> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cosmos.network/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sending Transactions

> The envelope around a transaction message, and the three steps that put it on chain.

The [gRPC Services](/sdk/latest/api-reference/grpc/index) module pages give each transaction message its fields, its signer, and its JSON body. This page covers the envelope those bodies go into. For the model behind messages and transactions, see [Transactions, Messages, and Queries](/sdk/latest/learn/concepts/transactions).

## The envelope

A transaction is a wrapper around one or more messages and includes the information needed to authorize and pay for them:

```json theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light-high-contrast","dark":"github-dark-high-contrast"}}
{
  "body": {
    "messages": [
      {
        "@type": "/cosmos.bank.v1beta1.MsgSend",
        "from_address": "cosmos1...",
        "to_address": "cosmos1...",
        "amount": [{ "denom": "uatom", "amount": "1000000" }]
      }
    ],
    "memo": "",
    "timeout_height": "0",
    "unordered": false,
    "timeout_timestamp": null,
    "extension_options": [],
    "non_critical_extension_options": []
  },
  "auth_info": {
    "signer_infos": [],
    "fee": {
      "amount": [{ "denom": "uatom", "amount": "5000" }],
      "gas_limit": "200000",
      "payer": "",
      "granter": ""
    },
    "tip": null
  },
  "signatures": []
}
```

The `messages` array holds exactly what a module page shows under In a transaction. The `@type` field is the type URL, and it selects the handler. Everything else is envelope, and defaults are correct unless stated otherwise: `payer` and `granter` apply to fee grants, `unordered` and `timeout_timestamp` to unordered transactions.

Several messages can go in one transaction. They execute in order and atomically.

## The three steps

Building, signing, and broadcasting are separate operations. Separating them is what allows offline signing. The commands below are the shortest path; [Generating, Signing and Broadcasting Transactions](/sdk/latest/node/txs) covers multisig, offline signing, and the same flow in Go, gRPC, REST, and CosmJS.

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light-high-contrast","dark":"github-dark-high-contrast"}}
# 1. Build
simd tx bank send mykey cosmos1recipient... 1000000uatom \
  --chain-id cosmoshub-4 --node https://your-rpc-endpoint:443 \
  --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 --gas-prices 0.005uatom \
  --generate-only > unsigned.json

# 2. Sign
simd tx sign unsigned.json --from mykey \
  --chain-id cosmoshub-4 --node https://your-rpc-endpoint:443 \
  --output-document signed.json

# 3. Broadcast
simd tx broadcast signed.json --broadcast-mode sync
```

Signing covers the chain ID, account number, and sequence, which is what binds a signature to one chain and one use. Given a node, `sign` fetches the account number and sequence itself; offline signing supplies them with `--offline --account-number --sequence`.

The key must control the address in the message's signer field. The module pages name that field for every message. See [Setting up the keyring](/sdk/latest/node/keyring) for managing the keys these commands sign with.

Broadcasting returns a transaction hash, not a result. Query for it:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light-high-contrast","dark":"github-dark-high-contrast"}}
simd query tx <hash>
```

A `code` of 0 is success.

For what gas measures and how the limit and price above are applied, see [Execution Context, Gas, and Events](/sdk/latest/learn/concepts/context-gas-events).

The API surfaces broadcast directly through `cosmos.tx.v1beta1.Service/BroadcastTx` on gRPC or `POST /cosmos/tx/v1beta1/txs` on REST. Both take the signed transaction as bytes, so building and signing still happen first.

## Governance-gated messages

Some messages take `authority` as their signer, meaning the governance module account, which no one holds a key for. They execute only through a passed governance proposal, wrapped in `MsgSubmitProposal`. See [Proposal submission](/sdk/latest/modules/gov/README#proposal-submission) for the deposit and voting periods a proposal has to clear. The module pages flag every one. `MsgUpdateParams` on each module is the common case.

The address the message needs:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light-high-contrast","dark":"github-dark-high-contrast"}}
grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"name":"gov"}' localhost:9090 \
  cosmos.auth.v1beta1.Query/ModuleAccountByName
```

## Related

The module pages under [gRPC Services](/sdk/latest/api-reference/grpc/index) carry the message list, field tables, signer, and JSON body for every transaction message.