Ledger® Live Wallet – Getting Started™
Developer Portal

A practical, developer-focused walkthrough to get Ledger Live Wallet integrated, tested, and ready for production. This guide uses clear headings (H1–H5), code samples, and curated links to help teams move fast.

Estimated read: ~10 minutes
Platform: Developer Portal
Format: HTML blog (colorful)

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction & Purpose
  2. What is Ledger Live Wallet?
  3. Developer prerequisites
  4. Installation & setup
  5. Key APIs & flows
  6. Security best practices
  7. Testing and debugging
  8. Deployment checklist
  9. Troubleshooting
  10. Resources & links (10 Office links)

1. Introduction & Purpose

Why this guide exists

This article is written for engineers, product managers, and technical writers who need a concise, actionable path to integrate with Ledger Live Wallet through the Developer Portal. You’ll find practical steps, recommended configurations, and code snippets that align with typical developer workflows.

Who should read this

Anyone building wallet integrations, exchange integrations, custodial solutions, or third-party apps that interact with hardware wallet ecosystems. If you need cryptographic signing, transaction construction, or secure key management with a human-in-the-loop device, this guide will help.

2. What is Ledger Live Wallet?

High-level overview

Ledger Live Wallet is the user-facing application that ties together hardware-backed private keys, multi-currency account management, and secure transaction signing. For developers, the Developer Portal exposes documentation, SDKs, and APIs to interact with Ledger hardware and the Live app.

Core capabilities

  • Hardware-backed transaction signing
  • Account discovery and synchronization
  • Multi-currency support and network discovery
  • Event-driven callbacks and webhooks for certain integrations

3. Developer prerequisites

Environment

Before you begin, ensure your environment matches these minimums:

  • Node.js 16+ (recommended) or equivalent runtime for backend services
  • Modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) for interacting with Ledger Live and WebUSB / WebHID
  • Ledger hardware device (e.g., Ledger Nano S Plus or Ledger Nano X) with latest firmware

Accounts & access

Sign up for the developer program on the portal and obtain any API keys or client credentials required for your integration. Treat these credentials like secrets—store them in a secure vault or environment variables (e.g., LEDGER_API_KEY).

4. Installation & setup

Client SDK install

Install the official SDK as a starting point. In a Node.js project, this typically looks like:

npm install --save @ledgerhq/hw-transport-node-hid @ledgerhq/hw-app-eth

Connecting to the device

Use the transport layer appropriate for your runtime. For web apps, WebHID or WebUSB is common; for backend test rigs, the HID transport works.

import Transport from "@ledgerhq/hw-transport-webhid";
import AppEth from "@ledgerhq/hw-app-eth";

const connect = async () => {
  const transport = await Transport.create();
  const appEth = new AppEth(transport);
  const address = await appEth.getAddress("44'/60'/0'/0/0");
  console.log(address);
};

connect();

5. Key APIs & flows

Account discovery

Account discovery involves deriving addresses using BIP32/BIP44 paths and checking balances. Keep discovery lightweight: only derive the number of addresses your UX requires, and snapshot balances server-side where necessary.

Transaction signing

Construct the unsigned transaction in your backend or client, then forward the signing payload to the Ledger device. Prompt the user to verify and approve on their device — this is the security boundary you cannot bypass.

Minimal signing flow (pseudo)
// 1. Build unsigned transaction
// 2. Send to device
// 3. Ledger prompts user
// 4. Receive signature and broadcast

const signed = await appEth.signTransaction(path, unsignedTxHex);

6. Security best practices

Never transmit private keys

Private keys must remain on the hardware device. All interactions are signature-only. Design your system so the server never sees raw private material.

Credential management

Rotate API keys and client secrets regularly. Use short-lived tokens where possible and adopt OAuth or similar flows for third-party integrations. Use environment variables and secret managers for storage.

Example: secure storage
const apiKey = process.env.LEDGER_API_KEY; // keep out of code
// Use a vault for production secrets

7. Testing and debugging

Unit tests & mocks

Create mocks for transport layers to run your CI without hardware attached. Many official SDKs provide transport-mock utilities or you can stub responses to test flow logic.

Integration testing

For end-to-end testing, use a dedicated test device or a hardware lab. Ensure tests are idempotent and reset device state between runs to avoid flaky results.

Logging

Log high-level events and errors, but never log raw payloads that contain sensitive data. Example: log that a signature was requested and whether user approved or rejected.

8. Deployment checklist

Pre-deploy items

  • Audit all dependencies and lock versions
  • Verify firmware compatibility with your supported device list
  • Confirm rate limits and throttling on API usage

Monitoring

Instrument metrics around success rates of signing, user cancellations, and connection errors. These signals tell you where the UX breaks down.

9. Troubleshooting

Common issues

  • Transport permission denied — ensure WebUSB / WebHID permissions are granted
  • App not open on device — the user must open the correct app (e.g., Ethereum) on their Ledger before signing
  • Firmware mismatch — prompt users to update firmware if required

Helpful debugging steps

Recreate the issue in a minimal sample, check console logs, and try the official desktop app to determine whether the problem is platform-specific.

10. Resources & Links

Office links (10 quick references)

Below are 10 handy links labeled "Office Link" you can adapt to point to internal docs, ticket trackers, or the official Developer Portal. Replace # with your target URLs.

Office Link 1 Office Link 2 Office Link 3 Office Link 4 Office Link 5 Office Link 6 Office Link 7 Office Link 8 Office Link 9 Office Link 10

Further reading

If you need canonical docs, SDK references, or firmware notes, link to those official pages from your Developer Portal. Keep internal playbooks for device handling, onboarding, and firmware upgrades behind your company SSO.

Closing notes

Final advice for developers

Prioritize the security boundary — the device — and make user prompts explicit and human-friendly. Automate what you can, but keep interactive signing flows transparent to the user. Iterate on the integration with real-world testing and telemetry.

Call to action

Fork this HTML file into your docs repo, replace the placeholder links with your internal targets, and add environment-specific notes for your platform.

License & attribution

© Your Company — adapt as needed. Ledger® is a registered trademark of Ledger SAS. This article is a developer guide format and does not replace official Ledger documentation.