Metamask: How to Maintain Persistent Wallet Connection During Refreshes with Ethersjs

Wallet Communication Support: Metamask with Ethers.js Guide

As cryptocurrency adoption grows, wallets are becoming increasingly important for storing and managing digital assets. However, to ensure smooth application interactions, especially when using frameworks like Web3-react, it is crucial to maintain a persistent wallet connection. In this article, we will look at the Ethers.js wallet connection refresh issue and provide a solution using Metamask.

Problem: Wallet Connection Refresh

It is crucial to maintain a persistent connection to your wallet when refreshing a page or browsing different tabs to avoid losing funds or accessing your funds. Unfortunately, this is often achieved by re-creating the entire application context for each request, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.

Web3-react Approach

In Web3-react, you typically use the “setInterval” function to manually refresh wallet connections. This method works well for a single-page application (SPA) with minimal complexity:

import React from 'react';
import Web3React from 'web3-react';
const App = () => {
const [fee, setWallet] = React.useState(null);
React.useEffect(() => {
const intervalId = setInterval(() => {
// Connect to the blockchain periodically
}, 30,000); // Adjust this value if necessary
return () => clearInterval(intervalId);
}, []);
useEffect(() => {
if (fee) {
// Initialize the wallet connection when the component is connected
}
}, [wallet]);
const handleDisconnect = async() => {
await setWallet(null);
};
return (
{wallet && 
Connected to blockchain!
}
Disconnect
);
};

Disadvantage: Web3-react

While this method is simple, it has several drawbacks:

• Full application context is recreated: Every time the page is refreshed or different tabs are moved, a new application instance is created, which can cause performance issues and increase memory usage.

• Inefficient use of resources: The setInterval function reuses an existing interval ID, wasting system resources and can cause conflicts with other applications.

Solution: Metamask

To overcome these limitations, you need a more robust solution that allows you to continuously connect to your wallet across multiple updates. Enter Metamask, a popular Ethers.js wallet management library.

Setting up Metamask

Install Metamask using npm or yarn:

npm install metamask

Create a new file named “metamask.config.json” with the following content:

{
"wallets": {
"mainnet": {
"url": "
}
}
}

Replace “YOUR_PROJECT_ID” with your actual Infura project ID.

Using Metamask in an app

To integrate Metamask into your application, import the required files and configure as follows.

import Web3 from 'web3';
import { metamask } from 'metamask';
const web3 = new Web3 (window.ethereum);
window.addEventListener('load', () => {
const maks = logs.metamask.connection;
// Initialize the wallet connection when the component is connected
});
// Handle connection reestablishment and disconnection
metamask.on('connected', () => {
console.log('Connected to blockchain!');
});
metamask.on('disconnected', () => {
console.log('Disconnected from blockchain.');
});

Example Use Cases

Here are some use cases for maintaining persistent wallet connections with Metamask:

• Single Page Apps: Maintain consistent app context across tabs and pages, ensuring users can seamlessly access their wallets.

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