Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arc.io/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
A delegate is an address that you authorize to spend from your Unified Balance
on a given blockchain. In practice, a delegate is often a backend service
signing spends on behalf of a user.
How delegates work:
- Delegation is blockchain-specific.
- Authorizing a delegate on one blockchain does not grant them access on other
blockchains.
- An authorized delegate can call
spend with sourceAccount set to your
address so funds are drawn from your Unified Balance.
You can check, add, and remove delegates at any time. For an end-to-end flow on
how a delegate can deposit and spend from a Unified Balance, see the
delegate quickstart.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you’ve:
These are required so any example below runs with a valid kit and adapter.
Check delegate status
The following example reads delegate status for an address.
import { AppKit } from "@circle-fin/app-kit";
import { createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey } from "@circle-fin/adapter-viem-v2";
const kit = new AppKit();
const adapter = createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey({
privateKey: process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY as string,
});
const status = await kit.unifiedBalance.getDelegateStatus({
from: { adapter, chain: "Base_Sepolia" },
delegateAddress: "0xDelegateAddress",
});
console.log("Delegate status:", status); // 'none' | 'pending' | 'ready'
getDelegateStatus resolves to 'none' when no delegate is set, 'pending'
while delegation is still confirming, and 'ready' when the delegate is active
and authorized to spend.
Poll until ready
Use getDelegateStatus in a poll loop to wait until the delegate is active
before spending. Confirmation time varies by blockchain. For example, on
Ethereum, Base, and Arbitrum it can take up to 15 minutes, while on Arc and
Avalanche it is near-instant. If the delegate was added well before the spend,
getDelegateStatus returns 'ready' immediately and no polling is needed.
This example polls until the delegate is ready before spending:
import { AppKit } from "@circle-fin/app-kit";
import { createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey } from "@circle-fin/adapter-viem-v2";
const kit = new AppKit();
const adapter = createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey({
privateKey: process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY as string,
});
let status = await kit.unifiedBalance.getDelegateStatus({
from: { adapter, chain: "Base_Sepolia" },
delegateAddress: "0xDelegateAddress",
});
while (status === "pending") {
await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 10_000)); // wait 10 seconds
status = await kit.unifiedBalance.getDelegateStatus({
from: { adapter, chain: "Base_Sepolia" },
delegateAddress: "0xDelegateAddress",
});
}
if (status === "ready") {
console.log("Delegate is ready. Safe to spend.");
}
Add a delegate
The following example authorizes a delegate to spend from a Unified Balance on
Base Sepolia.
import { AppKit } from "@circle-fin/app-kit";
import { createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey } from "@circle-fin/adapter-viem-v2";
const kit = new AppKit();
const adapter = createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey({
privateKey: process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY as string,
});
await kit.unifiedBalance.addDelegate({
from: { adapter, chain: "Base_Sepolia" },
delegateAddress: "0xDelegateAddress",
});
console.log("Delegate added.");
Delegation is blockchain-specific. To authorize a delegate on multiple
blockchains, call addDelegate for each blockchain.
Remove a delegate
This example removes a delegate from a Unified Balance on Base Sepolia:
import { AppKit } from "@circle-fin/app-kit";
import { createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey } from "@circle-fin/adapter-viem-v2";
const kit = new AppKit();
const adapter = createViemAdapterFromPrivateKey({
privateKey: process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY as string,
});
await kit.unifiedBalance.removeDelegate({
from: { adapter, chain: "Base_Sepolia" },
delegateAddress: "0xDelegateAddress",
});
console.log("Delegate removed.");