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The Utexo SDK provides programmatic access to the Utexo execution layer, enabling applications to issue, transfer, and receive RGB assets on Bitcoin without operating nodes, managing channels, or handling protocol-level infrastructure. It exposes a clean set of async methods organised around wallet management, RGB asset operations, on-chain Bitcoin interactions, and Lightning payments. All operations are performed locally using client-side validation — no shared state is sent to a central server during normal execution.

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SDK Family

The Utexo SDK is available across three application platforms, all built on a shared core package (@utexo/rgb-sdk-core) that ensures consistent behaviour and a unified API surface. A separate Wallet Development Kit (WDK) layer is available for builders who need lower-level wallet abstractions: @utexo/rgb-sdk-rn (1.0.0-beta.10) already ships with full Lightning support via an on-device RLN node. Lightning support for @utexo/rgb-sdk (Node.js) and @utexo/rgb-sdk-web (Browser) is coming in the next release. The three application SDKs share @utexo/rgb-sdk-core, which contains common interfaces, base classes, unified types, transport configuration, and UTEXO network mappings — changes to the core propagate across all three platforms simultaneously. This page covers @utexo/rgb-sdk (Node.js). Refer to the Web SDK and React Native SDK reference pages for platform-specific details.

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What the SDK Provides

  • Wallet management — key generation, derivation, initialisation, backup, and restore (including VSS cloud backup); address rotation following HD wallet best practices
  • RGB asset operations — asset issuance, blinded and witness invoices, asset transfers, and balance queries
  • Lightning payments — invoice creation, synchronous payment execution (begin → sign → end flow), HODL invoice support for offline recipients, Lightning Address integration, and payment status queries
  • Async payments — LSP-routed delivery so recipients can collect payments when they come online; inbound leg fully operational, outbound leg in active development
  • On-chain interactions — deposit address generation, BTC balance queries, on-chain withdrawal
  • UTXO management — UTXO creation, listing, and state sync

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Key Concepts

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Vanilla vs Colored Addresses

The SDK operates two distinct address and key derivation paths:
  • Vanilla — the standard Bitcoin derivation path. Vanilla outputs hold regular BTC and are used for fee payments, on-chain withdrawals, and funding operations. getAddress() returns a vanilla bech32 receive address.
  • Colored — the RGB-specific derivation path. Colored outputs carry RGB asset allocations anchored to Bitcoin UTXOs. This path is used internally when creating UTXOs for RGB operations.
getXpub() returns both the vanilla xpub (accountXpubVanilla) and the colored xpub (accountXpubColored). getBtcBalance() returns separate balances for each path, each with settled, future, and spendable fields.
Before issuing or receiving RGB assets, the wallet must have colored UTXOs prepared. Call createUtxos() after funding the vanilla address to set up the UTXO structure required for RGB allocations.

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Invoice Types: Blinded vs Witness

RGB receive flows support two invoice styles:
  • Blinded invoice (blindReceive) — the most common flow. The receiver creates a blinded recipient endpoint; the sender pays the invoice directly. Use this for standard app-to-app RGB transfers.
  • Witness invoice (witnessReceive) — the receiver binds the transfer to witness data. The sender must provide witnessData (at minimum amountSat) in the send() call. Use this when your integration explicitly requires witness-bound receive semantics.

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Backup and Restore

The SDK provides two backup mechanisms for wallet state. Backups are recommended after every significant state change (UTXO creation, asset issuance, transfer):
  • File backup (createBackup) — creates an encrypted local backup containing both layer1 and utexo state files. Restore with restoreUtxoWalletFromBackup().
  • VSS backup (vssBackup) — pushes wallet state to a remote Verifiable Secret Sharing server. The backup is keyed to the wallet mnemonic. Restore with restoreUtxoWalletFromVss(). Call vssBackupInfo() to check backup existence and whether a new backup is required.

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Private Key Export

The SDK exposes getXprivFromMnemonic(network, mnemonic) to derive the extended private key (xpriv) from a mnemonic. This is the account root private key material from which all child keys can be derived. Treat xpriv with the same sensitivity as the mnemonic itself — do not log or transmit it in production.

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Execution Model

The SDK uses the @utexo/rgb-sdk package, built on top of @utexo/rgb-sdk-core. The primary entry point is UTEXOWallet, which is initialised with a mnemonic and a configuration object.
Key execution properties:
  • All operations are non-custodial — the SDK never transmits private keys or mnemonics
  • All API calls execute with predefined costs and latency — no fee auction or gas estimation required
  • The SDK is Node.js only — it is not browser-compatible; use @utexo/rgb-sdk-web for browser environments
  • Payments follow a begin → sign → end flow for both Lightning and on-chain withdrawals, separating unsigned PSBT generation from signing
  • External signer support — key management can be handled entirely outside the node, meeting the isolation requirements of custody-grade and enterprise deployments
  • Async payments are opt-in via lspBaseUrl and lspBearerToken — omitting these fields has no impact on existing synchronous flows

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Networks

The SDK supports three environments. Pass the identifier in the network field of the init config. The utexo identifier maps to the Utexo-operated signet environment. It is the default network for development and testing.

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In This Section

Complete method reference for UTEXOWallet: wallet methods, RGB asset methods, UTXO management, Lightning methods, on-chain methods, backup and restore, and security model.

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Further Reading

  • Product Suite — How the SDK fits into the full Utexo product surface.
  • Architecture — The Bitcoin + RGB stack the SDK operates on.
  • Quickstart — Step-by-step guide to your first Utexo integration.

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Platform SDKs

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Wallet Development Kit (WDK)

The WDK packages expose RGB capabilities through standard wallet abstraction interfaces for builders who already use WDK-compatible account and signing layers.