# Overview

Chamber vaults are onchain, non-custodial, and open to anyone with a wallet. When you deposit, your funds go into the vault contract — not to the manager, not to Chamber. The manager trades the vault within rules enforced by the [Guard System](/security/guard-system.md). You can withdraw at any time.

This section walks through how depositing works, how to pick a vault, and what to know before committing capital.

## What depositing actually does

You deposit assets (usually a stablecoin or native token) into a vault through the Chamber app, which routes the call through the vault contract. In return, the contract mints you **vault shares** — a receipt token that represents your proportional claim on everything the vault holds. Never transfer assets directly to the vault address — only deposits made through the proper flow mint shares.

* If the vault grows, your shares are worth more.
* If the vault loses money, your shares are worth less.
* You can withdraw your shares any time (after the [24-hour lockup](/deposit/lockup-withdrawals.md)) — either for a single asset or for the underlying basket.

The manager can trade the vault's assets but **cannot withdraw, reassign, or seize your shares**. Custody is onchain and yours.

## Before you deposit

* **Pick a vault that matches your risk tolerance.** Strategy, fees, track record, and chain all matter. See [Find a vault](/deposit/find-a-vault.md).
* **Understand the fees.** Entry, exit, performance, management — these are set by the manager and vary per vault. See [Fees](/deposit/fees.md).
* **Know the risks.** Smart contracts, market exposure, manager decisions, oracle risk. See [Risks](/deposit/risks.md).
* **Plan your horizon.** Every deposit has a 24-hour lockup. Withdrawals are always available after that, but fee structures reward longer holds.

## What's in this section

* [Find a vault](/deposit/find-a-vault.md) — filtering by chain, strategy, fees, and vault score.
* [Deposit](/deposit/deposit.md) — the deposit flow end-to-end.
* [Lockup & withdrawals](/deposit/lockup-withdrawals.md) — the 24h post-deposit lockup and how withdrawals work (single-asset or basket).
* [Fees](/deposit/fees.md) — what you pay and when.
* [Insurance](/deposit/insurance.md) — coverage options.
* [Risks](/deposit/risks.md) — the honest list.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.chamberfi.com/deposit/overview.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.