## prepareTransaction

`prepareTransaction(transaction: object, instructions: object): Promise<object>`

Prepare a transaction. The prepared transaction must subsequently be [signed](#sign) and [submitted](#submit).

This method works with any of [the transaction types supported by rippled](https://developers.ripple.com/transaction-types.html).

Notably, this is the preferred method for preparing `DepositPreauth` or `AccountDelete` transactions.

### Parameters

Name | Type | Description
---- | ---- | -----------
transaction | [transaction](https://developers.ripple.com/transaction-formats.html) | The specification (JSON) of the transaction to prepare. Set `Account` to the address of the account that is creating the transaction. You may omit auto-fillable fields like `Fee`, `Flags`, and `Sequence` to have them set automatically.
instructions | [instructions](#transaction-instructions) | *Optional* Instructions for executing the transaction.

### Return Value

This method returns a promise that resolves with an object with the following structure:

<aside class="notice">
All "prepare*" methods have the same return type.
</aside>

<%- renderSchema("output/prepare.json") %>

### Example

```javascript
async function preparedPreauth() {
  const address = 'r9cZA1mLK5R5Am25ArfXFmqgNwjZgnfk59';
  return api.prepareTransaction({
    TransactionType: 'DepositPreauth',
    Account: address,
    Authorize: 'rMyVso4p83khNyHdV1m1PggV9QNadCj8wM'
  });
}
```

```javascript
{
  txJSON: '{"TransactionType":"DepositPreauth","Account":"r9cZA1mLK5R5Am25ArfXFmqgNwjZgnfk59","Authorize":"rMyVso4p83khNyHdV1m1PggV9QNadCj8wM","Flags":2147483648,"LastLedgerSequence":13561714,"Fee":"12","Sequence":1}',
  instructions: {
    fee: '0.000012',
    sequence: 1,
    maxLedgerVersion: 13561714
  }
}
```