How to initialize and use the Ledger Wallet API

Goal

Initialize the Ledger Wallet API Core client, connect to a transport, and perform basic interactions (e.g., read accounts), then cleanly disconnect.

Installation

You can use your favorite package manager to install @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client:

npm install @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client

pnpm add @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client

yarn add @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client

bun add @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client

Step 1 - Initialize the transport

Set up the WindowMessageTransport (provided by @ledgerhq/wallet-api-core and re-exposed by @ledgerhq/wallet-api-client) to enable communication between your app and Ledger devices.

Step 2 - Create and initialize the client

Use the transport to initialize WalletAPIClient.

import {
 
  WalletAPIClient,
  WindowMessageTransport,
} from "@ledgerhq/wallet-api-client";
 
async function initializeWalletApiClient() {
  // 1) Connect the Window Message Transport
  const windowMessageTransport = new WindowMessageTransport();
  windowMessageTransport.connect();
 
  // 2) Initialize the Wallet API Client
  const walletApiClient = new WalletAPIClient(windowMessageTransport);
 
  // 3) Use the client (example: list accounts)
  // const accounts = await walletApiClient.account.getAccounts();
 
  // Your application logic here...
 
  // 4) Disconnect when done
  windowMessageTransport.disconnect();
}
 
// Execute the function
initializeWalletApiClient().catch((error) => console.error(error));

Step 3 - Disconnect when finished

Always close the communication channel by calling disconnect on the transport after your operations are complete.

Outcome

You have a connected Ledger Wallet API client and can call methods such as account.getAccounts() to interact with Ledger devices.

Next steps

• Explore available methods in the API reference to retrieve accounts, request signatures, and perform transactions.
• Integrate error handling and UI flows for device connection states.