wallet-cli-usage

name	wallet-cli-usage
description	Official Ledger wallet-cli - USB-based CLI for Ledger hardware wallet flows (account discover, receive, balances, operations, send, swap quote/execute/status, genuine-check, assets token / token-by-id). Use for any wallet-cli command execution and for mapping informal requests to the right command.

wallet-cli

USB-based CLI for Ledger wallet flows. Networks: bitcoin, ethereum, base, solana (mainnet + testnets). Base uses the Ethereum app.

Install globally with a user-preferred package manager — npm i -g @ledgerhq/wallet-cli, pnpm add -g @ledgerhq/wallet-cli, yarn global add @ledgerhq/wallet-cli, or bun add -g @ledgerhq/wallet-cli. Run: wallet-cli [flags].

Concepts & rationale: for why a command behaves the way it does, or to surface a safety rule that this skill states tersely (genuine check, receive-address verification, sessions, sandbox, device contention), read references/business-logic.md.

Session first: When invoked without a specific task, immediately run session view — do not ask the user what to do first. Show the result, then ask what to do next. If labels exist, skip account discover.

Sandbox: account discover, receive, send, genuine-check, swap execute must use dangerouslyDisableSandbox: true — sandbox blocks USB (causes a USB timeout error). Other commands are fine in sandbox.

Device contention: Never run two device commands in parallel — they fail with [object Object] or garbled APDU. Run sequentially.

Device readiness: Before running a device command, briefly describe what you're about to do. The CLI prompts for device interaction itself — don't time out or kill the command. Exception: genuine-check exits immediately ([✖] Wrong app. Open Ledger dashboard., exit code 4) if any currency app is open — unlike the other device commands, it targets the dashboard and has no auto-launch path. Ensure the device is on the dashboard before running; if it exits, ask the user to back out to the dashboard and re-run.

Ambiguous requests — ask, don't guess. If a required parameter is missing or unclear (no recipient for send, no network for account discover, an amount with no ticker), stop and ask. A wrong guess on a hardware wallet flow can mean irreversible fund loss.

---

Intent map

Map informal phrasings to commands. Account references use a session label (e.g. ethereum-1).

User says	Command
"show me my wallet", "what do I have", "let's get started", no specific task	session view (run immediately, before asking anything)
"find my accounts", "scan my wallet", "import my wallet", "set up Ethereum/Bitcoin"	account discover <network>
"where do I send funds to", "give me my address", "deposit address"	receive <account>
"how much do I have", "balance", "what's my ETH balance"	balances <account>
"what did I send", "transaction history", "recent activity"	operations <account>
"send X to Y", "transfer", "pay", "withdraw to an exchange"	send <account> --to <address> --amount '<amount> <ticker>'
"swap A to B", "convert", "trade ETH for BTC", "exchange"	swap quote -> swap execute -> swap status
"is this Ledger real", "verify authenticity", "I bought this off eBay"	genuine-check
"start over", "clear my session", "I switched devices"	session reset

---

Out of scope — say no, don't improvise

If the user asks for any of the following, surface that wallet-cli does not support it yet rather than constructing a command:

• NFTs (mint, transfer, view).
• Encryption / OpenPGP / key-share operations.
• send, receive, operations, or swap execute on testnets.
• Custom chains not listed in the Networks line above.

---

Session & labels

account discover persists accounts. Each gets a label: <network>[-derivation][-env]-<n> (e.g. ethereum-1, bitcoin-native-1, ethereum-sepolia-1).

All --account flags accept a session label (e.g. ethereum-1). Run account discover first to populate the session.

---

Commands

Command	Device	Sandbox
session view	No	No
session reset	No	No
account discover	Yes	Required
receive	Yes	Required
send	Yes*	Required
genuine-check	Yes	Required
balances	No	No
operations	No	No
swap quote	No	No
swap execute	Yes	Required
swap status	No	No
assets token	No	No
assets token-by-id	No	No

*send --dry-run needs no device and no sandbox bypass.

session view / reset

wallet-cli session view
wallet-cli session reset

account discover

wallet-cli account discover ethereum
wallet-cli account discover bitcoin
wallet-cli account discover ethereum:sepolia

Networks: bitcoin (mainnet), base, ethereum:sepolia, bitcoin:testnet, solana:devnet.

receive

wallet-cli receive ethereum-1
wallet-cli receive ethereum-1 --no-verify  # skip device confirmation

If the on-screen address differs from the terminal address: do not share or use the address. Have the user disconnect the device and run genuine-check before retrying. See references/business-logic.md § Receive-address verification for context.

genuine-check

wallet-cli genuine-check
wallet-cli genuine-check --output json  # only if a downstream caller needs to parse the result

Preconditions: device unlocked and on the dashboard (exit any open app); host has internet access (the secure channel reaches Ledger's backend — offline runs fail).

balances

wallet-cli balances ethereum-1
wallet-cli balances ethereum-1 --output json

operations

wallet-cli operations ethereum-1
wallet-cli operations ethereum-1 --limit 20 --cursor <cursor>

Pagination: next cursor on stderr (human) or nextCursor in JSON.

send

wallet-cli send ethereum-1 --to 0xDEF... --amount '0.5 ETH'
wallet-cli send ethereum-1 --to 0xDEF... --amount '100 USDT'  # ERC-20
wallet-cli send bitcoin-native-1 --to bc1q... --amount '0.001 BTC' --fee-per-byte 15 --rbf
wallet-cli send ethereum-1 --to 0xDEF... --amount '0.5 ETH' --dry-run

Ticker is mandatory in --amount. No --token flag — ticker drives asset resolution.

