# add-stake (/docs/tx/add-stake)

Swaps TAO from the coldkey's free balance into the subnet's alpha at the
current pool price and credits the result to your stake on the hotkey; on
netuid 0 (root) the stake stays TAO-denominated. The swap moves the pool,
so large amounts incur slippage — use `add_stake_limit` to bound the
price. The position's value then follows the pool price and the validator's
performance, and can be exited later with `remove_stake`. Fails if the
coldkey's free balance cannot cover the amount plus the transaction fee,
and with `AmountTooLow` when the amount is below the chain minimum of
0.002 TAO plus the swap fee. Dynamic subnets also reject a single swap
larger than 1000x the pool's TAO reserve (`InsufficientLiquidity`).

| Signer    | Pallet          | Wraps                       |
| --------- | --------------- | --------------------------- |
| `coldkey` | SubtensorModule | `SubtensorModule.add_stake` |

## Parameters [#parameters]

| Parameter     | Type              | Required | Description                                                   |
| ------------- | ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `hotkey_ss58` | string            | yes      | Hotkey the stake is added to (the validator you are backing). |
| `netuid`      | integer           | yes      | Subnet the stake lives on (netuid 0 is the root network).     |
| `amount_tao`  | number \| `"all"` | yes      | How much of the coldkey's free balance to stake.              |

Address parameters (`--hotkey`, `--coldkey`, `--dest`, ...) accept a raw ss58
address, an address-book or proxy-book name, or a local wallet/hotkey name.

## CLI [#cli]

Preview with `--dry-run` (shows fee, effects, and policy result without
submitting), then submit:

```bash
btcli tx add-stake \
  --hotkey <ss58|name> \
  --netuid <int> \
  --amount-tao <amount|all> --dry-run
btcli tx add-stake \
  --hotkey <ss58|name> \
  --netuid <int> \
  --amount-tao <amount|all> -w my_coldkey
```

## Python [#python]

```python
import bittensor as sub
from bittensor.wallet import Wallet

wallet = Wallet(name="my_coldkey", hotkey="my_hotkey")
intent = sub.AddStake(hotkey_ss58="5F...", netuid=1, amount_tao=1.0)

async with sub.Client("finney") as client:
    plan = await client.plan(intent, wallet)   # fee, effects, policy — no submission
    result = await client.execute(intent, wallet)
    if not result.success:
        print(result.error.code, result.error.remediation)
```

Or build it by op name, as an agent would:

```python
await client.execute_tool("add_stake", {...}, wallet)
```