Developer quick start

CBTC overview · CBTC environments and prerequisites

What you will do

1. Prepare a supported Rust environment.
2. Check out a pinned cbtc-lib release.
3. Configure Canton and authentication values without committing secrets.
4. Run the balance-check example.
5. Verify that the response belongs to the intended party.

This read-only outcome is intentionally smaller than minting or transferring CBTC. It verifies the core connection before you create accounts or submit ledger changes.

Prerequisites

• Access to an approved development or test environment.
• A supported Canton participant and party.
• Approved authentication credentials for that party.
• Git and a compatible Rust toolchain.
• Network access to the Canton participant and identity provider.
• A secure local method for storing environment values.

1. Check out the reviewed source

git clone <https://github.com/DLC-link/cbtc-lib.git>
cd cbtc-lib
git checkout v0.6.4

Use an approved release tag. Do not use main in production instructions.

2. Create local configuration

cp .env.example .env

Fill only the values required for the balance check:

• Canton Ledger API host.
• Target Canton party.
• Approved identity-provider and client values required by the selected authentication flow.
• Any environment selection required by the reviewed example.

Do not paste real credentials into documentation, issue reports, shell history, or source control.

3. Build the example

cargo build --example check_balance

A successful build confirms that the selected Rust toolchain can resolve the pinned CBTC and shared Canton dependencies.

4. Run the balance check

cargo run --example check_balance

Expected result

The command should:

• Authenticate successfully.
• Query active CBTC holdings for the configured party.
• Report the party’s balance and holding count, including a valid zero-balance result where applicable.
• Exit without exposing access tokens or passwords.

Output fields vary by supported release and environment. Verify the response belongs to the intended party, and never substitute a fabricated balance or contract identifier when testing an integration.

If the check fails

Symptom	Check	Next action
Authentication fails	Provider URL, realm or audience, client, grant type, secret, token claims	Use the canonical Authentication guide and confirm the party authorization.
Connection fails	Ledger host, DNS, TLS, proxy, and network access	Verify the participant endpoint with the environment owner.
No holdings are returned	Target party, environment, and whether zero balance is valid	Confirm the configured party before attempting a state-changing operation.
Build or type errors	Checked-out tag, Rust toolchain, lockfile, and shared library access	Return to the approved compatibility matrix.
Response parsing fails	Canton and library compatibility	Capture sanitized output and escalate with the version set.

Next steps

After the balance check passes, choose one task:

• Transfer and receive CBTC.
• Create a deposit account and follow Mint CBTC.
• Create a withdrawal account and follow Redeem CBTC.
• Use CBTC SDK, API, and integration reference to integrate balance and transfer behavior into a wallet or application.

Technical sources

• cbtc-lib v0.6.4
• Balance-check example
• Examples guide

Related pages

• Install and validate CBTC DARs
• CBTC authentication
• Mint CBTC
• Redeem CBTC
• Transfer and receive CBTC
• CBTC SDK, API, and integration reference
• CBTC errors, retries, and troubleshooting

Next step

👉 Build your first workflow: Transfer and receive CBTC.