> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dynamic.xyz/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sign SVM Messages

> Learn how to sign messages using Dynamic's Node SDK for SVM chains

## Overview

This guide shows you how to sign messages with your Solana wallet. Message signing is commonly used for authentication, nonce verification, and data integrity checks on Solana.

## Prerequisites

* [Created a Solana wallet](/node/svm/create-wallet)

## Basic Message Signing

```typescript theme={"system"}
import { authenticatedSvmClient } from './client';

const svmClient = await authenticatedSvmClient();

const signature = await svmClient.signMessage({
  message: 'Hello, World!',
  walletMetadata,
});

console.log('Message signed:', signature);
```

## Simple Message Signing

Whether you need to provide `externalServerKeyShares` depends on how you created your wallet:

### With Automatic Backup (Recommended)

If you created your wallet with `backUpToDynamic: true`, you don't need to provide external key shares:

```typescript theme={"system"}
// ✅ Simple signing - no externalServerKeyShares needed
const signature = await svmClient.signMessage({
  message: 'Hello, World!',
  walletMetadata,
});

console.log('Message signed:', signature);
```

### With Manual Backup

If you created your wallet with `backUpToDynamic: false`, you must provide external key shares:

```typescript theme={"system"}
// First, retrieve your stored key shares
const keyShares = await retrieveStoredKeyShares('YourSolanaWalletAddress');

// ❌ Must provide externalServerKeyShares
const signature = await svmClient.signMessage({
  message: 'Hello, World!',
  walletMetadata,
  externalServerKeyShares: keyShares, // Required for manual backup!
  password: 'your-password', // Only if wallet was created with password
});

console.log('Message signed:', signature);
```

**Password Handling Notes:**

* If your wallet was created **without a password**, omit the `password` parameter
* If your wallet was created **with a password**, you must provide it for all operations
* The password parameter is always optional in the API, but required if the wallet is password-protected

## Common Use Cases

### Authentication

```typescript theme={"system"}
const nonce = Date.now().toString();
const message = `Sign this message to authenticate: ${nonce}`;
const signature = await svmClient.signMessage({
  message,
  walletMetadata,
});
```

### Data Integrity

```typescript theme={"system"}
const data = { userId: 123, action: 'transfer', amount: '100' };
const message = JSON.stringify(data);
const signature = await svmClient.signMessage({
  message,
  walletMetadata,
});
```

## Next Steps

* [Sign Solana transactions](/node/svm/sign-transactions)