Skip to content

Your First Wallet

This guide walks you through adding your first wallet to Vigil for monitoring.

Choose Your Wallet Type

Vigil supports three types of wallet imports:

Best for: Hardware wallets, most software wallets

An extended public key (xpub, ypub, or zpub) allows Vigil to derive all addresses from your wallet and monitor them automatically.

Steps:

  1. Go to Wallets → Add Wallet
  2. Select Extended Public Key
  3. Enter a wallet name
  4. Paste your extended public key
  5. The system auto-detects the address type:
    • xpub → Legacy (P2PKH)
    • ypub → Nested SegWit (P2SH-P2WPKH)
    • zpub → Native SegWit (P2WPKH)
    • tpub → Testnet
  6. Click Create Wallet

Finding Your xpub

Go to Advanced → Export Wallet → Generic JSON, or use Electrum export

Use Ledger Live → Account → Advanced → Export xpub

Use Trezor Suite → Account details → Show xpub

Go to Settings → Export → Copy xpub

Option 2: Output Descriptor

Best for: Multisig wallets, complex scripts, miniscript policies

Output descriptors provide precise control over address derivation.

Steps:

  1. Go to Wallets → Add Wallet
  2. Select Descriptor
  3. Enter a wallet name
  4. Paste your output descriptor
  5. Click Create Wallet

Example Descriptors:

# Single-sig Native SegWit
wpkh([fingerprint/84'/0'/0']xpub.../0/*)

# 2-of-3 Multisig
wsh(sortedmulti(2,[fp1]xpub1.../*,[fp2]xpub2.../*,[fp3]xpub3.../*))

# Taproot single-sig
tr([fingerprint/86'/0'/0']xpub.../0/*)

Learn more about descriptors →

Option 3: Static Addresses

Best for: Simple monitoring, cold storage addresses, 3rd party deposit addresses, legacy setups

Monitor up to 20 individual addresses per wallet.

Steps:

  1. Go to Wallets → Add Wallet
  2. Select Static Addresses
  3. Enter a wallet name
  4. Paste your addresses (one per line)
  5. Click Create Wallet

Address Limits

Static address wallets are limited to 20 addresses. For larger address sets, use an xpub or descriptor or break up the addresses into multiple wallets.

Option 4: Import from Caravan

Best for: Unchained Capital users, collaborative custody

Import wallet configurations directly from Caravan JSON exports.

Steps:

  1. Go to Wallets → Add Wallet
  2. Select Import from Caravan
  3. Upload your Caravan JSON file or paste the contents
  4. Review the imported configuration
  5. Click Create Wallet

After Creating Your Wallet

Once your wallet is created:

  1. Initial Scan - Vigil scans for existing addresses (may take a few minutes for large wallets)
  2. Address Discovery - We derive and index addresses based on your gap limit setting
  3. Monitoring Active - Your wallet is now monitored 24/7

You'll see the wallet status change from "Scanning" to "Active" when ready.

Network Selection

Vigil automatically detects the network from your wallet data:

  • Mainnet - Production Bitcoin (xpub, ypub, zpub, bc1...)
  • Testnet - Test network (tpub, upub, vpub, tb1...)
  • Signet - Signet network (same prefixes as testnet)

Testing with Testnet

We recommend testing Vigil features on testnet before adding mainnet wallets. Create a testnet wallet first to familiarize yourself with the interface.

Next: Setting Up Your First Alert →