# Alchemy

To use RAIR with an optimal user experience you'll need an [Alchemy API key](https://dashboard.alchemy.com/signup/?a=). 

{% hint style="info" %}
Without Alchemy, RAIR can still work! But the user experience will typically be much worse as you'll need to fetch blockchain data directly from a public RPC endpoint (which gets spammed a lot). Also you won't have access to easy smart account creation, easy NFT metadata CDN caching, and many other quality-of-life tools for your application. 
{% endhint %}

## Docker Compose ENV

All you need to do is paste in a single API key in the [sample.env in the root directory](https://github.com/rairprotocol/rair-dapp/blob/dev/.env.sample#L163C1-L165C1)! 

You don't need to touch the [rair-sync](/rairprotocol/codebase/rairdapp/rairsync.md) system. It is designed to automatically sync with Alchemy out-of-the-box. 

Updating the sample.env file in the main repo will route your key to Docker compose at build time. 

```yaml
ALCHEMY_API_KEY: ${alchemy_api_key}
```

<figure><img src="/files/ZwZTts87OlNC4rYJyXVX" alt=""><figcaption><p>Update sample env to populate docker compose yaml file</p></figcaption></figure>

## Getting an Alchemy Key&#x20;

Test accounts are free! Deploy to Sepolia or Matic Amoy with a free Alchemy API key. Then upgrade later for prod deployments.

{% hint style="info" %}
Why Alchemy? We started on Moralis in 2021, then tried Quiknode, and IMHO Alchemy works the best (easiest to use, most reliable at not dropping transactions). This repo is open though so we'd love for you to submit a PR adding support for more services.&#x20;
{% endhint %}

Click all the buttons.

* You'll need a test app and JSON-RPC & NFT APIs for rair-sync to work.&#x20;
* You'll need Gas Manager to use our Account Kit integration to make managed wallets for your users.

<figure><img src="/files/BbSiQWvSzUEv6cPF2eW6" alt=""><figcaption><p>Note: mumbai is deprecated now use Amoy instead</p></figcaption></figure>


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