Live
The NEAR Codex

Sharded for Scale.
Named for Humans.

16 modules. One real project. Every command narrated. Every error explained. Master NEAR's Nightshade sharding, human-readable accounts, Wasm contracts, chain signatures, and account aggregation — and leave with a portfolio project and the lore.

16Modules
~6Hours
40+Error Recoveries
1Real Project
Start Free Trial → View Curriculum ↓
Why NEAR

Why practitioners choose NEAR

→
Human-readable accounts

No more 0x addresses. On NEAR, your account is alice.near — a named, hierarchical identity that makes onboarding intuitive and composability elegant.

⊛
Chain abstraction

NEAR's chain signatures let a single NEAR account sign transactions on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and any other chain — no bridges, no wrapping. True multi-chain control.

★
Nightshade sharding

NEAR shards its blockchain dynamically, processing transactions in parallel. The result: low fees, high throughput, and horizontal scalability without L2 complexity.

⬢
Wasm smart contracts

Write contracts in Rust or JavaScript (AssemblyScript). Wasm gives you predictable gas costs and access to a mature toolchain. No Solidity lock-in.

Curriculum

Every module builds toward one real product

You don't do isolated exercises. From Module 00 to Module 15, you build a cross-chain DeFi aggregator on NEAR. By the end, you'll have a production-ready project and the lore to back it up.

00
Environment Setup + Day 0 Quick Win
Get your NEAR development environment running and deploy your first contract in minutes.
15 min

What You'll Learn

  • near-cli-rs setup
  • Sandbox configuration
  • Your first deployment

What You'll Do

  • Install toolchain
  • Deploy hello-world contract
01
Consensus: Nightshade Sharding + Doomslug
How NEAR shards its blockchain, Doomslug block production, and finality gadget.
theoryconsensusshardingFREE
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Nightshade sharding
  • Doomslug block production
  • Finality vs optimistic confirmation

What You'll Do

  • Build mental model of sharding
  • Compare to Ethereum's PoS
02
Run Your Local Node
NEAR sandbox in development mode. Watch blocks, query RPC.
25 min

What You'll Learn

  • NEAR node architecture
  • RPC and sandbox modes

What You'll Do

  • Run local sandbox
  • Query node status
  • BREAK IT — misconfigured node
03
Accounts: Named Accounts & Access Keys
Human-readable accounts, full-access vs function-call keys, sub-accounts.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Named account system
  • Access key types
  • Sub-account hierarchy

What You'll Do

  • Create named accounts
  • Add function-call access keys
  • BREAK IT — wrong key type
04
Account State & Storage Staking
Storage staking model, state costs, and how NEAR handles on-chain data.
25 min

What You'll Learn

  • Storage staking vs gas
  • State cost model

What You'll Do

  • Query account state
  • Track storage costs
05
Transactions: Full Lifecycle
Transaction structure, receipts, cross-shard execution, and gas.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Transaction and receipt model
  • Cross-shard execution
  • Gas and prepaid gas

What You'll Do

  • Send transactions
  • Trace receipt execution
  • BREAK IT — insufficient gas
06
Smart Contracts (Wasm)
Write, compile, and deploy Rust smart contracts. The NEAR SDK and contract lifecycle.
35 min

What You'll Learn

  • near-sdk-rs fundamentals
  • Contract lifecycle
  • View vs change methods

What You'll Do

  • Write and deploy Rust contract
  • Call methods via CLI
  • BREAK IT — storage overflow
07
Contract Storage & Collections
Persistent collections, LookupMap, UnorderedMap, and storage management.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • NEAR collections API
  • Storage management patterns

What You'll Do

  • Implement on-chain data structures
  • Manage storage deposits
08
Fungible Tokens (NEP-141)
The NEAR fungible token standard. Storage deposit, transfer, and the ft_on_transfer callback.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • NEP-141 standard
  • storage_deposit pattern
  • ft_on_transfer callback

What You'll Do

  • Deploy FT contract
  • Transfer with storage deposit
  • BREAK IT — missing storage deposit
09
NFTs and Multi-Tokens (NEP-171, NEP-245)
Non-fungible and multi-token standards on NEAR. Metadata, approval, and enumeration.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • NEP-171 NFT standard
  • NEP-245 multi-token

What You'll Do

  • Mint NFTs
  • Implement approval flow
10
Cross-Contract Calls and Composability
Async cross-contract calls, promises, callbacks, and gas management across shards.
35 min

What You'll Learn

  • Promise-based cross-contract calls
  • Callback patterns
  • Gas splitting

What You'll Do

  • Build contract-to-contract flow
  • Handle callback results
11
Meta Transactions and NEAR Intents
Gasless UX through meta transactions. NEAR Intents for declarative cross-chain operations.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Meta transaction architecture
  • Relayer model
  • NEAR Intents

What You'll Do

  • Submit gasless transaction
  • Build intent-based flow
12
Chain Signatures and Multichain Gas Relayer
Sign transactions on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and any chain from a single NEAR account.
35 min

What You'll Learn

  • MPC threshold signatures
  • Cross-chain signing
  • Multichain gas relayer

What You'll Do

  • Derive cross-chain keys
  • Sign Ethereum transaction from NEAR
13
Account Aggregation and Multi-Chain Control
Unify identities across chains. One NEAR account controlling assets on every network.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Account aggregation model
  • Multi-chain identity

What You'll Do

  • Aggregate cross-chain accounts
  • Control remote assets
14
Production Key Management
Key rotation, multisig, and security patterns for production NEAR applications.
30 min

What You'll Learn

  • Key management on NEAR
  • Multisig patterns

What You'll Do

  • Implement key rotation
  • Set up multisig
15
Internals: How the NEAR Ledger Works
Chunk production, state trie, receipt routing across shards, and MainNet deployment.
35 min

What You'll Learn

  • Chunk-based block production
  • State trie and receipt routing

What You'll Do

  • Inspect chunks and state
  • Deploy to TestNet
Live Sandbox

Try NEAR in your browser
— no install required

Spin up a NEAR sandbox environment directly in your browser. Write Rust contracts, deploy, and test — all from a single tab.

Launch Sandbox →
Pricing

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Apprentice
$15/mo
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  • 1 blockchain codex of your choice
  • All modules — full curriculum
  • Cloud progress tracking
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  • GitHub portfolio scaffold
  • All curriculum updates
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Practitioner
$30/mo
or $300/year (save $60) · 3 chains
  • 3 blockchain codexes of your choice
  • Everything in Apprentice
  • Voice Pro (ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Google)
  • ChainKit Dashboard
  • Community rank
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Master
$50/mo
or $500/year (save $100) · all 6 chains
  • All 6 blockchain codexes
  • Everything in Practitioner
  • Live Sandbox environment
  • Priority support
  • Early access to new chains
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The NEAR lore is waiting
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16 modules. One real project. Every error explained. Start your free trial today.

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Related Chains

Continue your apprenticeship

The Algorand Codex

Both NEAR and Algorand use PoS variants with instant finality. Algorand's Pure PoS and native ASAs offer a different but complementary perspective on scalable blockchain design.

Explore Algorand →
The Ethereum Codex

NEAR's chain signatures let you control Ethereum assets. Understanding both chains gives you the full picture of multi-chain architecture.

Explore Ethereum →