trade

Trading Tokens

Use the npx awal@2.10.0 trade command to swap tokens on Base or Polygon via the CDP Swap API. You must be authenticated to trade.

Confirm wallet is initialized and authed

npx awal@2.10.0 status

If the wallet is not authenticated, refer to the authenticate-wallet skill.

Command Syntax

npx awal@2.10.0 trade <amount> <from> <to> [options]

The command is also available as npx awal@2.10.0 swap (alias).

Arguments

Argument	Description
amount	Amount to swap (see Amount Formats below)
from	Source token: alias (usdc, eth, pol) or contract address (0x...)
to	Destination token: alias (usdc, eth, pol) or contract address (0x...)

Amount Formats

The amount can be specified in multiple formats:

Format	Example	Description
Dollar prefix	'$1.00', '$0.50'	USD notation (decimals based on token)
Decimal	1.0, 0.50, 0.001	Human-readable with decimal point
Whole number	5, 100	Interpreted as whole tokens
Atomic units	500000	Large integers treated as atomic units

Auto-detection: Large integers without a decimal point are treated as atomic units. For example, 500000 for USDC (6 decimals) = $0.50.

Decimals: For known tokens (usdc=6, eth=18, pol=18), decimals are automatic. For arbitrary contract addresses, decimals are read from the token contract.

Options

Option	Description
-c, --chain <name>	Blockchain network: base, polygon (default: base)
-s, --slippage <n>	Slippage tolerance in basis points (100 = 1%)
--json	Output result as JSON

Token Aliases

Alias	Token	Decimals	Chain
usdc	USDC	6	base
eth	ETH	18	base
pol	POL	18	polygon

IMPORTANT: Always single-quote amounts that use $ to prevent bash variable expansion (e.g. '$1.00' not $1.00).

Input Validation

Before constructing the command, validate all user-provided values to prevent shell injection:

• amount: Must match ^\$?[\d.]+$ (digits, optional decimal point, optional $ prefix). Reject if it contains spaces, semicolons, pipes, backticks, or other shell metacharacters.
• from / to: Must be a known alias (usdc, eth, pol) or a valid 0x hex address (^0x[0-9a-fA-F]{40}$). Reject any other value.
• slippage: Must be a positive integer (^\d+$).

Do not pass unvalidated user input into the command.

Examples

# Swap $1 USDC for ETH (dollar prefix — note the single quotes)
npx awal@2.10.0 trade '$1' usdc eth

# Swap 0.50 USDC for ETH (decimal format)
npx awal@2.10.0 trade 0.50 usdc eth

# Swap 500000 atomic units of USDC for ETH
npx awal@2.10.0 trade 500000 usdc eth

# Swap 0.01 ETH for USDC
npx awal@2.10.0 trade 0.01 eth usdc

# Swap with custom slippage (2%)
npx awal@2.10.0 trade '$5' usdc eth --slippage 200

# Swap using contract addresses (decimals read from chain)
npx awal@2.10.0 trade 100 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006

# Get JSON output
npx awal@2.10.0 trade '$1' usdc eth --json

# Swap USDC for POL on Polygon
npx awal@2.10.0 trade '$1' usdc pol --chain polygon

Prerequisites

• Must be authenticated (awal status to check)
• Wallet must have sufficient balance of the source token

Error Handling

Common errors:

• "Not authenticated" - Run awal auth login <email> first
• "Invalid token" - Use a valid alias (usdc, eth, pol) or 0x address
• "POL only supported on polygon chain" - Use --chain polygon when trading POL
• "Cannot swap a token to itself" - From and to must be different
• "Swap failed: TRANSFER_FROM_FAILED" - Insufficient balance or approval issue
• "No liquidity" - Try a smaller amount or different token pair
• "Amount has X decimals but token only supports Y" - Too many decimal places