Ready to build on Solana? This guide will walk you through creating your first application using Helius APIs. You’ll learn how to fetch NFT data, understand the response structure, and see how easy it is to build powerful applications with our infrastructure.
1

Create Your Free Helius Account

Start by creating your free account at the Helius Dashboard. Your free tier includes 100,000 DAS API calls per month; perfect for getting started and building prototypes.
2

Get Your API Key

Navigate to the API Keys section and copy your key. This key gives you access to all Helius APIs, including RPC nodes, DAS API, and enhanced transaction data.
3

Make Your First API Call

Let’s start with a practical example: fetching NFTs from a wallet. We’ll use the getAssetsByOwner method to query assets owned by 86xCn…o2MMY (Anatoly Yakovenko’s wallet, co-founder of Solana).What’s happening here? The DAS API allows you to query compressed and standard NFTs with a single call. Notice how the response includes metadata, image URLs, and ownership information - all the data you need to build rich user experiences.
4

Understanding the Response

Great! You’ve successfully fetched NFT data. The response includes:
  • Asset ID: Unique identifier for each NFT
  • Metadata: Name, symbol, description, and attributes
  • Content: Image URLs and file information
  • Ownership: Current owner and authority information

​
Build It with Code

Now let’s implement this in a real application. We’ll create a simple NFT portfolio viewer that you can expand upon.
We’ll use Node.js for this example. Make sure you have it installed from nodejs.org.
1

Set up your project

mkdir solana-nft-viewer
cd solana-nft-viewer
npm init -y
npm install node-fetch
2

Create the NFT portfolio viewer

nft-portfolio.js
const fetch = require('node-fetch');

class NFTPortfolioViewer {
  constructor(apiKey) {
    this.apiKey = apiKey;
    this.baseUrl = 'https://mainnet.helius-rpc.com';
  }

  async fetchNFTsByOwner(ownerAddress, limit = 10) {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}/?api-key=${this.apiKey}`, {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({
          jsonrpc: '2.0',
          id: '1',
          method: 'getAssetsByOwner',
          params: {
            ownerAddress,
            page: 1,
            limit,
            displayOptions: {
              showFungible: false,
              showNativeBalance: false,
            },
          },
        }),
      });

      const data = await response.json();

      if (data.error) {
        throw new Error(data.error.message);
      }

      return data.result;
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Error fetching NFTs:', error.message);
      throw error;
    }
  }

  displayNFTPortfolio(nfts) {
    console.log('\n🖼️  NFT Portfolio Summary');
    console.log('========================');
    console.log(`Total NFTs: ${nfts.total}`);
    console.log(`Showing: ${nfts.items.length} items\n`);

    nfts.items.forEach((nft, index) => {
      console.log(`${index + 1}. ${nft.content?.metadata?.name || 'Unnamed NFT'}`);
      console.log(`   Collection: ${nft.grouping?.[0]?.group_value || 'Individual'}`);
      console.log(`   Compressed: ${nft.compression?.compressed ? 'Yes' : 'No'}`);
      console.log(`   Image: ${nft.content?.files?.[0]?.uri || 'No image'}`);
      console.log(`   ID: ${nft.id}\n`);
    });
  }

  async getRandomNFT(ownerAddress) {
    const portfolio = await this.fetchNFTsByOwner(ownerAddress, 50);
    
    if (portfolio.items.length === 0) {
      console.log('No NFTs found for this address.');
      return null;
    }

    const randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * portfolio.items.length);
    return portfolio.items[randomIndex];
  }
}

// Usage example
async function main() {
  const viewer = new NFTPortfolioViewer('YOUR_API_KEY');
  
  // Anatoly's wallet address
  const walletAddress = '86xCnPeV69n6t3DnyGvkKobf9FdN2H9oiVDdaMpo2MMY';
  
  console.log('🚀 Fetching NFT portfolio...');
  
  try {
    // Get full portfolio overview
    const portfolio = await viewer.fetchNFTsByOwner(walletAddress);
    viewer.displayNFTPortfolio(portfolio);
    
    // Get a random NFT for featured display
    console.log('🎲 Featured Random NFT:');
    console.log('=====================');
    const randomNFT = await viewer.getRandomNFT(walletAddress);
    
    if (randomNFT) {
      console.log(`Name: ${randomNFT.content?.metadata?.name}`);
      console.log(`Description: ${randomNFT.content?.metadata?.description || 'No description'}`);
      console.log(`Image: ${randomNFT.content?.files?.[0]?.uri}`);
    }
    
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to fetch NFT data:', error.message);
  }
}

main();
3

Add your API key

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key from the Helius dashboard.
4

Run your NFT portfolio viewer

node nft-portfolio.js
5

Success! 🎉

You’ve built your first Solana application! The output shows:
  • Total NFT count in the wallet
  • Individual NFT details including compression status
  • Collection information
  • A featured random NFT
What you’ve learned:
  • How to structure API calls to Helius
  • Working with the DAS API response format
  • Handling compressed vs standard NFTs
  • Building reusable code for NFT operations

​
Take It Further

Now that you understand the basics, explore these advanced features:

Send Transactions

Learn transaction optimization, priority fees, and smart routing for reliable execution.

Advanced NFT Operations

Search NFTs by traits, fetch collection stats, and work with token metadata at scale.

Real-Time Data Streaming

Stream live blockchain data with sub-second latency using gRPC or enhanced WebSockets.

Automate with Webhooks

Set up intelligent notifications for wallet activity, NFT sales, and custom on-chain events.

​
What’s Next?

You’ve successfully built your first Solana application with Helius! Here are some ideas to expand your project:
  • Add wallet connection: Integrate with wallets
  • Build a UI: Create a React/Vue frontend to display the portfolio
  • Add filtering: Search by collection, traits, or mint date
  • Real-time updates: Use WebSockets to show live portfolio changes
  • Analytics: Track portfolio value and NFT price history