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SBE Sample App (C++)

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The C++ SBE Sample Application is a reference implementation that demonstrates how to decode Binance API responses encoded using Simple Binary Encoding (SBE).

It reads an SBE-encoded payload from STDIN and outputs a JSON representation to STDOUT, making it useful for debugging, testing, and validating SBE responses returned by Binance APIs.

For source code, updates, and examples, see the binance-sbe-cpp-sample-app repository on GitHub.

Supported environments

• Linux
• macOS
• C++20 compatible compiler

This is a sample application intended for local execution and inspection.
It is not a production-ready SDK.

What this sample demonstrates

This application focuses on decoding SBE responses, not on sending requests itself.

It demonstrates how to:

• Decode SBE-encoded API responses
• Convert binary SBE payloads into human-readable JSON
• Work with different authentication schemes when requesting SBE responses
• Reuse generated SBE decoders in C++ projects

Typical use cases

• Inspecting and validating SBE responses
• Debugging integrations using SBE
• Learning how Binance SBE schemas are decoded in C++
• Building internal tooling around SBE-based APIs
• Verifying authentication and signing workflows with SBE output

Getting started

Clone the repository:

Code
git clone https://github.com/binance/binance-sbe-cpp-sample-app.git
cd binance-sbe-cpp-sample-app

Compile the sample application:

Code
c++ -std=c++20 -Wextra -Wall -o sbe-sample-app ./main.cpp

The resulting binary (sbe-sample-app) reads from STDIN and writes decoded JSON to STDOUT.

Using the sample app

The application is typically used by piping API responses into it.

Example: decoding an SBE REST response

Code
curl -H "Accept: application/sbe" -H "X-MBX-SBE: 3:1" \
  "<api-endpoint>" \
  | ./sbe-sample-app

Example: decoding an SBE WebSocket response

You can pipe WebSocket responses into the app using a helper script or tool that sends WebSocket requests and forwards the raw response:

Code
echo '<websocket-request-json>' \
  | ./tools/websocket_send.py '<websocket-endpoint>' \
  | ./sbe-sample-app

To run websocket_send.py, your Python environment must include the websocket-client package.

Authentication

When requesting SBE responses from authenticated endpoints, standard Binance authentication methods apply.

Examples in the repository demonstrate usage with:

• HMAC-based authentication
• RSA-based authentication
• Ed25519-based authentication

The sample app itself does not perform request signing—it only decodes SBE responses.

SBE decoders

The repository includes C++ decoder classes generated from Binance SBE schemas using Simple Binary Encoding (SBE).

These decoders can be reused directly in your own C++ projects or adapted for custom SBE pipelines. If needed, the decoders can be regenerated from the latest schema files by following the instructions in the repository.

Notes and best practices

• This project is intended as a reference and debugging tool
• Always validate decoded fields against the official API documentation
• Prefer SBE only when binary efficiency or latency is required
• For general-purpose integrations, REST or WebSocket APIs may be simpler to use
• Use testnet environments when experimenting with authenticated endpoints