Trezor Suite® – Getting Started™ Developer Portal

Introduction

Welcome to the Trezor Suite® – Getting Started™ Developer Portal. This guide is designed for developers who want to integrate, extend, or build tools that interact with the Trezor Suite ecosystem. Whether you're creating a small plugin, a web wallet helper, or a production-grade integration, this page walks you through practical steps, common pitfalls, and recommended workflows.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following items in place:

Hardware & Accounts

You will need a Trezor device (Model T or Model One) and a verified developer account with access to the developer portal. If you don’t have a device, you can still simulate many flows with testnets and emulators; however, hardware testing is recommended before production.

Software & Tools

Install Node.js (LTS), a modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Brave), and Git. A terminal and basic knowledge of shell commands will speed up setup.

Setting up your environment

We'll set up a minimal local project to call the Developer Portal APIs, handle authentication, and interact with a Trezor device.

1. Create the project

mkdir trezor-dev-portal
cd trezor-dev-portal
npm init -y
npm install axios express dotenv

2. Configuration

Create a .env file to hold environment variables and API endpoints. Never commit secrets.

PORT=3000
TREZOR_API_URL=https://developer.trezor.io/api
TREZOR_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
TREZOR_CLIENT_SECRET=your-secret

Notes on local development

Use a dedicated local profile or Docker container for isolation. Tools like ngrok help when you need a public webhook endpoint for callbacks.

Authentication & Keys

Authentication is a cornerstone for secure integrations. The Developer Portal offers OAuth 2.0 for user-facing apps and API key/secret pairs for server-to-server flows.

OAuth 2.0 flow (recommended for web apps)

The standard authorization code flow with PKCE is recommended when your app runs in a browser. It reduces the chance of client secret leakage and provides stronger guarantees.

Service keys and rotating secrets

If you're building backend services, prefer rotating keys and short-lived tokens. Store keys in a secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or Azure Key Vault) and rotate them automatically.

API Reference Overview

The Developer Portal exposes several API endpoints grouped by resource. Below is a concise map of the most commonly used endpoints and a short description for each.

Common endpoints

• /v1/devices — Query device metadata and capabilities
• /v1/transactions — Create, sign, and broadcast transactions (wallet operations)
• /v1/users — User profile and developer account information
• /v1/webhooks — Register callbacks for device and transaction events
• /v1/simulators — Manage emulated devices for automated testing

Request & Response patterns

All API calls use JSON over HTTPS. Use consistent headers: Accept: application/json, Content-Type: application/json, and an Authorization: Bearer <token> header when required.

Examples & Workflows

Here are practical examples showing common developer tasks. The examples are intentionally compact — apply error handling and retries in your production code.

Quick example: fetch connected devices

const axios = require('axios');

async function fetchDevices(token){
  const res = await axios.get(process.env.TREZOR_API_URL + '/v1/devices', {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }
  });
  return res.data;
}

Signing a transaction (high-level)

1. Construct the unsigned transaction payload on your server.
2. Send the payload to the device via the API or USB bridge for signing.
3. Receive the signed transaction and broadcast it to the network.

Security tip

Never expose the entire unsigned payload to untrusted clients. Keep sensitive operations server-side where possible and use the device as the last trusted signing step.

Best Practices

Building integrations with hardware wallets has unique challenges. Below are distilled recommendations from experienced integrators.

1. Minimize attack surface

Restrict API scopes and keep keys scoped to the minimum required permissions. Use Content Security Policy (CSP) and avoid inline scripts in production web apps.

2. Robust error handling & observability

Implement exponential backoff for retries and instrument traces for request flows. Capture device-specific errors and translate them into actionable messages for end users.

3. Test extensively with emulators

Automate integration tests using simulated devices to cover edge cases like firmware mismatches, disconnected devices, and refused operations.

Troubleshooting

When things go wrong, a clear troubleshooting checklist saves hours. Start with the simplest checks and progress to deeper debugging.

Connection problems

Ensure USB permissions (on Linux check udev rules), confirm that the firmware is up to date, and try toggling the USB port/cable. If using a bridge, check that the bridge process is running and not blocked by a firewall.

Authentication failures

Verify your client ID and secret, check clock skew on servers (OAuth tokens can fail if system time is wrong), and ensure tokens haven't been revoked.

Office Links (10)

Below are ten placeholder office links you can customize. These could point to team docs, SharePoint pages, internal knowledge bases, or external resources. Replace the # hrefs with actual URLs.

Conclusion

This guide provides a practical blueprint to get started with the Trezor Suite® – Getting Started™ Developer Portal. Use the examples as starting points — focus on secure authentication, keep keys secret, and test with simulators before moving to production. The Developer Portal is continually evolving; follow release notes and versioned APIs to minimize surprises.

Next steps

1. Register a developer account and create your first application key.
2. Set up a local environment and test with an emulator.
3. Perform hardware validation on a real device before production rollout.