Connect Lighter
Lighter connects through a wallet. There is no IP allowlist. This guide covers what to prepare on Lighter and how to add the account in Trade with a wallet or an existing API private key.
Prepare on Lighter
The wallet must have made a deposit on Lighter. A Lighter account is created by its first deposit.
Turn on Unified Trading Account in your Lighter settings. Simple Trading Accounts are not supported.
Check the account tier. A wallet on the free Standard tier must be upgraded to Plus before it can be added. The window takes you through this when you add the account.
Adding with Connect wallet needs nothing else. To add with Enter API key, first generate an API key on the Lighter API Keys page, and note its private key and the API Key Index you used. Don’t turn on Maker-only when you generate it: with it on, the key can only place maker orders, and a combo’s taker leg is rejected.
Lighter has no API key IP allowlist, so the Add account window doesn’t list egress IPs.
Account mode and position mode
The only account mode is Unified Trading Account: spot and perpetual USDC balances count together as margin. Trade doesn’t switch the account mode for you.
Perpetuals use one-way mode, with nothing to set up. Contract leverage is set in the combo, and Trade applies it on the exchange.
Enter it in Trade
In Trade, open Accounts, choose Add account, select Lighter, then pick a Connection method. For the general steps, see Connect an exchange.
Connect wallet
Choose Connect wallet to connect your wallet, then choose Authorize and add.
Confirm each signature in your wallet as the window prompts. The window says what each step signs, how many signatures remain and any fee a step involves. Once signed, Trade on your server can place orders and transfer funds on Lighter on your behalf.
If the wallet is on the free tier, the window first asks you to upgrade to Plus and shows what each fill costs after the upgrade. To accept, choose Upgrade to Plus and continue. This step needs no signature. The tier applies to the whole wallet, so its sub-accounts are upgraded to Plus too.
When the window offers Trading account, choose Main account or Subaccount. A sub-account needs its Sub-account index, shown on the sub-account page on Lighter.
Manual API
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| L1 wallet address | The address of the wallet you connect to Lighter with |
| API private key | The private key you got when generating the API key. Don’t enter the public key |
| API key index | The API Key Index used for this key, from 4 to 254 |
If the window says a signature is still needed, sign with this wallet as prompted.
Both methods also need an Account name and at least one of spot or perpetuals under Supported markets.
Common questions
“Lighter does not accept this API private key”
Check that the L1 wallet address, API private key and API Key Index all belong to the same key.
“All API Key slots on this Lighter account are in use”
Delete an unused API key on Lighter, then come back and add the account.
“This wallet doesn’t have an exchange account yet”
Deposit to this wallet on Lighter first, then connect again.