Getting Started

This guide walks you through basic CLI usage for Privacy Boost operations.

For a minimal copy-paste example, see the CLI Quickstart. This guide explains each step in detail.

Prerequisites

The CLI installed
An App ID and server URL (see Configuration)
A private key for the wallet you want to use

Overview

The Privacy Boost CLI provides command-line access to all SDK functionality:

Wallet connection and key derivation
Authentication with the backend
Deposits, withdrawals, and transfers
Balance queries and transaction history

Quick Start

1. Configure Network

Set up your environment:

# Set environment variables
export SERVER_URL="https://optimism.sepolia.privacyboost.io"
export RPC_URL="https://sepolia.optimism.io"
export WETH_CONTRACT_ADDRESS="0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006"
# Your private key (keep secure!)
export PRIVATE_KEY="0x..."

Connect your wallet and authenticate with the Privacy Boost backend:

privacy-boost login --private-key $PRIVATE_KEY

Output:

Logged in!
  Wallet Address:  0x1234...5678
  Privacy Address: 0x9abc...def0
  MPK:             0xfedc...ba98

Session saved! Future commands won't require --private-key.

3. Check Balance

Query your shielded balance:

# Check specific token
privacy-boost balance --token 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006

# Check all balances
privacy-boost balances

Output:

Token: 0xC02a...Cc2 (WETH)
Shielded Balance: 1.5 ETH
Wallet Balance: 0.5 ETH

4. Deposit

Deposit tokens into the shielded pool:

privacy-boost shield \
  --token 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006 \
  --amount 1.0 \
  --human

Output:

Deposit submitted!
Transaction: 0x1234...5678
Commitment: 0xabcd...ef01
Waiting for confirmation...
Deposit confirmed in block 12345678

5. Withdraw

Withdraw tokens from the shielded pool:

privacy-boost unshield \
  --token 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006 \
  --amount 0.5 \
  --recipient 0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890 \
  --human

Output:

Building proof... (this may take a moment)
Proof generated successfully
Withdraw submitted!
Transaction: 0x5678...9abc
Amount: 0.5 ETH
Recipient: 0x1234...7890

6. Send Private Transfer

Send tokens privately to another privacy address:

privacy-boost send \
  --token 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006 \
  --amount 0.1 \
  --recipient 0x[194-character-privacy-address] \
  --human

Output:

Building proof... (this may take a moment)
Proof generated successfully
Transfer submitted!
Transaction: 0x9abc...def0
Amount: 0.1 ETH
Recipient: 0x9abc...ef01 (privacy address)

Common Workflows

Check Status

View current connection and authentication status:

privacy-boost status

Output:

Status
------
Connected: Yes
Authenticated: Yes
Wallet Address: 0x1234...5678
Privacy Address: 0x9abc...def0
MPK: 0xfedc...ba98
Chain ID: 1
Session Expires: 2024-01-15 10:30:00 UTC

Field	Meaning
`Connected`	A wallet has been connected to the SDK (private-key, mnemonic, or external).
`Authenticated`	A valid server session is active.
`Wallet Address`	EOA controlling the funds.
`Privacy Address`	The 194-character private receiving address that others use to send to you.
`MPK`	Master Public Key — a hex-encoded compressed public key derived from your wallet identity.
`Chain ID`	EVM chain the SDK is currently scoped to.
`Session Expires`	When the current JWT becomes invalid. After expiry, run `privacy-boost login` again.

Pass --output json to receive the same fields as a structured object suitable for scripting.

View Transaction History

# All transactions
privacy-boost history

# Filter by type
privacy-boost history --tx-type shield
privacy-boost history --tx-type unshield
privacy-boost history --tx-type transact

# Filter by token
privacy-boost history --token 0x4200000000000000000000000000000000000006

# Limit results
privacy-boost history --limit 10

List Sessions

privacy-boost sessions

Logout

privacy-boost logout

Working with Amounts

Amounts default to wei. Use --human for human-readable format:

# 1 ETH (human-readable)
privacy-boost shield --token $TOKEN --amount 1.0 --human

# 0.5 ETH
privacy-boost shield --token $TOKEN --amount 0.5 --human

# Small amounts
privacy-boost shield --token $TOKEN --amount 0.001 --human

Or specify directly in wei (default):

privacy-boost shield --token $TOKEN --amount 1000000000000000000

Error Handling

Common Errors

Not Authenticated

Error: Not authenticated. Run 'privacy-boost login' first.

Insufficient Balance

Error: Insufficient shielded balance. Have: 0.5 ETH, Need: 1.0 ETH

Network Error

Error: Failed to connect to server at https://optimism.sepolia.privacyboost.io
Check your network connection and SERVER_URL configuration.

Next Steps

Deposits

Deposit tokens into the shielded pool

Withdrawals

Withdraw tokens from the shielded pool

Private Transfers

Send tokens privately between users

Balances

Query token balances

Transaction History

View and filter transaction history

Wallet Integration

Authentication and key management

Session Storage

Session persistence

Error Handling

Error codes and recovery patterns

Quickstart

Setup

SDKs

Getting started

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Overview

Quick Start

1. Configure Network

3. Check Balance

4. Deposit

5. Withdraw

6. Send Private Transfer

Common Workflows

Check Status

View Transaction History

List Sessions

Logout

Working with Amounts

Error Handling

Common Errors

Next Steps

Deposits

Withdrawals

Private Transfers

Balances

Transaction History

Wallet Integration

Session Storage

Error Handling

​Getting Started

​Prerequisites

​Overview

​Quick Start

​1. Configure Network

​2. Login

​3. Check Balance

​4. Deposit

​5. Withdraw

​6. Send Private Transfer

​Common Workflows

​Check Status

​View Transaction History

​List Sessions

​Logout

​Working with Amounts

​Error Handling

​Common Errors

​Next Steps

Deposits

Withdrawals

Private Transfers

Balances

Transaction History

Wallet Integration

Session Storage

Error Handling

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Overview

Quick Start

1. Configure Network

2. Login

3. Check Balance

4. Deposit

5. Withdraw

6. Send Private Transfer

Common Workflows

Check Status

View Transaction History

List Sessions

Logout

Working with Amounts

Error Handling

Common Errors

Next Steps