Bitcoin flags: --fee-per-byte <sats>, --rbf

Solana flags: --mode send|stake.createAccount|stake.delegate|stake.undelegate|stake.withdraw, --validator <addr>, --stake-account <addr>, --memo <text>

swap quote

Fetches quotes in parallel from the built-in provider list (no device when addresses are supplied via flags below).

Currencies: --from / -f and --to / -t are Ledger currency IDs — native assets (e.g. ethereum, bitcoin, solana) or token IDs when the token’s parent chain is a supported native swap currency (same IDs the CLI allows for swap). They are not session account labels — use --from-account / --to-account (or fresh addresses) for accounts.

Default providers queried by swap quote and usable by swap execute: changelly, cic, exodus, nearintents, swapsxyz.

Addresses (pick one per side): --from-fresh-address or --from-account; --to-fresh-address or --to-account. Account flags accept a session label only; the CLI resolves a fresh receive address like receive.

wallet-cli swap quote --from ethereum --to bitcoin --amount 0.1 --from-fresh-address 0xABC... --to-fresh-address bc1q...
wallet-cli swap quote -f ethereum -t bitcoin --amount 0.1 --from-fresh-address 0xABC... --to-fresh-address bc1q... --output json
wallet-cli swap quote --from ethereum --to bitcoin --amount 0.1 --from-account ethereum-1 --to-account bitcoin-native-1
wallet-cli swap quote --from ethereum --to bitcoin --amount 0.1 --from-account ethereum-1 --to-account bitcoin-native-1 --output json

Required: --from, --to, --amount, and both sides covered by the address flags above.

swap execute

Currencies: --from / -f and --to / -t are Ledger currency IDs (same as swap quote): native assets or tokens on an allowed parent chain. They must match the asset of the source --account and of --to-account respectively.

Providers: Valid --provider values are changelly, changelly_v2, cic, cic_v2, exodus, nearintents, swapsxyz. Use the provider id shown on the quote line you pick from swap quote.

Fee strategy: --fee-strategy accepts slow, medium (default), or fast.

wallet-cli swap execute --from ethereum --to bitcoin --account ethereum-1 --to-account bitcoin-native-1 --provider changelly --amount 0.1
wallet-cli swap execute -f ethereum -t bitcoin --account ethereum-1 --to-account bitcoin-native-1 --provider changelly --amount 0.1 --fee-strategy fast
wallet-cli swap execute --from ethereum --to bitcoin --account ethereum-1 --to-account bitcoin-native-1 --provider changelly --amount 0.1 --output json

Required flags: --from, --to, --account, --to-account, --provider, --amount. Use a --provider value that matches the provider id on the quote line you pick from swap quote.

swap status

wallet-cli swap status --swap-id <swapId> --provider changelly
wallet-cli swap status --swap-id <swapId> --provider changelly --output json

Required flags: --swap-id, --provider

assets token / token-by-id

Resolve token metadata from the cryptoassets store. No device, no session.

wallet-cli assets token ethereum 0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7
wallet-cli assets token-by-id ethereum/erc20/usd_tether__erc20_

Use token when you have the contract address; use token-by-id when you have the id. Exits non-zero if not found.

For non-EVM chains pass --identifier.

The id printed here is the same id accepted by swap quote --from / --to and swap execute --from / --to.

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Common errors

Error	Cause	Fix
Amount must include a ticker	--amount missing ticker	Ask the user which asset they mean — do not guess. Then pass the ticker inline, e.g. --amount '0.5 ETH'.
Ticker UNKN not found in account	ticker not in account balances	Run balances <account> and show the user the tickers held by this account. Ask the user which ticker to use, or whether they meant a different account — do not silently substitute another ticker.
[✖] Wrong app. Open Ledger dashboard. (exit code 4)	genuine-check invoked while a currency app is open. Unlike other device commands, genuine-check targets the dashboard and has no auto-launch path.	Ask the user to exit the foreground app on the device (short-press both buttons on the app's main screen until Quit shows, then confirm), then re-run genuine-check. Other device commands (account discover, receive, send, swap execute) don't hit this — they auto-prompt the correct app launch.
[✖] Rejected on device. No action taken.	user rejected a sign request on device	The rejection was deliberate. Ask the user whether to retry or abort — do not auto-retry. If they retry, have them review amount, recipient, and fees on the device screen before approving.
[✖] Rejected on device. App was not opened.	user rejected the app-open prompt on device	Ask the user to confirm the app-open prompt on the device and re-run the command.
[✖] Timed out talking to the Ledger over USB. The device may be busy or locked. Retry the command.	sandbox blocking USB, or device busy/locked	Surface to the user that the command needs dangerouslyDisableSandbox: true and ask for confirmation before re-running with the bypass. The bypass is expected for device commands (account discover, receive, send, genuine-check, swap execute); if this error fires on any other command, investigate before bypassing rather than disabling the sandbox by reflex.
[object Object] or garbled APDU output	two device commands running in parallel (contention)	Run device-touching commands sequentially — never in parallel tool calls.
[✖] Ledger not detected. Plug in, unlock, retry. (exit code 3)	device powered off or unplugged	Ask the user to power on the device, unlock it, and connect via USB, then re-run the command.
device-state … awaiting_approval … reason: unlock (JSON stream)	device locked	Keep the command running — the CLI resumes automatically once unlocked. Ask the user to unlock the device with their PIN.