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Account Creation

The ultimate onboarding experience: users can claim tokens AND get a NEAR account created for them automatically. No existing account required!

The Magic of NEAR Account Creation​

Most blockchains require you to have an account before you can receive tokens. NEAR flips this around:

Traditional Flow:

  1. Create wallet → Fund with tokens → Receive more tokens

NEAR Drop Flow:

  1. Get private key → Claim tokens → Account created automatically ✨

This eliminates the biggest barrier to Web3 adoption.

How It Works​

Account creation happens in two phases:

Phase 1: Create the Account​

Phase 2: Claim the Tokens​

If account creation succeeds, we proceed with the normal claiming process. If it fails (account already exists), we try to claim anyway.

Implementation​

Add this to your src/claim.rs:

Validate account ID format:

Calculate funding based on drop type:

Account Naming Strategies​

User-Chosen Names​

Let users pick their own account names:

Deterministic Names​

Or generate predictable names from keys:

Frontend Integration​

Make account creation seamless in your UI:

Testing Account Creation​

# Test creating new account and claiming
near call drop-test.testnet create_named_account_and_claim '{
  "preferred_name": "alice-new"
}' --accountId drop-test.testnet \
  --keyPair <private-key-here>

# Check if account was created
near view alice-new.testnet state

# Verify balance includes claimed tokens
near view alice-new.testnet account

Error Handling​

Handle common issues gracefully:

Cost Considerations​

Account creation costs depend on the drop type:

Frontend Account Creation Flow​

Add account creation options to your claiming interface:

What You've Accomplished​

Amazing! You now have:

✅ Automatic account creation during claims ✅ Flexible naming strategies (user-chosen or deterministic)
✅ Robust error handling for edge cases ✅ Cost optimization based on drop types ✅ Seamless UX that removes Web3 barriers

This is the complete onboarding solution - users go from having nothing to owning a NEAR account with tokens in a single step!

Real-World Impact​

Account creation enables powerful use cases:

🎯 Mass Onboarding: Bring thousands of users to Web3 instantly 🎁 Gift Cards: Create accounts for family/friends with token gifts
📱 App Onboarding: New users get accounts + tokens to start using your dApp 🎮 Gaming: Players get accounts + in-game assets automatically 🏢 Enterprise: Employee onboarding with company tokens

You've eliminated the biggest friction point in Web3 adoption!

Next Steps​

With gasless claiming and automatic account creation working, it's time to build a beautiful frontend that makes this power accessible to everyone.

Continue to Frontend Integration →

Pro Tip

Always provide enough initial funding for the account type. FT drops need more funding because recipients might need to register on multiple FT contracts later.