Namada Documentation - File System Wallet

File System Wallet

The filesystem wallet stores your encrypted keypairs on disk in your Namada base directory. It is the default wallet option when using the Namada CLI "out of the box."

By default, the Namada Wallet is contained in the file <NAMADA_BASE_DIR>/{chain_id}/wallet.toml, where keys are stored encrypted. You can change the default base directory path with --base-dir and you can allow the storage of unencrypted keypairs with the flag --unsafe-dont-encrypt.

If the wallet doesn't already exist, it will be created for you as soon as you run a command that tries to access the wallet, or upon joining a network. A newly created wallet will be pre-loaded with some internal addresses like pos, pos_slash_pool, masp and more.

Currently, the Namada client can load the password via:

Stdin: the client will prompt for a password.
Env variable: by exporting a ENV variable called NAMADA_WALLET_PASSWORD with a value of the actual password.
File: by exporting an ENV variable called NAMADA_WALLET_PASSWORD_FILE with a value containing the path to a file containing the password.

Common wallet operations

The namadaw wallet binary handles all key and wallet management functionality. You can use namadaw <subcommand> --help to explore all available wallet commands.

Create a new keypair

This will create a new keypair and save it in your wallet under the provided alias (for convenience). You will be prompted for a password to encrypt the private key. Afterwards, your mnemonic will be printed to the terminal, which you should safely store in case you need to restore your key at a later date.

namadaw gen --alias $YOUR_ALIAS

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Write down your mnemonic and store it securely -- this is the only time it will be shown. You can use your mnemonic to recover your account if you lose access (for example, if your laptop stops working or is stolen). If you are locked out of your account, and you haven't saved your mnemonic, your funds will be lost forever.

Also carefully note the encryption password you provided -- you will need to provide it any time you make a transaction.

List your addresses

Once you've created a new keypair, you'll want to know the address to which you can send tokens. You do this by listing all known addresses in your wallet and looking for the alias you've just created:

namadaw list

or, if you only want to search for a specific address:

namadaw find --alias $YOUR_ALIAS

Recover an address from a mnemonic

You can recover an existing key from a mnemonic and add it to your wallet with:

namadaw derive --alias $YOUR_ALIAS

(You will be prompted to enter the mnemonic).

Adding an existing key or address to your wallet

If you know the raw value of a key or address, you can add it to your wallet under an alias so you can more conveniently refer to it later.

namadaw add --alias $YOUR_ALIAS --value <transparent-secret-key|transparent-public-key|transparent-address|spending-key|viewing-key|payment-address>

Removing a key/address

You can remove all keys/addresses associated with an alias from your wallet with:

namadaw remove --alias $YOUR_ALIAS --do-it

Using the pre-genesis flag

Normally, you will be expected to join a network before using the wallet; and namadaw will throw an error when an existing chain context is not found. However, there may be times when you want to use namadaw prior to joining a chain -- for example, when generating a keypair to recieve a token allotment in the genesis block of a future chain. In these cases, you can use the flag --pre-genesis with your namadaw commands.

Using the Namada wallet Keychain (browser extension)