C-Address Quickstart

This guide takes a user from zero to a payment-ready smart wallet on Stellar. The user signs in with a passkey (Face ID / Touch ID / security key) and Pollar handles the rest: deploying the contract account (C-address), sponsoring fees, and reaching a state where the wallet can send and receive assets. The user never sees a seed phrase or manages a private key.

Browser-only. The passkey ceremony runs via WebAuthn in the browser. @pollar/react wires it automatically; a raw @pollar/core setup must supply a passkey (and passkeySign) ceremony. React Native support needs a native passkey provider.

For how the lifecycle works under the hood, see the C-Address Lifecycle.

What you'll build

A passkey login flow that ends with a deployed C-address, verifiable on Stellar Expert.

1. Enable Smart Wallet in the dashboard

Go to Build → Branding and turn on Smart Wallet (passkey). This adds the passkey option (styles.smartWallet) to the SDK login modal.

2. Install and mount the provider

npm install @pollar/react

import { PollarProvider } from '@pollar/react';

export default function Root() {
  return (
    <PollarProvider client={{ apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_POLLAR_PUBLISHABLE_KEY! }}>
      <App />
    </PollarProvider>
  );
}

@pollar/react injects the browser passkey ceremony for you, so createSmartWallet() / loginSmartWallet() work out of the box on web.

3. Sign the user in with a passkey

The simplest path is the built-in modal — with Smart Wallet enabled it shows a passkey option (create for new users, sign-in for returning ones):

'use client';
import { usePollar } from '@pollar/react';

export function LoginButton() {
  const { isAuthenticated, wallet, openLoginModal } = usePollar();

  if (isAuthenticated) return <p>✓ Smart wallet ready — {wallet?.address}</p>;
  return <button onClick={openLoginModal}>Sign in</button>;
}

For a headless flow, call the client directly:

'use client';
import { usePollar } from '@pollar/react';

export function PasskeyButtons() {
  const { getClient } = usePollar();
  return (
    <>
      <button onClick={() => getClient().createSmartWallet()}>Create passkey wallet</button>
      <button onClick={() => getClient().loginSmartWallet()}>Sign in with passkey</button>
    </>
  );
}

createSmartWallet() runs the WebAuthn create() ceremony and deploys a sponsored C-address; loginSmartWallet() runs get() for a returning user. Both settle AuthState to authenticated.

4. (Optional) Follow the flow in your UI

Progress is exposed through AuthState (there is no separate walletProgress event). Subscribe with onAuthStateChange:

getClient().onAuthStateChange((state) => {
  // state.step: 'creating_passkey' | 'deploying_smart_account' | 'authenticating' | 'authenticated' | 'error'
});

5. Verify on-chain

The deployed contract is real and permanent. Build a verification link from the C-address:

const { wallet } = usePollar();
const contractUrl = `https://testnet.stellar.expert/contract/${wallet?.address}`;

6. Send a payment

Once authenticated, send assets with the same transaction API as any wallet — the SDK signs the Soroban auth entries with the passkey credential internally:

await getClient().runTx('payment', {
  destination: 'GDESTINATION...', // G-address or C-address
  amount: '10.00',
  asset: { type: 'credit_alphanum4', code: 'USDC', issuer: 'GA5ZSE...' },
});

Swap, Earn, and manual trustlines are not yet supported for smart wallets.

Next steps

• G-Addresses vs C-Addresses
• How the C-Address Lifecycle Works