Branta Python SDK

Python SDK for the Branta V2 API — payment destination lookup and registration with zero-knowledge encryption support.

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or higher

Installation

pip install branta

Integration Guide

If you are an AI agent implementing this SDK, follow the steps below exactly. If you are a developer, use this as a reference for the recommended integration patterns.

1. Ask which side(s) of a payment they are implementing:

• Send side — the app is paying someone (e.g. a wallet). The user scans or pastes a destination and you verify it belongs to a known platform before funds are sent.
• Receive side — the app is receiving payment (e.g. a checkout, POS, invoicing platform). You post destinations to Branta so wallets can verify them.
• Both — some apps do both (e.g. an exchange or self-custodial wallet with invoice generation). Implement each side independently.

If they are on the receive side, ask one follow-up:

• Platform — single-tenant, one API key.
• Parent Platform — multi-tenant, manages multiple child platforms. Two variants:
  • Shared key (Recommended) — one API key for all children, no HMAC secret needed; tag the child per-payment with set_child_platform(). Default to this unless there's a specific reason for separate per-child keys.
  • Per-client keys — each child has its own API key, and the parent signs every request with an HMAC secret to prove it originated from the parent; scope requests per-call. Use only if each child needs an independent, separately-revocable API key.

2. Follow the matching Quick Start section below.

3. Apply these rules:

General (all types):

• Always use PrivacyMode.Strict. Never switch to PrivacyMode.Loose unless there is no QR scanner and ZK is impossible.
• Never call BrantaClient directly — always go through BrantaService.
• Never show an error or "not verified" message when a lookup returns empty or throws. An empty result means the destination is unknown to Branta, not that it is malicious. Show nothing.
• For base_url: use BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production only in production environments. Use BrantaServerBaseUrl.Staging everywhere else — including local development, CI, and staging/test environments.

Send side (wallets):

• Prefer get_payments_by_qr_code over get_payments — it handles multi-value ZK QR payloads correctly.
• Only fall back to get_payments for copy/paste flows where there is no QR code.
• If result.payments is empty or an exception is thrown, render nothing.
• When result.payments is non-empty, display: the platform logo, the platform name (payment.platform), and the payment description (payment.description). Only render description when non-empty. Make the verification card a clickable link to result.verify_url — do not display the raw URL.
• For the platform logo: on dark backgrounds use payment.platform_logo_url. On light backgrounds prefer payment.platform_logo_light_url when available, falling back to payment.platform_logo_url.
• Optionally display payment.parent_platform.logo_url / payment.parent_platform.logo_light_url as a small secondary badge (e.g. corner icon). This is not required.

Receive side (platforms):

• Always call .set_zk() on the PaymentBuilder before calling add_payment. Plain-text destinations are rejected in Strict mode.
• Store the secret returned by add_payment alongside the invoice — it is required to reconstruct the verify URL for the wallet.

Receive side (parent platforms — per-client keys), in addition to the platform rules:

• Include hmac_secret in BrantaClientOptions but omit default_api_key at service construction.
• Pass per-call BrantaClientOptions with each child's API key to scope requests.

Receive side (parent platforms — shared key), in addition to the platform rules:

• Include default_api_key in BrantaClientOptions. Do not include hmac_secret.
• Call .set_child_platform(name, logo_url=..., logo_light_url=...) on the builder to tag each payment with the child's branding.

Quick Start

For Wallets

Wallets should use PrivacyMode.Strict. Two flows are supported:

• Copy/paste: call get_payments with the pasted text. Plain-text on-chain addresses will not return results in strict mode — they must be ZK-encoded. Hash-ZK destinations (bolt11, ark_address, silent_payment) work as plain text.
• QR scan: call get_payments_by_qr_code with the raw QR text. This handles both on-chain (when the QR includes branta_id / branta_secret) and hash-ZK destinations.

