Core Guides

Composer

Composer quote generation, approvals, allowance checks, and status tracking.

Composer

The Composer commands wrap the LI.FI Routing API. They let you build cross-chain routing quotes, inspect ERC-20 token allowances, submit approvals, and track transaction status.

lifi quote — generate a routing quote for a vault deposit
lifi allowance — check current ERC-20 approval for a spender
lifi approve — send an ERC-20 approval transaction
lifi status — track a cross-chain transaction by hash

For the full deposit flow (quote → approve → deposit), use lifi deposit which handles everything end-to-end.

`lifi quote`

Generate a Composer routing quote for depositing into a vault. Returns the route chosen by LI.FI, expected output amounts, gas estimates, and the raw unsigned transaction payload.

bash

lifi quote --vault <address> --from-chain <chain> --from-token <token> --amount <amount> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
`--vault <address>`	required	Target vault address. Used as the `to-token` in the routing request.
`--from-chain <name\|id>`	required	Source chain.
`--from-token <symbol\|address>`	required	Input token (e.g. `USDC`, `ETH`).
`--amount <human>`	required	Input amount in human-readable units (e.g. `100`). Mutually exclusive with `--amount-wei`.
`--amount-wei <raw>`		Input amount in raw base units. Mutually exclusive with `--amount`.
`--to-chain <name\|id>`	vault's chain	Override destination chain. Defaults to the vault's chain.
`--from-address <address>`	derived from key	Source wallet address.
`--to-address <address>`	same as from	Destination address (if different from source).
`--slippage-bps <n>`	`$LIFI_DEFAULT_SLIPPAGE_BPS`	Slippage tolerance in basis points. `50` = 0.5%.
`--preset <name>`		LI.FI quote preset (if applicable).
`--allow-bridges <csv>`		Comma-separated list of bridge keys to allow exclusively.
`--deny-bridges <csv>`		Comma-separated list of bridge keys to exclude.
`--allow-exchanges <csv>`		Comma-separated list of exchange keys to allow exclusively.
`--deny-exchanges <csv>`		Comma-separated list of exchange keys to exclude.
`--unsigned`	`false`	Print the unsigned transaction payload. Useful for external signers.
`--raw`	`false`	Print the full raw transaction request object.
`--json`		JSON output.

Required secrets

LIFI_WALLET_ADDRESS must be set (or derivable from LIFI_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY) — the Composer API requires a fromAddress to build the transaction.

No RPC endpoint is needed for quote alone.

Output

The default table shows:

Field	Description
`tool`	Bridge or exchange used for routing
`from chain`	Source chain ID
`to chain`	Destination chain ID
`from token`	Input token symbol
`to token`	Output token symbol (the vault)
`from amount`	Input amount
`to amount`	Expected output amount
`min received`	Minimum output after slippage
`approval address`	ERC-20 spender address to approve
`gas usd`	Estimated gas cost

Examples

bash

# Standard quote
lifi quote \
  --vault 0xVault \
  --from-chain base \
  --from-token USDC \
  --amount 100

# Cross-chain quote: USDC on Optimism → vault on Base
lifi quote \
  --vault 0xVault \
  --from-chain opt \
  --from-token USDC \
  --to-chain base \
  --amount 50

# Export an unsigned transaction for offline/hardware wallet signing
lifi quote \
  --vault 0xVault \
  --from-chain base \
  --from-token USDC \
  --amount 100 \
  --unsigned \
  --json > quote.json

# Restrict routing to specific bridges
lifi quote \
  --vault 0xVault \
  --from-chain opt \
  --from-token USDC \
  --amount 50 \
  --allow-bridges stargate

# The saved quote file can be used with lifi allowance
lifi allowance --quote-file quote.json --owner 0xYourWallet

`lifi allowance`

Check the current ERC-20 token allowance for a wallet/spender pair. Reports whether the existing approval covers a given amount.

bash

lifi allowance [--chain <chain>] [--token <token>] [--owner <address>] [--spender <address>] [--amount <human>] [--quote-file <path>] [--json]

Flags

Flag	Description
`--chain <name\|id>`	Chain to check on.
`--token <symbol\|address>`	Token to check.
`--owner <address>`	Token owner wallet address.
`--spender <address>`	Spender contract address.
`--amount <human>`	Required amount (used to determine if allowance is sufficient).
`--quote-file <path>`	Path to a JSON quote file from `lifi quote --unsigned --json`. Fills in chain, token, spender, and required amount automatically.
`--json`	JSON output.

