# Getting Started \[Get started with viem in just a few lines of code.]

## Overview

viem is a TypeScript interface for Ethereum that provides low-level stateless primitives for interacting with Ethereum. viem is focused on developer experience, stability, bundle size, and performance:

* **Developer experience** Automatic [type safety and inference](/docs/typescript), comprehensive documentation, composable APIs.
* **Stability** Test suite runs against forked Ethereum networks, complete [test coverage](https://app.codecov.io/gh/wevm/viem).
* **Bundle size** Tree-shakable lightweight modules.
* **Performance** Optimized encoding/parsing, async tasks only when necessary.

You can learn more about the rationale behind the project in the [Why viem](/docs/introduction) section.

## Installation

:::code-group
```bash [npm]
npm i viem
```

```bash [pnpm]
pnpm i viem
```

```bash [bun]
bun i viem
```
:::

## Quick Start

### 1. Set up your Client & Transport

Firstly, set up your [Client](/docs/clients/intro) with a desired [Transport](/docs/clients/intro) & [Chain](/docs/chains/introduction).

```ts twoslash
import { createPublicClient, http } from 'viem'
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains'

const client = createPublicClient({ // [!code focus]
  chain: mainnet, // [!code focus]
  transport: http(), // [!code focus]
}) // [!code focus]
```

:::info
In a production app, it is highly recommended to pass through your authenticated RPC provider URL (Infura, thirdweb, etc). If no URL is provided, viem will default to a public RPC provider. [Read more](/docs/clients/transports/http#usage).
:::

### 2. Consume Actions

Now that you have a Client set up, you can now interact with Ethereum and consume [Actions](/docs/actions/public/introduction)!

```ts twoslash 
import { createPublicClient, http } from 'viem'
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains'

const client = createPublicClient({
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http(),
})

const blockNumber = await client.getBlockNumber() // [!code focus]
```

## Live example

<iframe className="mt-6" width="100%" height="600px" frameBorder="0" src="https://stackblitz.com/edit/viem-getting-started?embed=1&file=index.ts&hideNavigation=1&hideDevTools=true&terminalHeight=1&hideExplorer=1&devtoolsheight=1&ctl=1" />