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

# Getting Started

> Zero-to-first-trade guide for non-developer users: pick a wallet, fund it, do your first swap, and avoid the common scams. Everything you need before opening Raydium for the first time.

## Who this chapter is for

End users — people who want to **use** Raydium to swap, farm, or provide liquidity, not build on top of it. If you've never used a Solana app before, start here. If you have, skip to [`user-flows`](/user-flows).

This chapter is parallel to [`solana-fundamentals`](/solana-fundamentals), which targets developers. Both cover prerequisites, but from different angles: this one is about setting up a wallet and making your first trade; that one is about account models and program invocation.

## Chapter contents

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What you need" icon="clipboard-check" href="/getting-started/what-you-need">
    The shortest possible prerequisites checklist: a wallet, some SOL, and a browser. Five minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Choosing a wallet" icon="wallet" href="/getting-started/choosing-a-wallet">
    Features that matter when picking a Solana wallet for Raydium, security baselines, and the hot/cold wallet pattern.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Funding your wallet" icon="credit-card" href="/getting-started/funding-your-wallet">
    Fiat on-ramps (Moonpay, Stripe), cross-chain bridges (Wormhole, deBridge), and exchange withdrawals. Tradeoffs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your first swap" icon="rocket" href="/getting-started/first-swap">
    Walk-through of a single SOL → USDC swap on raydium.io/swap. Screenshots plus the exact numbers to expect.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Trust & safety" icon="shield-halved" href="/getting-started/trust-and-safety">
    Rug pulls, fake tokens, phishing sites, seed-phrase scams. The specific things that get Solana users drained.
  </Card>

  <Card title="FAQ" icon="circle-question" href="/getting-started/faq">
    Consolidated answers to the questions new users actually ask: fees, failed transactions, LP tokens, unwrapping SOL.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The 30-second overview

**Raydium is a DEX on Solana.** It lets you swap one token for another without using a centralized exchange. To use it you need:

1. A **Solana wallet** (browser extension or mobile app) — holds your private key and signs transactions.
2. Some **SOL** in that wallet — pays for transaction fees (\~\$0.0005 per swap) and any tokens you want to buy.
3. A browser at [`raydium.io`](https://raydium.io) — the official UI.

Everything else — choosing a wallet, funding it, picking your first trade — is covered on the pages above.

## Red flags to watch for from day one

Before you deposit any money, internalise these rules:

* **Never share your seed phrase.** Not with support, not with a "verify your wallet" site, not over DMs. The only place a seed phrase is typed is during initial wallet setup.
* **Only use `raydium.io`.** Phishing copies the UI pixel-perfectly. Bookmark the real URL.
* **Trust the token address, not the token name.** Anyone can create a token called "USDC". The real USDC mint is `EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v`. The UI shows a **verified** badge next to curated mints.
* **A dApp should never ask you to "approve" your whole wallet.** Normal transactions sign specific instructions. A blanket approval is a drain.

More detail in [`getting-started/trust-and-safety`](/getting-started/trust-and-safety).

## What this chapter is not

* **Not a trading tutorial.** Picking tokens and managing risk are your own responsibility; this chapter only covers the Raydium mechanics of executing trades.
* **Not financial advice.** "Should I provide liquidity?" is a strategy question; see [`user-flows/choosing-a-pool-type`](/user-flows/choosing-a-pool-type) for the *mechanics* of that decision.
* **Not a Solana deep-dive.** For that, see [`solana-fundamentals`](/solana-fundamentals).

## Where to go next

* **First time on Solana:** read [`getting-started/what-you-need`](/getting-started/what-you-need), then [`getting-started/choosing-a-wallet`](/getting-started/choosing-a-wallet), then [`getting-started/first-swap`](/getting-started/first-swap).
* **Already have a Solana wallet with SOL:** skip to [`getting-started/first-swap`](/getting-started/first-swap) or [`user-flows/swap`](/user-flows/swap).
* **Want to provide liquidity:** [`user-flows/add-remove-liquidity`](/user-flows/add-remove-liquidity) and [`user-flows/choosing-a-pool-type`](/user-flows/choosing-a-pool-type).
* **Want to launch a token:** [`user-flows/launch-token-launchlab`](/user-flows/launch-token-launchlab).