Always catch errors and show nothing on not-found — a missing record just means the address was not posted to Branta.

import asyncio
from branta.enums import BrantaServerBaseUrl, PrivacyMode
from branta.options import BrantaClientOptions
from branta.v2 import BrantaService

options = BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
)
service = BrantaService(options)

async def lookup(input: str, is_qr_code: bool):
    try:
        result = (
            await service.get_payments_by_qr_code(input)
            if is_qr_code
            else await service.get_payments(input)
        )

        if not result.payments:
            # Not found — show nothing. The address may simply not exist in Branta.
            return

        # Render result.payments and result.verify_url
    except Exception:
        # Swallow errors — never surface a "not found" or lookup failure to the user.
        pass

asyncio.run(lookup("bitcoin:bc1q...", False))

Prefer get_payments_by_qr_code for QR-driven flows. It handles multi-destination payloads (branta_id / branta_secret fragments) automatically.

Looking up a payment by destination value

# Plain bitcoin address (requires PrivacyMode.Loose or will raise):
result = await service.get_payments("bc1q...")

# ZK-encrypted bitcoin address with secret:
result = await service.get_payments(encrypted_address, destination_encryption_key="my-secret")

# BOLT-11 invoice (hash-ZK — works in strict mode):
result = await service.get_payments("lnbc...")

No-QR-Code Flows

When QR scanning is not available, three options exist. Choose one based on how much control you want to give users over privacy:

Option 1 — Keep Strict mode (no code changes)

Only hash-ZK destinations (bolt11, ark_address, silent_payment) will return results. Plain-text on-chain address lookups silently return empty. This is the safest default and requires no additional work.

Option 2 — Opt-in Loose mode (Recommended)

Add a user-facing setting (e.g. "Enable on-chain address verification"). Only switch to PrivacyMode.Loose when the user explicitly opts in — this sends on-chain addresses in plain text, so the choice should be theirs.

options = (
    BrantaClientOptions(base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production, privacy=PrivacyMode.Loose)
    if user_opted_in
    else None
)

result = await service.get_payments(input, options=options)

Option 3 — Always Loose mode

Configure with PrivacyMode.Loose globally. All lookups including plain-text on-chain addresses are sent to Branta. Simplest, but gives users no privacy control.

service = BrantaService(BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Loose,
))

For Platforms

Platforms post payments to Branta so wallets can verify them. Use PrivacyMode.Strict and mark each destination ZK via .set_zk() on the PaymentBuilder.

from branta.enums import DestinationType

builder = service.create_payment_builder()
payment = (
    builder
    .add_destination("bc1q...", DestinationType.BitcoinAddress).set_zk()
    .add_destination("lnbc...", DestinationType.Bolt11).set_zk()
    .set_description("Donation")
    .add_metadata("email", "donor@example.com")
    .build()
)

result = await service.add_payment(payment, BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    default_api_key="your-api-key",
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
))
# result.payment — the registered payment from the server
# result.secret — the random encryption key for the bitcoin address
# result.verify_url — share this URL to verify the payment

For Parent Platforms

Choose a variant based on how API keys are structured. Only the per-client keys variant signs requests with HMAC — shared key needs none.

Shared key — one API key covers all children (Recommended)

Construct with a single API key; identify the child platform per-payment.

from branta.enums import BrantaServerBaseUrl, DestinationType, PrivacyMode
from branta.options import BrantaClientOptions
from branta.v2 import BrantaService

service = BrantaService(BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    default_api_key="<shared-api-key>",
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
))

payment = (
    service.create_payment_builder()
    .add_destination("bc1q...", DestinationType.BitcoinAddress).set_zk()
    .set_child_platform("ChildBrand", logo_url="https://example.com/logo.png")
    .set_ttl(600)
    .build()
)

result = await service.add_payment(payment)

Per-client keys — each child has its own API key

Construct the service with the shared HMAC secret only; pass each child's API key per-call.

from branta.enums import BrantaServerBaseUrl, DestinationType, PrivacyMode
from branta.options import BrantaClientOptions
from branta.v2 import BrantaService

service = BrantaService(BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    hmac_secret="<hmac-secret>",
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
))

payment = (
    service.create_payment_builder()
    .add_destination("bc1q...", DestinationType.BitcoinAddress).set_zk()
    .set_ttl(600)
    .build()
)

# Scope to the child platform's API key per-call
result = await service.add_payment(payment, BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    default_api_key="<child-api-key>",
))

Validating an API key

is_valid = await service.is_api_key_valid(BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    default_api_key="your-api-key",
))

For parent platforms

Choose a variant based on how API keys are structured. Shared key needs only an API key; per-client keys also require HMAC.

