Ledger Live Integrations - Ledger Developer Portal

Overview & Why Integrate with Ledger Live

Ledger Live is a bridge between secure hardware key storage and on-device signing, and the software applications that build modern crypto experiences. Integrating your wallet, dApp, or custodial service with Ledger Live enables users to approve operations using a trusted hardware device, improving security, user trust and regulatory posture.

Benefits at a glance

• Hardware-backed signatures: private keys never leave the device.
• Better user trust: Ledger's UI confirms details directly on device.
• Lower fraud risk: mitigates remote-key-exposure attack vectors.
• Interoperability: users can manage assets across apps with the same device.

Who should read this

Developers building wallets, exchanges, custody solutions, payment rails, portfolio managers, and dApps that require secure on-chain actions should consider Ledger Live integrations.

Integration Architecture

At a high level, a Ledger Live integration involves three pieces:

1. Client application (web, desktop, mobile)

The app orchestrates user flows, composes transactions, and calls into Ledger Live or the Ledger SDK to request signing.

2. Ledger Live / Bridge

Ledger Live may act as a mediator or direct signer interface depending on the integration type (deep linking, companion bridge, or WebHID/WebUSB connection). The key point: the signing approval and the private key operations occur on the hardware device.

3. Blockchain node or backend

Your backend composes raw transactions and broadcasts signed transactions to the network. Maintain robust validation and replay protection here.

Example interaction sequence

1. User initiates an action in your app (send, swap, stake).
2. Your app builds a transaction payload and requests a signature from Ledger Live / the device.
3. User confirms on device; signature is returned to your app.
4. Your backend broadcasts the signature to the blockchain and tracks the operation.

SDKs & Tooling

Ledger and community provide multiple SDKs that simplify interaction with devices and Ledger Live. Depending on platform and UX you choose:

Common SDKs and helpers

• JavaScript libraries: helpers for WebHID, WebUSB and WebBluetooth flows; transport adapters and serialization helpers.
• Native SDKs: for desktop/embedded integrations using native transports.
• Protocol adapters: transaction builders and parsers for EVM, Bitcoin, Solana, and other chains.

Sample usage (pseudocode)

// PSEUDOCODE: request signature via Ledger transport
import { LedgerTransport } from 'ledger-transport';
import { buildEvmTx } from 'tx-builder';

const transport = await LedgerTransport.create();
const unsignedTx = buildEvmTx({to, value, gas});
const signature = await transport.signEvmTransaction(path, unsignedTx);
const txHash = await backend.broadcast(signature);
console.log('Broadcasted', txHash);

Notes

Always pin SDK versions in production, keep an eye on transport-layer security patches, and use official SDKs where possible.

Authentication & Authorization

Integrations commonly need to map Ledger device identities to app accounts. Because Ledger devices generate deterministic keys, you typically identify users by public keys or account addresses. Avoid storing private-sensitive artifacts.

Best approaches

• Public-key binding: store only an address or public key fingerprint in your database.
• Nonce-based challenge: for session establishment, ask the user to sign a short, time-limited challenge to prove control of the hardware key.
• Multi-account handling: present account selection in the app and allow users to choose which device/account to use for a given operation.

Transaction Flow Patterns

Transaction flows vary by chain and UX intent. The following patterns are common:

1. Build on backend, sign client-side

Backend constructs the canonical transaction; client requests signature from Ledger device and returns the signed blob for broadcast. This keeps sensitive logic server-side while ensuring the user sees the exact payload.

2. Fully client-side construction

Wallet-style apps may assemble transactions entirely in the client, giving users maximal transparency and offline verification capability.

Important: show readable details on-device

Where possible, break down the transaction into human-readable pieces (recipient, amount, fee, memo) so the user can verify them on the device display.

UX Guidelines — Making Security Friendly

Security shouldn't mean friction. Aim for a smooth onboarding and explicit approvals that users can understand.

Tips for great UX

• Preflight checks: validate addresses and chain IDs before sending to device.
• Progress states: show clear steps (Prepare → Connect → Confirm on Device → Broadcast).
• Fallbacks: if the device is unavailable, surface clear recovery options (e.g., "Try reconnecting, use a different transport, or use a cold-signer flow").
• Localization: show amounts, currencies and labels in user's locale.

Accessibility

Make sure button labels and status updates are screen-reader friendly, and provide keyboard-first flows for desktop integrations.

Security Best Practices

Hardware signing provides a huge security boost, but integrations still have responsibilities. Treat attack surfaces carefully.

Server-side

• Never accept or store users' private keys.
• Validate signed payloads on backend before broadcasting.
• Rate-limit critical API endpoints.
• Use HSMs for any server-side secrets unrelated to user device keys.

Client-side

• Sanitize all user inputs used to build transactions.
• Use secure transports (HTTPS + certificate pinning when appropriate).
• Protect inter-process communication between your app and any companion or bridge service.

Device display verification

Design transaction displays so that a mismatch between what the app shows and what the device displays is obvious to users. Encourage users to verify both.

Testing & Sandboxes

Comprehensive testing is critical. Invest in unit tests, integration tests with emulator devices, and manual device confirmation runs.

Test tiers

1. Unit tests: builders, serialization and validation logic.
2. Integration tests: transport adapters, retry behaviors, and offline/online transitions.
3. End-to-end/manual: real device confirmations and negative-case testing (mismatched chain IDs, malformed payloads).

Use testnets liberally

Testnets allow you to exercise signing, broadcasting and error handling without spending mainnet funds. Add scripted, repeatable test suites to your CI/CD pipeline.

Deployment & Monitoring

After release, monitor both service health and user experience metrics to catch regressions early.

Key metrics to track

• Connection success rate (device + transport)
• Average time-to-sign
• Failed-sign attempts and error categories
• Support ticket volume around device usage

Rollout strategies

Use staged rollouts and feature flags for new transport or signing behaviors. Keep a quick rollback path if regressions appear in device compatibility.

FAQs & Final Checklist

Common questions

Do I need to store user addresses?

Store public addresses or account identifiers only. For privacy, consider hashing or alternate indexing.

What if a user loses their Ledger device?

Recovery depends on the user’s seed phrase or recovery method — design onboarding flows that remind users to back up their seed phrase securely and explain the recovery process clearly.

Final integration checklist

• ✅ Use official SDKs and pin versions.
• ✅ Display full transaction details on-device and in-app.
• ✅ Validate signed payloads server-side before broadcast.
• ✅ Test on emulators and real devices across OSes and transports.
• ✅ Monitor key telemetry and have rollback plans.

Integrating with Ledger Live and Ledger devices elevates the security posture of your product while providing users a predictable, trusted signing experience. Follow the patterns above to create a reliable, accessible and secure integration.

Resources & Example Links

Below are helpful links and placeholders you can swap for official pages or your internal docs. Replace placeholder anchors with your production URLs.