Coinbase Cdp Connector

Coinbase CDP Connector (track E)

Routes the crypto desk's orders to Coinbase CDP — notification-first, testnet-capable, live behind a hard gate. No order is placed that did not pass `strategy-discovery-backtest` (invariant #1).

Educational analysis, not financial advice. The agent proposes; a human disposes.

What CDP is

@coinbase/cdp-cli is a unified CLI for the Coinbase Developer Platform that doubles as an MCP server + agent skill — giving Claude Code tool-calling access to CDP wallets, trading, payments, onchain ops.

• Requires Node.js 22+.
• Auth: an API key JSON downloaded from the Coinbase Developer Portal (user supplies, out-of-band).
• Testnet: cdp evm faucet address=<addr> network=base-sepolia token=eth|usdc|eurc|cbbtc — real

paper trading with no mainnet funds. This is our paper venue.

• Verify install: cdp evm accounts list.
• Official agent skill: https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/cdp-cli/skill

Setup (staged — connector → testnet → live)

1. Install (no key needed to inspect): npx @coinbase/cdp-cli@latest --help. As an MCP server it can be added to Claude Code; as a skill it exposes CDP tools. 2. Testnet / paper (no mainnet money): create an account cdp evm accounts create name=paper-wallet, fund via the base-sepolia faucet, and route the desk's orders through connectors/notify_executor.py in mode="paper". Validate the daily loop end-to-end with play money. 3. Live (hard-gated): only after a strategy PASSes the gate, paper-validates, and the user signs off: set CDP_API_KEY_JSON=/path/to/key.json and CONFIRM_LIVE=<today's date>, and deliberately wire the real cdp trade call in the executor's live stub. Code-side caps (connectors/hard_caps.py) apply to every order regardless of mode.

Operating mode (default = notify)

The desk (crypto-daytrading or hedge-fund-manager) produces an order list; each Order carries a strategy_ref to the PASSed backtest. connectors/notify_executor.py:

• notify (default): validate vs hard caps → append to the immutable audit log → emit the order ticket

for the human. Never contacts Coinbase. No creds needed.

• paper: same, routed to base-sepolia testnet (faucet funds) once a key is present.
• live: refuses unless creds present AND CONFIRM_LIVE matches today AND strategy_ref set AND caps

pass — and even then the real placement is a deliberate, separately-wired stub (never auto-placed).

Hard caps (deterministic, outside the LLM — invariant #3)

connectors/hard_caps.py: per-order / per-position / gross notional caps, daily-loss kill, order-count budget, long-only by default, and a .KILL file kill switch. The agent cannot override these — they are plain Python evaluated before any order.

Crypto specifics to keep honest

Taker ~0.4-0.6% retail vs maker ~0.05-0.1% — model the fee you will actually pay (see strategy-discovery-backtest). 24/7 gaps; exchange/custody risk; size Tier-2 tokens (e.g. HYPE) down. The current backtested status: no crypto day-trade strategy has PASSed — REGIME-SMA is a drawdown control, not alpha, pending a maker-fill model. Until a PASS, this connector proposes nothing to trade.

Definition of done (GOAL track E)

• [x] Connector works in notification mode (no creds) — notify_executor.py, tested.
• [x] Testnet/paper path documented (base-sepolia faucet).
• [x] Documented live path behind creds + confirmation + caps + sign-off.
• [ ] Live trading — requires the user's CDP API key + a PASSed, paper-validated strategy + sign-off.