Shared key — one API key covers all children (Recommended)

Construct with a single API key; identify the child platform per-payment. Do not include hmac_secret.

options = BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    default_api_key="<shared-api-key>",
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
)
service = BrantaService(options)

payment = (
    service.create_payment_builder()
    .add_destination("bc1q...", DestinationType.BitcoinAddress).set_zk()
    .set_description("Order #1234")
    .set_child_platform("ChildBrand", logo_url="https://example.com/logo.png")
    .build()
)

result = await service.add_payment(payment)

Per-client keys — each child has its own API key

Construct the service with the parent HMAC secret only; pass each child's API key per-call.

options = BrantaClientOptions(
    base_url=BrantaServerBaseUrl.Production,
    hmac_secret="<hmac-secret>",
    privacy=PrivacyMode.Strict,
)
service = BrantaService(options)

payment = (
    service.create_payment_builder()
    .add_destination("bc1q...", DestinationType.BitcoinAddress).set_zk()
    .build()
)

result = await service.add_payment(
    payment,
    BrantaClientOptions(default_api_key="<child-api-key>"),
)

Per-call option overrides

Every public method accepts an optional BrantaClientOptions parameter that overrides the service's default options for that call only:

service = BrantaService(default_options)
result = await service.get_payments("lnbc...", options=override_options)

Privacy

PrivacyMode controls whether plain-text on-chain lookups are allowed.

Value	Behavior
PrivacyMode.Strict (default)	Only ZK lookups. get_payments raises BrantaPaymentException for plain addresses. get_payments_by_qr_code returns an empty PaymentsResult with a populated verify_url. add_payment raises if any destination has is_zk=False.
PrivacyMode.Loose	Both plain and ZK lookups are permitted.

ZK destination types

Type	Encryption
BitcoinAddress	Random secret (GUID) per payment
Bolt11	Deterministic: SHA256 of lowercase invoice
ArkAddress	Deterministic: SHA256 of lowercase address
SilentPayment	Deterministic: SHA256 of lowercase address

BrantaService

The primary service class. Always use BrantaService — never call BrantaClient directly.

Prefer get_payments_by_qr_code for integrations. It parses the raw QR text and correctly resolves multiple ZK values in a single scan. get_payments only handles a single destination value and does not support multi-value ZK lookups.

async def get_payments_by_qr_code(qr_text: str, options: Optional[BrantaClientOptions] = None) -> PaymentsResult: ...
async def get_payments(destination_value: str, destination_encryption_key: Optional[str] = None, options: Optional[BrantaClientOptions] = None) -> PaymentsResult: ...
async def add_payment(payment: Payment, options: Optional[BrantaClientOptions] = None) -> AddPaymentResult: ...
async def is_api_key_valid(options: Optional[BrantaClientOptions] = None) -> bool: ...

PaymentsResult contains the list of matching payments and the verify_url to display to the user — verify_url is always returned, even when payments is empty.

→ branta/v2/service.py

Release

• Update version in pyproject.toml
• pip install build twine (one-time)
• python -m build
• twine upload dist/*

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ --ignore=tests/test_integration.py     # unit tests
pytest tests/test_integration.py                     # integration (requires network)
coverage run -m pytest tests/ --ignore=tests/test_integration.py && coverage report

Responsible Disclosure

Found critical bugs/vulnerabilities? Please email them to support@branta.pro. Thanks!