NFT Development on Cardano

Create NFTs on Cardano using Mesh's complete toolkit for minting, metadata management, and marketplace integration. Whether you build a simple minting page or a full marketplace, Mesh provides the APIs you need.

Why Build NFTs on Cardano?

Cardano's native token model offers significant advantages over smart-contract-based NFT systems:

Core Capabilities

Mint Native NFTs

Create NFTs using native scripts without deploying smart contracts. Mesh handles policy ID generation, metadata attachment, and transaction construction automatically.

Best for:

• Art and collectibles
• Collection launches with fixed supply
• Event tickets and POAPs
• Membership tokens

import { MeshTxBuilder, ForgeScript } from '@meshsdk/core';

// Create a time-locked minting policy
const forgingScript = ForgeScript.withPubKeyHash(walletAddress);

const tx = new MeshTxBuilder({ fetcher, submitter });
await tx
  .mint('1', policyId, 'MyNFT')
  .mintingScript(forgingScript)
  .metadataValue(721, {
    [policyId]: {
      MyNFT: {
        name: 'My First NFT',
        image: 'ipfs://...',
        description: 'Minted with Mesh'
      }
    }
  })
  .complete();

Plutus NFT Contracts

Add custom validation logic for advanced minting rules, royalty enforcement, or dynamic metadata updates.

Enables:

• Royalties on secondary sales
• Time-locked minting windows
• Whitelist access control
• Dynamic metadata (CIP-68)
• Burn-to-redeem mechanics

Metadata Standards

Mesh supports both Cardano NFT metadata standards:

Build NFT Marketplaces

Mesh provides the building blocks for complete marketplace functionality:

• Listings - Lock NFTs in escrow contracts with asking prices
• Purchases - Atomic payment and NFT transfer
• Auctions - Bidding systems with time-based resolution
• Royalties - Automated creator payments on each sale
• Collections - Query and organize NFTs by policy ID

Getting Started

Common Patterns

Collection Policy

Use a single policy ID for all NFTs in a collection. Distinguish individual tokens with unique asset names. This enables easy collection queries and verification.

// All NFTs share the same policy ID
const policyId = 'abc123...';

// Asset names differentiate tokens
const nft1 = { policyId, assetName: 'Token001' };
const nft2 = { policyId, assetName: 'Token002' };

IPFS Metadata

Store images and extended metadata on IPFS. Reference the content hash in on-chain metadata for cost efficiency while maintaining decentralization.

const metadata = {
  name: 'My NFT',
  image: 'ipfs://QmXyz...', // IPFS content hash
  attributes: [
    { trait_type: 'Background', value: 'Blue' },
    { trait_type: 'Rarity', value: 'Legendary' }
  ]
};

Lazy Minting

Defer minting until purchase to reduce upfront costs for large collections. The NFT is created when a buyer completes payment.

Reveal Mechanics

Mint with placeholder metadata, then update to final artwork after a reveal event using CIP-68 datum updates.

Provider Integration

Query NFT data through multiple blockchain providers:

See the Providers documentation for configuration details.

Community Resources

• Discord - Real-time support from Mesh developers
• GitHub - Example projects and issue tracking
• Twitter - Updates on new NFT features

Start building your NFT project today with Mesh.