Build, mint, and manage NFTs on Cardano with Mesh SDK. Comprehensive tools for NFT collections, marketplaces, and Plutus-based NFT contracts.

Mesh provides a complete toolkit for NFT development on Cardano, enabling developers to create, mint, and manage non-fungible tokens with ease. Whether you're building a simple minting application or a full-featured NFT marketplace, Mesh offers the APIs and utilities you need.

Why Build NFTs with Mesh?

Cardano's native token model makes NFT development uniquely powerful compared to other blockchains. Unlike Ethereum where NFTs require smart contracts for basic minting, Cardano NFTs are first-class citizens on the network. Mesh leverages this architecture to provide streamlined APIs for NFT operations while supporting advanced Plutus-based functionality when needed.

Key advantages:

Native multi-asset support - Mint NFTs without smart contracts using native scripts
Low fees - Cardano's predictable fee model keeps minting costs minimal
CIP compliance - Built-in support for CIP-25 and CIP-68 metadata standards
Plutus integration - Advanced NFT logic with smart contract validation
Batch operations - Mint entire collections in optimized transactions

Core NFT Capabilities

Minting Native NFTs

The most common NFT use case involves minting tokens with native scripts. Mesh's transaction builder makes this straightforward, handling policy ID generation, metadata attachment, and transaction construction automatically.

Native NFTs work well for:

Single NFT mints for art or collectibles
Collection launches with predefined supply
Event tickets or proof-of-attendance tokens
Membership and access tokens

Plutus NFT Contracts

For advanced use cases requiring on-chain validation logic, Mesh supports Plutus NFT contracts. These enable programmable rules that govern minting conditions, transfers, and burns.

Plutus NFTs enable:

Royalty enforcement on secondary sales
Time-locked minting windows
Whitelist-based access control
Dynamic metadata updates (CIP-68)
Burn-to-redeem mechanics

Metadata Standards

Mesh provides utilities for constructing compliant NFT metadata following Cardano Improvement Proposals:

CIP-25 - The original NFT metadata standard, storing information in transaction metadata. Suitable for static NFTs where metadata never changes.

CIP-68 - The datum-based metadata standard enabling on-chain storage and updates. Ideal for dynamic NFTs, gaming assets, and evolving collectibles.

Building NFT Marketplaces

Beyond minting, Mesh supports building complete NFT marketplace infrastructure:

Listing and delisting - Lock NFTs in escrow contracts for sale
Purchase flows - Handle payments and NFT transfers atomically
Auction systems - Implement bidding with time-based resolution
Royalty distribution - Automated creator royalties on each sale
Collection management - Organize and query NFTs by policy ID

Getting Started

Explore these resources to begin NFT development with Mesh:

NFT Collection Guide

Step-by-step tutorial for minting your first NFT collection on Cardano

Marketplace Contract

Build a decentralized NFT marketplace with Plutus smart contracts

Plutus NFT Minting

Create NFTs with custom on-chain validation and minting rules

Minting API Reference

Complete API documentation for minting and burning tokens

NFT Development Patterns

When building NFT applications, consider these common patterns:

Collection Policy - Use a single policy ID for all NFTs in a collection, with unique asset names distinguishing individual tokens. This enables easy collection queries and verification.

Metadata IPFS Pinning - Store NFT images and extended metadata on IPFS, referencing the content hash in on-chain metadata. This balances decentralization with cost efficiency.

Lazy Minting - Defer actual minting until purchase, reducing upfront costs for large collections while maintaining provable scarcity.

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

Integration with Providers

Mesh works with multiple blockchain data providers to query NFT information:

Blockfrost - NFT metadata and ownership queries
Koios - Policy and asset information endpoints
Maestro - Rich NFT data including marketplace listings
Custom providers - Build your own indexer integration

Each provider offers NFT-specific endpoints for fetching metadata, ownership history, and marketplace activity. See the Providers documentation for configuration details.

Community and Support

Join the Mesh community to get help with NFT development:

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

Start building your NFT project today with Mesh's comprehensive TypeScript SDK.

NFT Development on Cardano