Required secrets

LIFI_RPC_<CHAIN> — an on-chain RPC call is needed to read the allowance.

Examples

bash

# Manual check
lifi allowance \
  --chain base \
  --token USDC \
  --owner 0xYourWallet \
  --spender 0xSpenderAddress \
  --amount 100

# Driven from a saved quote file
lifi allowance \
  --quote-file quote.json \
  --owner 0xYourWallet

# JSON output
lifi allowance --quote-file quote.json --owner 0xYourWallet --json

Output

bash

 field       │ value
─────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────
 chain       │ Base (8453)
 token       │ 0xUSDCAddress
 owner       │ 0xYourWallet
 spender     │ 0xSpenderAddress
 allowance   │ 0
 required    │ 100
 sufficient  │ no

Send an ERC-20 approval transaction. This is rarely needed manually — lifi deposit --approve auto handles approvals automatically. Use lifi approve when you want fine-grained control over the approval step.

bash

lifi approve --chain <chain> --token <token> --spender <address> --amount <human|max> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
`--chain <name\|id>`	required	Chain to approve on.
`--token <symbol\|address>`	required	Token to approve.
`--spender <address>`	required	Spender contract address (from the quote's `approval_address` field).
`--amount <human\|max>`	required	Amount to approve. Pass `max` for an unlimited (type(uint256).max) approval.
`--gas-policy auto\|rpc`	`auto`	Gas pricing strategy.
`--yes`	`false`	Skip the confirmation prompt.
`--json`		JSON output.

Required secrets

Secret	Purpose
`LIFI_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY`	Signs the approval transaction
`LIFI_RPC_<CHAIN>`	On-chain RPC for the chain

Examples

bash

# Approve exact amount
lifi approve \
  --chain base \
  --token USDC \
  --spender 0x1231DEB6f5749EF6cE6943a275A1D3E7486F4EaE \
  --amount 100

# Approve unlimited (use with caution)
lifi approve \
  --chain base \
  --token USDC \
  --spender 0x1231DEB6f5749EF6cE6943a275A1D3E7486F4EaE \
  --amount max \
  --yes

# Get the spender address from a quote first
SPENDER=$(lifi quote --vault 0xVault --from-chain base --from-token USDC --amount 100 --json | jq -r '.estimate.approvalAddress')
lifi approve --chain base --token USDC --spender "$SPENDER" --amount 100

Find the correct chain key

Run lifi chains to see all supported chains and their keys. The chain key is what you pass to --chain:

bash

lifi chains --search optimism

bash

 id      │ name      │ key  │ type │ native │ relayer
─────────┼───────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼────────
 10      │ Optimism  │ opt  │ EVM  │ ETH    │ yes

So --chain opt is correct for Optimism.

`lifi status`

Track the execution status of a LI.FI cross-chain transaction by its source transaction hash.

bash

lifi status --tx-hash <hash> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
`--tx-hash <hash>`	required	Source transaction hash.
`--from-chain <name\|id>`		Source chain (improves lookup accuracy).
`--to-chain <name\|id>`		Destination chain.
`--bridge <key>`		Bridge or tool key used for the route.
`--watch`	`false`	Poll continuously until the transaction reaches a terminal status.
`--interval <duration>`	`5s`	Polling interval when `--watch` is enabled.
`--json`		JSON output (streams one object per poll when `--watch` is set).

Required secrets

None.

Terminal statuses

Status	Meaning
`DONE`	Transaction completed successfully on both source and destination.
`FAILED`	Transaction failed.
`NOT_FOUND`	Hash not recognized by LI.FI.
`INVALID`	Hash is malformed or on the wrong chain.

Examples

bash

# One-shot status check
lifi status --tx-hash 0xabc... --from-chain base

# Watch until done
lifi status --tx-hash 0xabc... --from-chain base --to-chain opt --watch

# Stream JSON for automation
lifi status --tx-hash 0xabc... --watch --json | jq '.status'