# Manifold Ethereum Provider

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This section is for advanced users only.  If you are just working on frontend integration, you can skip right to the [Connect Widget documentation](/manifold-for-developers/resources/widgets/connect-widget.md).
{% endhint %}

## Overview

The Manifold Ethereum Provider is a wrapper around [ethers.js](https://docs.ethers.io/v5/) that provides a number of convenience APIs for chain detection, wallet detection and automated provider switching (it will use the injected browser provider whenever possible).  

The Manifold Ethereum Provider is instantiated by the [Connect Widget](/manifold-for-developers/resources/widgets/connect-widget.md)

### Making Use of the Manifold Ethereum Provider

#### Step 1: Creation

Add the [Connect Widget](/manifold-for-developers/resources/widgets/connect-widget.md) to your page.  This will instantiate the Manifold Ethereum Provider.

#### Step 2: Initialization

Wait for Manifold Ethereum Provider to finish initialization.  You can do this by using the `detectManifoldEthereumProvider` function found in the [`@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-utils`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-utils) npm package

{% embed url="<https://www.npmjs.com/package/@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-utils>" %}
Utility which allows you to detect when the Manifold Ethereum Provider is instantiated by the Connect Widget
{% endembed %}

Once initialized, you will have access to the Manifold Ethereum Provider via `window.ManifoldEthereumProvider`

#### Step 3: Usage

You can find all the functionality that Manifold Ethereum Provider gives you by looking at the [`@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-types`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-types) package.

{% embed url="<https://www.npmjs.com/package/@manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-types>" %}
Type definitions for accessing the Manifold Ethereum Provider
{% endembed %}

```typescript
import { EthereumProvider } from @manifoldxyz/frontend-provider-types

declare global {
  interface Window {
    ManifoldEthereumProvider: typeof EthereumProvider;
  }
}

// Access the ManifoldEthereumProvider via window.ManifoldEthereumProvider

```


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