Trading Tokens

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

Confirm wallet is initialized and authed

npx awal@latest status

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

Command Syntax

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

Arguments

Argument	Description
amount	Amount to swap (see Amount Formats below)
from	Source token: alias (usdc, eth, weth) or contract address (0x...)
to	Destination token: alias (usdc, eth, weth) 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, weth=18), decimals are automatic. For arbitrary contract addresses, decimals are read from the token contract.

Options

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

Token Aliases

Alias	Token	Decimals	Address
usdc	USDC	6	0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913
eth	ETH	18	0xEeeeeEeeeEeEeeEeEeEeeEEEeeeeEeeeeeeeEEeE
weth	WETH	18	0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006

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

Examples

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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, weth) or 0x address
• "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