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Drift user accounts hold your positions, orders, and collateral. Before trading, you need to create a user account and deposit collateral.

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User Account Structure

Each user account contains:
  • Positions: Up to 8 perpetual and 8 spot positions
  • Orders: Up to 32 active orders
  • Collateral: Spot balances used as margin
  • Sub-account ID: Support for multiple sub-accounts (0-9999)

​
Creating a User Account

1

Check if Account Exists

import { DriftClient } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Get the user account public key
const userAccountPublicKey = await driftClient.getUserAccountPublicKey();

// Check if it exists
const accountInfo = await driftClient.connection.getAccountInfo(
  userAccountPublicKey
);
const accountExists = accountInfo !== null;

console.log('Account exists:', accountExists);
2

Initialize User Account

import { DEFAULT_USER_NAME } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

if (!accountExists) {
  // Create a new user account (sub-account 0)
  const txSig = await driftClient.initializeUserAccount(
    0, // sub-account ID
    DEFAULT_USER_NAME // optional name
  );
  
  console.log('User account created:', txSig);
}
3

Deposit Collateral

import { BN } from '@coral-xyz/anchor';
import { QUOTE_PRECISION } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Deposit $1000 USDC (USDC has 6 decimals = QUOTE_PRECISION)
const depositAmount = new BN(1000).mul(QUOTE_PRECISION);

const txSig = await driftClient.deposit(
  depositAmount,
  0, // spot market index (0 = USDC)
  await driftClient.getAssociatedTokenAccount(0) // your USDC token account
);

console.log('Deposited 1000 USDC:', txSig);

​
Initialize and Deposit in One Transaction

For first-time users, combine account initialization and deposit: 
import { BN } from '@coral-xyz/anchor';
import { QUOTE_PRECISION } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Initialize account and deposit in a single transaction
const depositAmount = new BN(1000).mul(QUOTE_PRECISION);
const userAccountPublicKey = await driftClient.getUserAccountPublicKey();

const txSig = await driftClient.initializeUserAccountAndDepositCollateral(
  depositAmount,
  await driftClient.getAssociatedTokenAccount(0), // USDC token account
  0, // spot market index
  0, // sub-account ID
  DEFAULT_USER_NAME
);

console.log('Account initialized and funded:', txSig);

​
Working with User Class

The User class provides a high-level interface for account data: 
import { User, BulkAccountLoader } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Create User instance
const user = new User({
  driftClient: driftClient,
  userAccountPublicKey: await driftClient.getUserAccountPublicKey(),
  accountSubscription: {
    type: 'polling',
    accountLoader: bulkAccountLoader,
  },
});

// Subscribe to user account updates
await user.subscribe();

// Get account data
const userAccount = user.getUserAccount();
console.log('Authority:', userAccount.authority.toBase58());
console.log('Sub-account ID:', userAccount.subAccountId);
console.log('Open orders:', userAccount.nextOrderId);

​
Sub-Accounts

Drift supports multiple sub-accounts per wallet for portfolio segregation: 
// Create sub-account 1
await driftClient.initializeUserAccount(1, DEFAULT_USER_NAME);

// Switch active sub-account
await driftClient.switchActiveUser(1);

// Get sub-account 1 public key
const subAccount1 = await driftClient.getUserAccountPublicKey(1);

// Create User instance for specific sub-account
const user1 = new User({
  driftClient,
  userAccountPublicKey: subAccount1,
  accountSubscription: {
    type: 'polling',
    accountLoader: bulkAccountLoader,
  },
});
Sub-accounts are useful for:
  • Separating strategies (e.g., hedging vs directional)
  • Risk isolation
  • Testing new strategies with limited capital
  • Different leverage profiles

​
Depositing Collateral

​
Deposit USDC

import { BN } from '@coral-xyz/anchor';
import { QUOTE_PRECISION } from '@drift-labs/sdk';
import { getAssociatedTokenAddress } from '@solana/spl-token';

// Get your USDC token account
const usdcMint = new PublicKey(sdkConfig.USDC_MINT_ADDRESS);
const userUsdcAccount = await getAssociatedTokenAddress(
  usdcMint,
  driftClient.wallet.publicKey
);

// Deposit $500 USDC
const amount = new BN(500).mul(QUOTE_PRECISION);
await driftClient.deposit(
  amount,
  0, // USDC spot market index
  userUsdcAccount
);

