spender", "type": "address" }, { "indexed": false, "name": "value", "type": "uint256" }], "name": "Approval", "type": "event" }, { "anonymous": false, "inputs": [{ "indexed": true, "name": "from", "type": "address" }, { "indexed": true, "name": "to", "type": "address" }, { "indexed": false, "name": "value", "type": "uint256" }], "name": "Transfer", "type": "event" }]

We need to add this import in src/index.ts, and then write just a little more boilerplate code. It should look like this all together:

import MevShareClient, {IPendingTransaction} from '@flashbots/mev-share-client'
import { Contract, JsonRpcProvider, Wallet } from 'ethers'
import { UNISWAP_V2_ABI, UNISWAP_FACTORY_ABI, ERC20_ABI } from './abi' // <-- new import
import dotenv from "dotenv"
dotenv.config()

const RPC_URL = process.env.RPC_URL || 'http://127.0.0.1:8545'
const EXECUTOR_KEY = process.env.EXECUTOR_KEY || Wallet.createRandom().privateKey
const FB_REPUTATION_PRIVATE_KEY = process.env.FB_REPUTATION_KEY || Wallet.createRandom().privateKey

// create web3 provider & wallets, connect to mev-share
const provider = new JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL)
const executorWallet = new Wallet(EXECUTOR_KEY, provider)
const authSigner = new Wallet(FB_REPUTATION_PRIVATE_KEY, provider)
const mevshare = MevShareClient.useEthereumGoerli(authSigner)
// if you want to connect to mainnet instead:
// const mevshare = MevShareClient.useEthereumMainnet(authSigner)

// create contract instances
const UNISWAP_V2_ADDRESS = '0x7a250d5630b4cf539739df2c5dacb4c659f2488d'
const UNISWAP_FACTORY_ADDRESS = '0x5C69bEe701ef814a2B6a3EDD4B1652CB9cc5aA6f'
const uniswapRouterContract = new Contract(UNISWAP_V2_ADDRESS, UNISWAP_V2_ABI, executorWallet)
const uniswapFactoryContract = new Contract(UNISWAP_FACTORY_ADDRESS, UNISWAP_FACTORY_ABI, provider)

/* While we're here, let's also set some useful constants we'll use later */
// discount we expect from the backrun trade (basis points):
const DISCOUNT_IN_BPS = 40n
// try sending a backrun bundle for this many blocks:
const BLOCKS_TO_TRY = 24
// WETH:
const SELL_TOKEN_ADDRESS = '0xc02aaa39b223fe8d0a0e5c4f27ead9083c756cc2'
const SELL_TOKEN_AMOUNT = 100000000n
// DAI:
const BUY_TOKEN_ADDRESS = '0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f'
const BUY_TOKEN_AMOUNT_CUTOFF = SELL_TOKEN_AMOUNT * 1800n

const TX_GAS_LIMIT = 400000
const MAX_GAS_PRICE = 20n
const MAX_PRIORITY_FEE = 5n
const GWEI = 10n ** 9n

uniswapRouterContractis the contract we use to execute trades.

uniswapFactoryContract is used to find the contract address of the token pair we trade on (e.g. WETH/DAI).

SELL_TOKEN_ADDRESS is the token we want to sell (in this case, WETH). The token we're buying in this example is DAI. Choose whichever tokens you want to trade if you're following along — you can check to see if your tokens have a pair by calling the getPair function with your token addresses on the Uniswap factory contract.

SELL_TOKEN_AMOUNT specifies 0.1 gwei of WETH to spend, and in BUY_TOKEN_AMOUNT_CUTOFF we specify that we want to buy when the token price is 1800 DAI/WETH.

We set our gas fees (see MAX_GAS_PRICE and MAX_PRIORITY_FEE) to constant values for the example. If you don't mind possibly paying more gas, we recommend setting your gas parameters so that they follow the base fee. Ethers has a function for this called getFeeData.

Starting a new bot project​

Connecting to smart contracts to get prices and make trades​

Starting a new bot project

Connecting to smart contracts to get prices and make trades