Trezor Suite® – Getting Started™ Developer Portal

Introduction

Welcome! This guide is an approachable, developer-focused walkthrough designed to get you started building integrations with Trezor Suite®. Whether you’re writing an app that queries account balances, creating a custom signing flow, or integrating hardware wallet support into your product, this page collects the essentials — concepts, code snippets, UX considerations, and best practices — into one vibrant, copy-paste friendly reference.

Who is this for?

This guide assumes you have basic familiarity with JavaScript/TypeScript, web development, and cryptographic signing concepts. It will be helpful for:

• Web engineers integrating Trezor devices into dapps or custodial services.
• Desktop/mobile devs adding hardware wallet support.
• Backend engineers building server-side verification flows.

What you’ll learn

1. How Trezor Suite architecture relates to device communication.
2. Quick examples to sign transactions and verify addresses.
3. Best practices for UX and security when prompting users to connect their device.
4. How to test locally and prepare for production.

High-level architecture

Trezor Suite components (quick)

At a glance, most integrations interact with three layers:

1. Transport layer

Handles connection to the physical device — USB, WebUSB, WebHID, or Bridge. Your app will usually call a transport API to enumerate and open the device.

2. Device API / Protocol

Protocol commands to sign, get addresses, and request device features. These are implemented in the Trezor firmware and exposed through helper libraries.

3. Application integration

Your application logic — wallets, transaction builders, and UX flows — that uses the device API to get user approval and perform secure operations.

Quickstart — connect and fetch an address

Below is a minimal JavaScript example illustrating transport discovery, connecting, and retrieving a legacy address (example uses pseudo-APIs; adapt to the SDK you use).

// Minimal example (conceptual)
import { discover, connect } from 'trezor-transport'; // replace with actual SDK imports

async function getFirstAddress() {
  const devices = await discover(); // list available transports
  if (devices.length === 0) throw new Error('No Trezor device found');

  const device = await connect(devices[0]);
  const address = await device.getAddress({
    coin: 'bitcoin',
    path: "m/44'/0'/0'/0/0"
  });
  return address;
}

getFirstAddress().then(addr => console.log('Address:', addr)).catch(console.error);

Replace the above with the concrete library you choose (many official and community SDKs exist). The goal here is to show the typical flow: discover → connect → request.

Web integration patterns

For web apps, you’ll often use a "Connect Wallet" button that triggers device discovery and a modal UI that walks users through permission and PIN entry flows. Keep the flow familiar: explain what the action does, show the device state, and display clear error messages for cases like "device busy" or "firmware required".

Signing example: sign a transaction (conceptual)

Signing a transaction typically involves constructing the unsigned transaction in your app, then sending the raw transaction data (inputs/outputs/metadata) to the device for user confirmation and signature.

// Signing pseudocode (conceptual)
const unsignedTx = buildUnsignedTx(inputs, outputs);

const signature = await device.signTransaction({
  coin: 'ethereum',
  path: "m/44'/60'/0'/0/0",
  rawTx: unsignedTx
});

// apply signature to transaction, broadcast to network
const signedTx = applySignature(unsignedTx, signature);
await broadcastTransaction(signedTx);

UX for signing

• Show a human-readable transaction summary before requesting the signature (amount, destination, fee).
• Warn on unusual operations (large transfers, contract calls with nonstandard params).
• Use progressive disclosure: show essential info first, allow users to expand for details.

Testing and local development

Local test flow

1. Use testnets (Ropsten/Goerli for Ethereum; Bitcoin testnet) when possible.
2. Use hardware wallets in a safe environment; don’t use a mainnet with unfamiliar code while testing unsigned flows.
3. Automate tests for the app-side logic; simulate device responses where possible using mock transports.

Simulators & emulators

Where available, use official emulators or device simulators for continuous integration. This enables CI systems to run signing flows without requiring physical devices for every run.