​
Deposit SOL

import { BASE_PRECISION } from '@drift-labs/sdk';
import { WRAPPED_SOL_MINT } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Deposit 10 SOL
const solAmount = new BN(10).mul(BASE_PRECISION);

// SOL requires wrapping - SDK handles this automatically
await driftClient.deposit(
  solAmount,
  1, // SOL spot market index
  await getAssociatedTokenAddress(
    WRAPPED_SOL_MINT,
    driftClient.wallet.publicKey
  )
);

​
Deposit Other Tokens

// Check available spot markets
const spotMarkets = driftClient.getSpotMarketAccounts();
spotMarkets.forEach(market => {
  console.log(
    `Market ${market.marketIndex}:`,
    market.name,
    'Mint:',
    market.mint.toBase58()
  );
});

// Deposit to specific market
const marketIndex = 2; // Example: BTC
const spotMarket = driftClient.getSpotMarketAccount(marketIndex);
const tokenAccount = await getAssociatedTokenAddress(
  spotMarket.mint,
  driftClient.wallet.publicKey
);

const depositAmount = new BN(1).mul(new BN(10).pow(new BN(spotMarket.decimals)));
await driftClient.deposit(depositAmount, marketIndex, tokenAccount);

​
Withdrawing Collateral

import { BN } from '@coral-xyz/anchor';
import { QUOTE_PRECISION } from '@drift-labs/sdk';

// Withdraw $100 USDC
const withdrawAmount = new BN(100).mul(QUOTE_PRECISION);

const txSig = await driftClient.withdraw(
  withdrawAmount,
  0, // USDC market index
  await getAssociatedTokenAddress(
    usdcMint,
    driftClient.wallet.publicKey
  )
);

console.log('Withdrawn:', txSig);
You can only withdraw excess collateral. The withdrawal will fail if it would put your account below the maintenance margin requirement.

​
Check Available Collateral

const freeCollateral = user.getFreeCollateral();
const totalCollateral = user.getTotalCollateral();
const marginRequirement = user.getMaintenanceMarginRequirement();

console.log('Free collateral:', freeCollateral.toString());
console.log('Total collateral:', totalCollateral.toString());
console.log('Margin requirement:', marginRequirement.toString());

// Check if withdrawal is possible
const maxWithdraw = freeCollateral.gt(ZERO) ? freeCollateral : ZERO;
console.log('Max withdrawal:', maxWithdraw.toString());

​
Account Status and Health

// Get account health metrics
const leverage = user.getLeverage();
const marginRatio = user.getMarginRatio();
const health = user.getHealth();

console.log('Leverage:', leverage.toString());
console.log('Margin ratio:', marginRatio.toString());
console.log('Health:', health.toString());

// Check liquidation status
const canBeLiquidated = user.canBeLiquidated();
if (canBeLiquidated) {
  console.warn('⚠️ Account is below maintenance margin!');
}

// Get liquidation price for a position
const perpPosition = user.getPerpPosition(0); // SOL-PERP
if (perpPosition) {
  const liqPrice = user.liquidationPrice(0, MarketType.PERP);
  console.log('Liquidation price:', liqPrice?.toString());
}

​
Deleting a User Account

You can only delete a user account if:
  • All positions are closed
  • All orders are cancelled
  • All collateral is withdrawn
// Close all positions and withdraw all collateral first
// Then delete the account
await driftClient.deleteUser(0); // sub-account ID

// This will reclaim the rent (≈0.035 SOL)

​
Best Practices

const user = new User({ ... });
await user.subscribe();

// Check if account exists
const exists = await user.exists();
if (!exists) {
  throw new Error('User account not initialized');
}

// Check health before trading
const health = user.getHealth();
if (health < 50) {
  console.warn('Low account health!');
}
Separate high-risk strategies into different sub-accounts to isolate risk and prevent cascading liquidations.
// Set up monitoring
user.eventEmitter.on('userAccountUpdate', (account) => {
  const marginRatio = user.getMarginRatio();
  
  if (marginRatio.lt(new BN(2000))) { // < 20%
    console.error('🚨 Low margin ratio!');
    // Add collateral or reduce positions
  }
});

​
Next Steps

Place Orders

Start trading with your funded account

Manage Positions

Monitor and close positions

User API

Explore User class methods

Account Subscriptions

Real-time account updates

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