Vault Creation 101

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At a high level, vault creation involves:

1. Initializing the vault
2. Defining roles and administrative control
3. Configuring token entries and accepted assets
4. Setting policies that define what the vault can do
5. Testing strategy execution before taking deposits
6. Managing the vault over time through admin and governance flows

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Step 1 — Create the Vault

The first step is to initialize the vault itself. This sets up the vault account, mint, financial state, and the Squads smart account used for policy execution. Use the SDK vault creation guide for parameters, required accounts, and SDK usage:

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Step 2 — Configure Control and Roles

A vault should be configured with the right control structure before it is made public. Vault roles determine who can administer the vault, who can configure assets, who can execute strategy actions, and who can trigger emergency controls. At a minimum, you should understand:

• Manager — who decides on the vault administration and role management
• Curator — who manages token entry and supported asset configuration
• Allocator — who runs the strategy execution

Depending on your operating model, one entity may hold multiple roles, but production vaults usually separate these responsibilities across different signers.

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Step 3 — Configure Token Entries and Policies

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Token entries

Token entries define which tokens the vault accepts as deposits and supports for filling withdrawals. Each entry links a mint to a price feed and the associated token accounts. A vault can support up to two deposit assets. Only tokens registered as token entries are supported for user deposits and withdrawals.

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Policies

Policies define the actions the strategist role is allowed to perform. Each policy is scoped to a specific protocol and specifies:

• Permitted actions — which instructions the strategist can execute (e.g. swap, lend, post offer)
• Allowed assets — which mints can be used for those actions

A policy is only active when it has both at least one permitted action and at least one allowed asset selected. Every strategy action the strategist submits must match an approved policy — if no policy covers the action, the transaction is rejected. During vault creation, policies are configured per protocol. The vault creator selects which protocols to enable, then for each protocol chooses the specific actions and assets to allow. For example, a vault might enable a lending protocol with deposit and withdraw actions restricted to a specific set of mints, while also enabling a swap aggregator for broader routing across the vault’s exposure assets. Some policies are required. Exponent core policies are always included and cannot be deselected. Other protocol policies (e.g. for lending or swaps) are optional and depend on the vault’s intended strategy. Policies can be added, updated, or removed over the lifetime of the vault.

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Step 4 — Test the Vault Before Taking Deposits

A vault should be tested before it holds depositor capital, as policy changes become more constrained once the vault holds AUM. Testing typically includes:

• verifying vault initialization
• validating roles
• checking token entry setup
• confirming policy behavior
• executing strategy actions against supported integrations
• validating deposit and withdrawal flows
• confirming AUM updates and position tracking

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Step 5 — Manage the Vault After Launch

Once a vault is live, managers may need to make operational and administrative updates over time. These typically include:

• updating vault settings
• updating roles
• managing policies
• responding to queued withdrawals

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Admin Operations

Admin operations cover the main day-to-day control surface for the vault.

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Governance Operations

Governance operations cover proposal creation, voting, timelocks, and execution for governed changes.

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Next Steps