Best practices (security, UX, and compliance)

Security

• Validate and sanitize all data before sending it to the device (avoid malformed payloads).
• Use origin checks and Content Security Policy (CSP) to minimize injection risks for web apps.
• Display concise but accurate prompts to the user — misleading prompts are a common attack vector.

UX

• Design a clear on-screen progression: Connect → Review → Confirm → Done.
• Handle errors gracefully: show next steps, recovery tips, and links to support resources.
• Prefer consistent, small modals that guide the user through device steps rather than full-page redirects.

Privacy & Data

Avoid collecting or logging sensitive information like full account balances tied to identifiable data. If you need telemetry, make it opt-in and anonymized.

Deployment & Release checklist

Before launch

• Test on multiple device models and firmware versions you intend to support.
• Document minimum firmware and platform requirements in your user-facing docs.
• Include retry and timeout strategies for device communication (USB disconnects, bridge restarts).

Release notes

Keep an explicit compatibility matrix in your release notes. Users appreciate a short "devices and firmware supported" table near the top of your docs.

Reference — small helper library (conceptual)

The snippet below shows a tiny, idiomatic wrapper you might use in your app to talk with a device. This is a conceptual pattern — adapt with the real SDK calls you use.

// device-adapter.js (conceptual)
export class DeviceAdapter {
  constructor(transport) {
    this.transport = transport;
    this.device = null;
  }

  async discoverAndConnect() {
    const transports = await this.transport.list();
    if (!transports.length) throw new Error('No device');
    this.device = await this.transport.open(transports[0]);
    return this.device;
  }

  async getAddress({ coin, path }) {
    if (!this.device) await this.discoverAndConnect();
    return await this.device.getAddress({ coin, path });
  }

  async sign({ coin, path, raw }) {
    if (!this.device) await this.discoverAndConnect();
    return await this.device.sign({ coin, path, raw });
  }

  async disconnect() {
    if (this.device) {
      await this.device.close();
      this.device = null;
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting common issues

Device not detected

1. Ensure the device is unlocked and in the correct app (e.g., Bitcoin app for bitcoin operations).
2. Try a different cable or USB port — many problems are cable-related.
3. Confirm browser supports required transport (WebUSB/WebHID). If not, use Trezor Bridge (if supported by device).

Signing fails or times out

• Check the payload size — some operations are large and require splitting.
• Confirm device firmware supports the requested coin and operation.

Design & Content guidelines for prompts

What to show on the device

On-device prompts are the user's ultimate source of truth. Design your on-screen copy to match the device prompt for clarity. For example:

App prompt: "Sign bitcoin tx — send 0.5 BTC to 1ABC…XYZ?"
Device: "Confirm transaction: send 0.5 BTC to 1ABC...XYZ. Fee: 0.0001 BTC"

Localization

Localize all user-visible strings. If you display amounts, always show both the crypto amount and a fiat equivalent when available — but make it optional and clearly labelled.

Examples & integration patterns

Wallet connector pattern

Create a small connector module exposing a single consistent API to the rest of your app. This isolates changes if you swap out SDKs or add fallback transports.

Server-side verification

When building custodial or multi-sig services, use server-side verification to confirm transaction hashes and signatures, but NEVER send private keys to servers. Verify signatures against on-chain transactions and implement replay protection where appropriate.

Resources & further reading

Below are quick reference resources and official links. Bookmark them as you build.

Note: the links above point to the official Trezor homepage where developer resources and docs are typically linked. Replace with the exact SDK or docs endpoint you plan to reference in your production docs if you want a deeper anchor.

Conclusion

Integrating hardware wallet support via Trezor Suite unlocks a powerful security posture for your users — private keys remain on-device, while your application benefits from strong user guarantees around signing. This guide collected the core patterns, code snippet archetypes, and UX best practices you'll use during implementation. Use this as a checklist during development and expand it with concrete SDK calls from the official docs as you move from prototype to production.