When you’re first getting started with Sui, running transactions manually — whether from the CLI or through a wallet UI — feels perfectly fine. You write your Move module, deploy it to devnet, and then execute functions one by one, signing each transaction as it pops up. It’s simple, direct, and honestly a great way to learn.

But here’s the catch: once you move from “playing around” to building a real application, manual transactions become a bottleneck. Imagine a dApp that requires 5–10 transactions in a row — maybe minting an NFT, setting metadata, transferring it to another account, and logging the action in a shared registry. Doing that manually with constant wallet prompts would be a nightmare for your users and a huge slowdown for you as a developer.

This is where automation via the JavaScript SDK steps in. The SDK gives you the ability to interact with the Sui network programmatically. That means your code can prepare, sign, and send transactions without constant manual intervention, and it can even handle errors gracefully by retrying when something goes wrong.

---

Step 1 — Setting up your environment

Before you can automate anything, you need the JavaScript SDK installed and a provider to talk to the network. Install it with:

npm install @mysten/sui.js

Then set up your connection:

import { JsonRpcProvider, Ed25519Keypair, RawSigner } from '@mysten/sui.js';

const provider = new JsonRpcProvider();
const keypair = Ed25519Keypair.generate(); // or load from existing keys
const signer = new RawSigner(keypair, provider);

The provider is your link to the blockchain, and the signer is what you’ll use to sign transactions in code instead of relying on pop-up prompts.

---

Step 2 — Refreshing object state before every transaction

One of the most common causes of failed automated transactions in Sui is the object version mismatch problem. Every time an object changes, its version number increments. If your script grabs an object’s data, waits a bit, and then tries to use it, there’s a good chance the version is stale — especially if the object is shared or your system is handling multiple transactions.

The fix is simple but crucial: always refresh your object’s data right before sending the transaction.

const freshObject = await provider.getObject({
  id: objectId,
  options: { showContent: true }
});

This guarantees you’re working with the latest version and reduces those frustrating “object version has changed” errors.

---

Step 3 — Batching transactions

Another huge advantage of automation is the ability to bundle multiple related operations into one transaction. On Sui, you can compose several calls into a single transaction block, reducing the number of signatures and improving efficiency.

import { TransactionBlock } from '@mysten/sui.js';

const tx = new TransactionBlock();
tx.moveCall({
  target: `${packageId}::module::function1`,
  arguments: [tx.pure(arg1), tx.pure(arg2)]
});
tx.moveCall({
  target: `${packageId}::module::function2`,
  arguments: [tx.pure(arg3)]
});

const result = await signer.signAndExecuteTransactionBlock({
  transactionBlock: tx
});
console.log(result);

Instead of asking the user to confirm two separate transactions, you just send one, saving time and reducing friction.

---

Step 4 — Implementing retry logic with exponential backoff

Even with perfect code, transactions sometimes fail. Network hiccups, RPC timeouts, or temporary endpoint unavailability can interrupt your flow. If you’re building production-grade automation, you can’t just give up when something fails — you need retries.

A solid approach is exponential backoff: retry the failed transaction after a short wait, doubling the delay each time until you either succeed or hit a retry limit.

async function executeWithRetry(executeFn, maxRetries = 5) {
  let attempt = 0;
  let delay = 1000; // 1 second
  while (attempt < maxRetries) {
    try {
      return await executeFn();
    } catch (err) {
      console.warn(`Attempt ${attempt + 1} failed: ${err.message}`);
      attempt++;
      await new Promise(res => setTimeout(res, delay));
      delay *= 2; // exponential increase
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Transaction failed after max retries');
}

With this, a temporary network glitch won’t take your whole process down.

---

Step 5 — Securely managing keys for automation

One tricky part of automating transactions is that your script needs signing capability. That means you either load a wallet’s private key into your script or use a secure signing service. Never hardcode private keys into your codebase — store them in environment variables or use a secure vault (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault).

If your application runs in a browser context, integrate with wallet adapters instead of holding keys directly. In a backend, it’s safer to use a locked-down service account with minimal permissions.

---

Step 6 — Reducing user friction

When your automation is in place, the biggest win is for your users. Instead of approving every single step, they approve once and the app does the rest. For example:

• A marketplace could handle listing, metadata update, and asset transfer in a single click.
• A game could batch multiple gameplay-related object updates into one transaction per turn.

The less you interrupt your users, the smoother their experience — and the more likely they are to keep using your app.

---

Step 7 — Testing before deploying

Always test your automation on devnet or testnet before touching mainnet. Automation scripts can send a lot of transactions quickly, and a mistake in logic could cost you tokens or corrupt shared object states. Use test addresses, print transaction hashes, and verify changes with provider.getObject() after each run.

---

Step 8 — Monitoring and logging

Once your automation is live, set up proper logging. Keep track of transaction hashes, timestamps, gas usage, and any failures. Over time, this will help you tune gas budgets, spot patterns in failures, and optimize retry intervals.

---

In the end, automating Sui transactions isn’t just about writing less code or avoiding repetitive clicks — it’s about building reliability into your application. By fetching fresh object data, batching related calls, adding retry logic, and managing keys securely, you’re setting up your dApp for smooth, scalable operations. The result is an experience where things just work, both for you and your users — and on the blockchain, that’s a rare and valuable feeling.