Coinbase Advanced Trade Python SDK

Common errors

• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'coinbase_advanced'

  cause This error occurs when attempting to import a module named `coinbase_advanced`, which is not the correct top-level package for the official `coinbase-advanced-py` SDK.
  fix Ensure you have installed the correct package (`pip install coinbase-advanced-py`) and use the correct import statements, such as `from coinbase.rest import RESTClient` for REST operations or `from coinbase.websocket import WSClient` for WebSocket operations.

• 401 Unauthorized

  cause Authentication failed, most commonly due to an incorrect CDP API key, an improperly formatted EC private key (API secret), an expired JWT token, or missing/incorrect authentication headers.
  fix Verify that your API key ID (`organizations/{org_id}/apiKeys/{key_id}`) and API secret (the full multi-line EC private key string including `-----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----` and `-----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----`) are correct and properly configured. Ensure your JWT token is valid and not expired.

• 403 Forbidden / Permission denied

  cause The API key being used lacks the necessary permissions to perform the requested action on the Coinbase Advanced Trade platform.
  fix Navigate to the Coinbase Developer Platform, review the permissions associated with your API key, and ensure that they cover the specific actions you are attempting to execute (e.g., 'trade', 'wallet:accounts:read', 'wallet:deposits:create').

• Invalid request (HTTP 400)

  cause The API request is malformed, contains invalid data, or is missing required parameters for the specific endpoint being called.
  fix Carefully review the Coinbase Advanced Trade API documentation for the endpoint you are using to ensure all required fields and parameters are present, correctly formatted, and contain valid values, paying attention to request body schema, query parameters, path parameters, and headers.

Warnings

• breaking Package name is 'coinbase-advanced-py' but import is 'from coinbase.rest import RESTClient'. The 'coinbase' PyPI package is a completely different old SDK (Coinbase Commerce). Do not confuse them.
  Fix: pip install coinbase-advanced-py; from coinbase.rest import RESTClient
• breaking Coinbase Pro (cbpro) discontinued. All LLM and tutorial code using cbpro or the old Coinbase Pro API is broken. Migrate to coinbase-advanced-py.
  Fix: pip install coinbase-advanced-py. Migration guide at docs.cdp.coinbase.com
• breaking CDP API keys use EC private key format (PEM). Old HMAC-based API keys (key + secret string) are not compatible with coinbase-advanced-py. Must generate new CDP keys.
  Fix: Generate CDP API key from developer.coinbase.com — downloads a JSON file with name and privateKey fields.
• gotcha client_order_id must be unique per order. Setting to empty string '' auto-generates a UUID. Reusing the same client_order_id for different orders causes idempotent rejection.
  Fix: Use client_order_id='' for auto-generation, or generate your own UUID.
• gotcha quote_size (in USD) vs base_size (in BTC) for market orders. market_order_buy uses quote_size to buy X dollars of crypto. market_order_sell uses base_size to sell X units of crypto.
  Fix: Buy $10 of BTC: quote_size='10'. Sell 0.001 BTC: base_size='0.001'.

Install

• pip install coinbase-advanced-py Python

Imports

• RESTClient
  wrong:

  # Wrong: old coinbase package
  from coinbase.wallet.client import Client
  client = Client(api_key, api_secret)  # old Commerce SDK
  
  # Wrong: cbpro (Coinbase Pro — discontinued)
  import cbpro
  auth_client = cbpro.AuthenticatedClient(key, secret, passphrase)

  correct:

  from coinbase.rest import RESTClient
  import os
  
  # CDP API key format — EC private key
  client = RESTClient(
      api_key='organizations/{org_id}/apiKeys/{key_id}',
      api_secret='-----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----\nYOUR KEY\n-----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----\n'
  )
  # Or from key file downloaded from Coinbase CDP dashboard
  client = RESTClient(key_file='path/to/cdp_api_key.json')
  
  # List accounts
  accounts = client.get_accounts()
  print(accounts.to_dict())
  
  # Place market buy order
  order = client.market_order_buy(
      client_order_id='',  # empty string = auto-generate
      product_id='BTC-USD',
      quote_size='10'  # $10 worth of BTC
  )

  Import is 'from coinbase.rest import RESTClient' — install is 'coinbase-advanced-py'. The 'coinbase' PyPI package is a different, old package. CDP keys use EC private key format, not HMAC.

Quickstart

Coinbase Advanced Trade Python SDK — accounts, product info, and market order.

# pip install coinbase-advanced-py
from coinbase.rest import RESTClient

# From CDP dashboard: Advanced Trade API key
client = RESTClient(key_file='cdp_api_key.json')

# Get accounts
accounts = client.get_accounts()
for acct in accounts['accounts']:
    print(acct['name'], acct['available_balance']['value'])

# Get BTC-USD product info
product = client.get_product(product_id='BTC-USD')
print(product['price'])

# Place market buy ($10 of BTC)
order = client.market_order_buy(
    client_order_id='',  # auto-generate
    product_id='BTC-USD',
    quote_size='10'
)
print(order['success'])