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Creating Aleo Accounts

Account Keys​

The first step in operating a zero knowledge web application is creating a cryptographic identity for a user. In the context of Aleo, this process starts by generating a private key. From this private key, several keys that enable a user to interact with Aleo programs can be derived.

These keys include:

Private Key​

The key used to represent an identity of an individual user. This key is used to authorize zero knowledge program execution.

View Key​

This key is derived from the private key and can be used to identify all records and transaction data that belongs to an individual user.

Compute Key​

A key that can be used to trustlessly run applications and generate transactions on a user's behalf.

Address​

A public address that can be used to trustlessly identify a user in order for that user to receive official Aleo credits or unique data defined by other zero-knowledge Aleo programs.

warning

All keys are considered sensitive information and should be stored securely!

Creating an Account​

All keys can be created using the Account object:

import { Account } from '@provablehq/sdk';

const account = new Account();

// Individual keys can then be accessed through the following methods
const privateKey = account.privateKey();
const viewKey = account.viewKey();
const computeKey = account.computeKey();
const address = account.address();

Alternatively, if you already having an existing account, then an Account object can be initialized with its private key:

import { Account } from '@provablehq/sdk';

const account = new Account({
    privateKey: 'APrivateKey1...',
});

The SDK also provides a feature to encrypt your private key with a plaintext password, as well as a shortcut to initialize an Account object with the private key ciphertext and the corresponding password:

import { Account, PrivateKey } from '@provablehq/sdk';

// From a newly generated encrypted private key
const password = 'password';
const ciphertext = PrivateKey.newEncrypted(password);
const account = Account.fromCiphertext(ciphertext, password);

// From the encryption of an existing private key
const privateKey = PrivateKey.from_string('APrivateKey1...');
const existingPassword = 'existingPassword';
const existingCiphertext = privateKey.toCiphertext(existingPassword);
const existingAccount = Account.fromCiphertext(existingCiphertext, existingPassword);