---
title: Deposit Tokens
description:
  Deposit SPL tokens into a Private Channels escrow instance on devnet
---

## Overview

The `Deposit` instruction moves SPL tokens from a user's associated token
account into the escrow's associated token account. Once deposited, tokens are
available for off-chain transfers through the gateway. The optional `recipient`
parameter lets a depositor credit a different user's channel balance.

## Prerequisites

- Completed installation and client generation
- A devnet wallet with SOL (for transaction fees) and the SPL token you want to
  deposit
- An active Private Channels instance with your mint on the allowlist

## Code

```typescript
import { getDepositInstructionAsync } from "../private-channel-escrow-program/clients/typescript/src/generated";
import {
  createSolanaRpc,
  address,
  pipe,
  createTransactionMessage,
  setTransactionMessageFeePayerSigner,
  setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash,
  appendTransactionMessageInstruction,
  signAndSendTransactionMessageWithSigners,
  assertIsTransactionMessageWithSingleSendingSigner,
  getBase58Decoder
} from "@solana/kit";
import { findAssociatedTokenPda } from "@solana-program/token";

const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");

const TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS = address(
  "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA"
);

// Derive the user's associated token account
const [userAta] = await findAssociatedTokenPda({
  mint: address(mintAddress),
  owner: address(payerSigner.address),
  tokenProgram: TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS
});

// Build the deposit instruction - allowedMint and instanceAta are auto-derived
const depositIx = await getDepositInstructionAsync({
  payer: payerSigner,
  user: payerSigner,
  instance: address(instancePda),
  mint: address(mintAddress),
  userAta,
  amount: 1_000_000n, // 1 USDC (6 decimals)
  recipient: null // null = credit the depositing user's channel balance
});

const { value: latestBlockhash } = await rpc
  .getLatestBlockhash({ commitment: "confirmed" })
  .send();

// Deposit is an ordinary Solana instruction sent to Solana RPC directly
// (not the gateway), so the versioned (v0) transaction format applies here.
const transactionMessage = pipe(
  createTransactionMessage({ version: 0 }),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageFeePayerSigner(payerSigner, m),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash(latestBlockhash, m),
  (m) => appendTransactionMessageInstruction(depositIx, m)
);

assertIsTransactionMessageWithSingleSendingSigner(transactionMessage);

const signatureBytes =
  await signAndSendTransactionMessageWithSigners(transactionMessage);
const signature = getBase58Decoder().decode(signatureBytes);
console.log("Deposit signature:", signature);
```

## Verify

After your devnet transaction confirms, the indexer detects the deposit event
via Yellowstone gRPC and the operator mints the equivalent balance on the
channel. A finality safety delay is applied before crediting, so **expect ~15
seconds** before the channel balance is available.

Query your balance through the gateway (not the devnet RPC) to confirm:

```typescript
import { createSolanaRpc, address } from "@solana/kit";
import { findAssociatedTokenPda } from "@solana-program/token";

// Point to the gateway, not a public Solana RPC
const privateChannelRpc = createSolanaRpc("http://localhost:8899");

const TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS = address(
  "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA"
);

const [channelAta] = await findAssociatedTokenPda({
  mint: address(mintAddress),
  owner: address(payerSigner.address),
  tokenProgram: TOKEN_PROGRAM_ADDRESS
});

const balance = await privateChannelRpc
  .getTokenAccountBalance(channelAta)
  .send();
console.log("Channel balance:", balance.value.uiAmountString);
```

A non-zero balance confirms the deposit was indexed and credited. If the balance
is zero after 30 seconds, check that `indexer-solana` and `operator-solana` are
running (`make docker-devnet-logs`).

## Next Steps

**[Send a Transfer](/docs/tools/private-channels/quickstart/transfer)** - send
your first off-chain transfer