Trezor Suite® – Getting Started™ Developer Portal

Overview

The Trezor Suite developer ecosystem centers on allowing third-party developers to interface with the Trezor hardware wallet and the Trezor Suite software. The typical goals include:

• Securely signing transactions from a client application.
• Managing accounts and viewing balances through safe read-only endpoints.
• Building UX flows for onboarding, backup, recovery, and firmware updates.

Who this is for

Frontend engineers, backend engineers building custody integrations, blockchain application developers, and security engineers. If you’re a product manager or designer, the UI/UX sections are still useful to understand constraints and user risk models.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• a Trezor hardware device (Model T, Model One, or any supported device)
• the latest Trezor Suite installed or access to the web-based Suite
• a development environment with Node.js (LTS), npm/yarn
• basic familiarity with WebUSB / WebHID and browser permissions
• a testnet account and small testnet funds for transaction testing

Note on safety

Never use your primary seed or a production hardware wallet for development. Create a separate development device and seed phrase for experiments and testing.

Setup — Getting your dev environment ready

1. Trezor Suite & Device

Install Trezor Suite (desktop or web). For web integration testing, you'll often use the Suite web client or run a local build of the Suite if you plan to interact directly with Suite internals.

2. Node & Tooling

Install Node.js LTS and your package manager of choice. We'll show examples using npm and modern ESM syntax.

3. Connecting to the device

Modern browsers expose navigator.usb and navigator.hid. Trezor communicates over a transport layer; libraries abstract the low-level protocols (see SDK section). Make sure browser permissions allow USB/HID access to the site you use for development.

API & SDK

Trezor ecosystem commonly uses several open-source packages to interact with devices and Suite. Key pieces:

• Transport libraries that expose WebUSB/WebHID/Bridge connectivity.
• Protocol libraries to format requests (e.g., protobuf or JSON over the transport layer).
• Wallet/coin-specific helpers for building transactions.

Example: Basic device connect (pseudo-code)

// initialize transport
import { TransportWebUSB } from '@trezor/connect-webusb';

async function connect(){
  const transport = await TransportWebUSB.requestDevice();
  // now you can communicate with the device using higher-level libraries
}

Using Trezor Connect

Trezor Connect is a high-level library designed to simplify common flows like signTransaction, getAddress, and more. It encapsulates transport & UI popups to ask users to confirm operations on the device. Use it for web apps to avoid reimplementing device-level flows.

Sample Trezor Connect usage

import TrezorConnect from 'trezor-connect';

TrezorConnect.manifest({
  email: 'dev@example.com',
  appUrl: 'https://your-app.example'
});

async function requestAddress(){
  const res = await TrezorConnect.getAddress({
    path: "m/44'/0'/0'/0/0",
  });
  if(res.success) console.log('address', res.payload.address);
}

Security Best Practices

Security is central. Treat the hardware device as the ultimate root of trust:

• Never expose the seed. Keys must remain on-device and operations requiring the private key must happen on the device or through device-signed messages.
• Use read-only data endpoints when possible for balances and histories; avoid storing private data in local storage or transmitting it unnecessarily.
• Implement robust origin-checking, CSP headers, Subresource Integrity for critical JS, and strict permissions when using WebUSB/WebHID.
• Audit third-party libraries, and pin dependency versions to avoid supply-chain attacks.

UI/UX security cues

Signal to users when a device needs to be connected, and show step-by-step instructions that align with device UI screens to reduce confusion and help users detect fake prompts.

Testing & Emulation

Testing should cover unit tests for your logic and integration testing with a real device. Some recommended strategies:

• Use a dedicated test device with a disposable seed.
• Automate simple flows (connect, getAddress) using headless browsers where possible, but keep device confirmations manual by design to reflect realistic user interaction.
• For repeated signing tests, script the workflow but ensure you still perform random manual checks to verify device state and UI changes.

Examples & Common Patterns

1. Onboarding flow

Guide the user to: connect device → confirm device fingerprint → pair with Suite → create/restore wallet → backup seed. Keep each step clear and avoid advanced options during first run.

2. Signing transactions

Build a server-side assembler for transactions (UTXO selection, fee estimation) and send only the final signable payload to the client. The client prompts the Trezor device for the signature. This minimizes private data exposure on the server.

Example flow (Bitcoin-like)

1. Server constructs PSBT (partially signed Bitcoin transaction) without private keys.
2. Client requests PSBT from server.
3. Client sends PSBT to Trezor for signing via Connect/transport.
4. Signed PSBT returned to server for broadcast or client broadcasts directly.

FAQs

Can I use Trezor Suite APIs in production?

Yes—when you build with officially supported libraries and follow security best practices. Ensure you comply with terms of use and that you use production-ready releases of libraries.

What about cross-platform compatibility?

Trezor supports multiple platforms; the key work is handling transport differences (e.g., WebUSB vs Bridge vs WebHID). Test across browsers and OSes used by your audience.

Resources

Official links and quick access resources. Each link includes an access timestamp (Accessed: November 10, 2025) to help you track when these were last reviewed in this guide.

Conclusion

Building on Trezor Suite and the Trezor Developer Portal gives you a solid security foundation and a user-first hardware wallet experience. Prioritize device-first key custody, keep user flows transparent, and test thoroughly. Use the resources above and the code snippets as a launchpad for your integrations.

Next steps

• Fork the official SDK examples and run them locally.
• Create a dedicated dev device and seed for testing.
• Design for clear device prompts and educate users about seed safety.