Skip to main content

Basic Key Management

As you have now built Sentinel CLI, you can manage your keys.

Create a new key​

Open your terminal and type

sentinelcli keys add <wallet_name>

You can create a new key with the name default as in the following example:

sentinelcli keys add default
Output

This is the output of sentinelcli add key default​

- name: default
  type: local
  address: sent1706klv73nhw2k3p0yl3l88q9p6vlypudrk3nr7
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"AxU17+KenLYWlmN50t+zDNvOz3YtzrBT6YwzGfi56Wvb"}'
  mnemonic: ""

**Important** write this mnemonic phrase in a safe place.
It is the only way to recover your account if you ever forget your password.

fee water butter culture rocket focus render asset boost because perfect cargo amused shuffle easily major enact casual sheriff onion screen wall method dizzy

The key comes with a "mnemonic phrase", which is serialized into a human-readable 24-word mnemonic. User can recover their associated addresses with the mnemonic phrase.

danger

It is important that you keep the mnemonic for address secure, as there is no way to recover it. You would not be able to recover and access the funds in the wallet if you forget the mnemonic phrase.

Restore existing key by seed phrase​

If you already have a seed phrase, use the --recover flag after the command:

sentinelcli keys add default_restore --recover

You will be prompet to type your mnemonic

> Enter your bip39 mnemonic
## Enter your 24-word mnemonic here ##

List your keys​

If you already have one or more keys, use the following command to list them:

sentinelcli keys list

Multiple keys can be created when needed. You can list all keys saved under the storage path.

Output

This is the output of sentinelcli add key default​

- name: default
  type: local
  address: sent13zzgfl5n05tk97sq7xdgvx5zmfhx6undyw8722
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"A6oQhw7UBXp98BxGq8n638dkkYxDhLXHlIsWTdvibY70"}'
  mnemonic: ""
- name: default_recover
  type: local
  address: sent1tsefn9fs66gzjzuld0lf402t6p5rhgwcntzahs
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"A0N2NsaJVu4i11jBeoVMvSFDqoGi2nDcJlplMUF9BVS1"}'
  mnemonic: ""

Retrieve key information​

If you want to view the details of one of your keys, type this command:

sentinelcli keys show <key_name>

You will get the same output as of the first example where we created the key.

Delete a key​

If you want to delete one of your keys, type this command:

sentinelcli keys delete <key_name>

You will get the following prompt:

Key reference will be deleted. Continue? [y/N]: y
Key deleted forever (uh oh!)
danger

Make sure you have backed up the key mnemonic before removing any of your keys, as there will be no way to recover your key without the mnemonic.

Export private keys​

If you want to export and backup one of your keys, type the following command:

sentinelcli keys export <key_name>

You will get the following prompt:

Enter passphrase to encrypt the exported key: ## Insert passphrase (must be at least 8 characters)##
-----BEGIN TENDERMINT PRIVATE KEY-----
kdf: bcrypt
salt: ## Salt of the key ##
type: secp256k1

imwm2Q8jsWPBg5KfY1Lph5xzEH6UmFE2ovjKTrzST9zePDcuOYdQB7VAhsEP6kMo
zWHbcVDvtfxF/sSn8lo1SZWVt+L5UP+BMG1VPAQ=
=wSny
-----END TENDERMINT PRIVATE KEY-----

The keyring-backend option​

Interacting with a node requires a public-private key pair. A keyring is the container that holds these keys, which can be stored in various locations, each with a specified backend type.

sentinelcli keys [subcommands] --keyring-backend [backend type]

Os backend​

The default os backend stores the keys in operating system's credential subsystem, which is convenient for most users without compromising on security.

Here is a list of password managers corresponding to different operating systems:

File backend​

The file backend stores the encrypted keys inside the app's configuration directory. A password entry is required everytime a user access it, which may also result in multiple repeated password prompts in a single command.

Test backend​

The test backend is a password-less variation of the file backend. It stores unencrypted keys inside the app's configuration directory and should only be used in testing environments. It should never be used in production.