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Overview

Delegated signing lets your backend sign transactions on behalf of end users without requiring them to be online or have an active session. The end user grants a time-bound delegation from your frontend, and your server can then take actions on their account using only your CDP API key and Wallet Secret. This is useful for:
  • Automated transactions — Execute transactions triggered by webhooks or onchain events when the user is offline
  • Agentic wallets — Allow a backend service or agent to operate a user’s wallet with scoped permissions
  • Background operations — Process user-initiated flows that complete asynchronously after the user has left your app

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How it works

Two parties are involved:
  • End user — Authenticates on your frontend and grants a time-bound delegation to your app
  • Developer — Uses their CDP API key, CDP Wallet Secret, and the active delegation to sign transactions from the backend with no user interaction required
The flow:
  1. Grant — The authenticated end user calls createDelegation on the frontend, specifying an expiry time
  2. Sign — Your backend uses the CDP SDK with your API key to perform actions on behalf of the user
  3. Revoke — The delegation can be revoked before expiry by the end user or the developer

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Available delegated signing methods

With an active delegation, your backend can call the following methods via cdp.endUser.* on behalf of an end user:

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EVM: Sign

MethodDescription
signEvmTransaction({ userId, address, transaction })Sign an EVM transaction
signEvmMessage({ userId, address, message })Sign an EIP-191 message
signEvmTypedData({ userId, address, typedData })Sign EIP-712 typed data

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EVM: Send

MethodDescription
sendEvmTransaction({ userId, address, transaction, network })Send a signed EVM transaction
sendEvmAsset({ userId, address, to, amount, network })Send an EVM asset (e.g. USDC)
sendUserOperation({ userId, address, network, calls })Send a smart account user operation
createEvmEip7702Delegation({ userId, address, network })Create an EIP-7702 delegation

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Solana: Sign

MethodDescription
signSolanaMessage({ userId, address, message })Sign a Solana message
signSolanaTransaction({ userId, address, transaction })Sign a Solana transaction

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Solana: Send

MethodDescription
sendSolanaTransaction({ userId, address, transaction, network })Send a signed Solana transaction
sendSolanaAsset({ userId, address, to, amount, network })Send a Solana asset (e.g. USDC)
Delegated Signing is scoped at the user level. Account-level delegations are coming soon. Operation-specific scoping is available on request.

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Prerequisites

  1. In the CDP Portal, go to Embedded Wallets → Policies and enable the Delegated Signing toggle.
Delegated Signing toggle
  1. Install the required packages:
Frontend (@coinbase/cdp-hooks): 
npm install @coinbase/cdp-core @coinbase/cdp-hooks
Backend (@coinbase/cdp-sdk): 
npm install @coinbase/cdp-sdk dotenv
Sign in to the CDP Portal, create a CDP API key and generate a Wallet Secret. Add them to your .env file:
.env
CDP_API_KEY_ID=your-api-key-id
CDP_API_KEY_SECRET=your-api-key-secret
CDP_WALLET_SECRET=your-wallet-secret
Then instantiate the CDP client in your backend: 
import { CdpClient } from "@coinbase/cdp-sdk";
import "dotenv/config";

const cdp = new CdpClient();
Set moduleResolution: "node16" or "nodenext" in your tsconfig.json to avoid compilation errors with the CDP SDK.

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Step 1: End user creates a delegation (React)

The authenticated end user grants your app a time-bound delegation. This is the only step that requires the user to be present.
Only one active delegation is allowed per user at a time. If a delegation already exists, revoke it or let it expire before creating a new one.
React
import { useCreateDelegation, useCurrentUser } from "@coinbase/cdp-hooks";

function DelegateButton() {
  const { currentUser } = useCurrentUser();
  const { createDelegation } = useCreateDelegation();

  const handleDelegate = async () => {
    // Delegation expires in 24 hours
    const expiresAt = new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000).toISOString();
    const result = await createDelegation({ expiresAt });
    console.log("Delegation ID:", result.delegationId);
  };

  return (
    <button disabled={!currentUser} onClick={handleDelegate}>
      Grant Delegation
    </button>
  );
}

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Step 2: Developer signs on behalf of the end user (Node.js)

Once a delegation is active, your backend can submit transactions for the end user using your CDP API key and Wallet Secret — no user session needed.
Node (TypeScript)
import { CdpClient } from "@coinbase/cdp-sdk";

const cdp = new CdpClient();

const endUser = await cdp.endUser.getEndUser({ userId: "<USER_UUID>" });
const address = endUser.evmAccountObjects[0].address;

const result = await cdp.endUser.sendEvmTransaction({
  userId: endUser.userId,
  address: address,
  transaction: "0x02...", // RLP-serialized EIP-1559 transaction
  network: "base-sepolia",
});
console.log("Transaction hash:", result.transactionHash);

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Step 3: Revoke a delegation

A delegation can be revoked before it expires — either by the end user from the frontend, or by the developer from the backend.

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End user revokes (React)

React
import { useRevokeDelegation } from "@coinbase/cdp-hooks";

function RevokeButton() {
  const { revokeDelegation } = useRevokeDelegation();

  const handleRevoke = async () => {
    await revokeDelegation();
    console.log("All delegations revoked.");
  };

  return <button onClick={handleRevoke}>Revoke All Delegations</button>;
}

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Developer revokes (Node.js)

Node (TypeScript)
import { CdpClient } from "@coinbase/cdp-sdk";

const cdp = new CdpClient();

await cdp.endUser.revokeDelegationForEndUser({
  userId: endUser.userId,
});