Wallet Manager
The WalletManager is a robust tool designed for managing vaults of wallets. It offers robust management of vaults, including support for custom storage and powerful encryption of all held vaults.
Key Features
Managing Vaults with WalletManager
This includes adding new wallets to specific vaults, retrieving all wallets from a vault, exporting specific vaults, and exporting private keys. The WalletManager class currently supports two types of vaults: PrivateKeyVault and MnemonicVault.
Custom Storage Solutions
The WalletManager supports defining a custom storage solution, allowing you to specify how and where the encrypted vaults are saved. With support for custom storage, you can make the WalletManager to fit your specific needs and security requirements.
Locking and Unlocking WalletManager
The WalletManager implements an automatic encryption mechanism, securely saving the wallet's held vaults. This not only preserves the state of your vaults but also ensures robust protection of the stored information. When needed, you can easily unlock and decrypt the vaults using the previously defined password.
Getting Started with WalletManager
This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to use WalletManager.
Instantiating WalletManager
The WalletManager constructor accepts an optional object to define its storage. The storage describes how and where the WalletManager will store its vaults of wallets. If storage is not provided, the WalletManager uses a default one that does not persist data.
For now, let's keep it simple and not worry about the storage. Later we will discuss it in more detail.
To instantiate a WalletManager you can simply:
// Initialize a WalletManager
const walletManager = new WalletManager();Setting WalletManager Password
By default, a WalletManager instance is locked when created. Before using it, you need to unlock it by setting a password. You can do this by calling the unlock method.
const password = 'my-password';
await walletManager.unlock(password);Once your WalletManager is unlocked, it can manage your wallets.
Managing Vaults with WalletManager
A vault in WalletManager serves as a secure container for wallets. The WalletManager manages wallets by interacting with these vaults, supporting operations such as getAccounts, which returns public information about all wallets stored in the vault, and exportAccount, which exports a private key for a given wallet address.
To add a vault, we utilize the addVault method. Here's how we can create a private key vault and add a private key from a wallet we own:
// Initialize a Provider
const provider = await Provider.create(LOCAL_NETWORK_URL);
const myWallet = Wallet.generate({
provider,
});
const privateKey = myWallet.privateKey;
await walletManager.addVault({
type: 'privateKey',
secret: privateKey,
title: 'My first private key vault',
});The addVault method requires an object with three properties: type, secret, and title. The WalletManager currently supports two types of vaults: privateKeyVault and mnemonicVault. For the secret, we use our wallet's private key, and for the title, we can provide a custom name.
By running this code, WalletManager creates a new vault instance of the type privateKey and adds one account (our wallet) to this newly created vault.
A key feature of the WalletManager is its ability to manage multiple vaults, even of the same type. This implies that if you run the addVault method again, with the same parameters, WalletManager will create another vault of the type privateKey, holding the same wallet. Here's an example:
await walletManager.addVault({
type: 'privateKey',
secret: privateKey,
title: 'My second private key vault',
});After executing this, you will find that your WalletManager is managing two privateKey vaults, both storing the same wallet.
Remember, both title and secret are optional when adding vaults, but providing a title makes it easier to manage your vaults and wallets. If you add a vault without providing a secret, this will result in one new account (wallet) being generated by the vault it self.
Using The WalletManager
With your WalletManager set up, you can now access your vaults and wallets. Here's how to retrieve the details of your vaults:
const vaults = walletManager.getVaults();
console.log(vaults);This will output something like this:
console.assert(
JSON.stringify(vaults) ===
JSON.stringify([
{
title: 'My first private key vault',
type: 'privateKey',
vaultId: 0,
},
{
title: 'My second private key vault',
type: 'privateKey',
vaultId: 1,
},
]),
'Vaults do not match expected structure'
);As you can see, the WalletManager assigns unique vaultIds for each vault. The first vault you added has a vaultId of 0, and the second one has a vaultId of 1.
Let's retrieve your wallet instance with the getWallet method:
const retrievedWallet = walletManager.getWallet(myWallet.address);
console.assert(retrievedWallet.address.equals(myWallet.address), 'Wallets do not match');
console.assert(vaults.length > 0, 'Vaults length should be greater than 0');This guide walked through the steps to instantiate a WalletManager, set up its first vault, and retrieve vault information. The following sections will explore more functionalities of WalletManager, and go deeper into the usage of its vaults and the details of its storage system.
Locking and Unlocking WalletManager
This guide will walk you through the process of managing the lock state of your wallets using the WalletManager.
Initializing and Unlocking the WalletManager
As mentioned earlier, a WalletManager instance begins in a locked state. Before usage, you need to unlock it by providing a password via the unlock method.
const walletManager = new WalletManager();
const password = 'my-password';
await walletManager.unlock(password);Locking the WalletManager
When you lock the WalletManager using the lock method, all its vaults and associated accounts (wallets) are cleared. This clearance is possible due to the encryption and saving of all data by the storage system. WalletManager frequently uses the storage system to preserve its state. Consequently, sensitive operations including exporting vaults, private keys, accessing wallets, and saving/loading the WalletManager state are not possible when it is locked.
await walletManager.lock();Remember, it's crucial to lock your WalletManager when it's not in use to ensure the safety of your funds.
Reaccessing Your Wallets by Unlocking the WalletManager
The unlock method requires the previously set password to unlock the WalletManager and all its vaults. The password decrypts the stored vaults, allowing WalletManager to load its saved data.
await walletManager.unlock(password);Providing an incorrect password will result in an error. However, when unlocked successfully, WalletManager is ready for use again.
Verifying the Lock State
You can confirm the current lock state of the WalletManager by using the isLocked method:
const isLocked = walletManager.isLocked;
console.assert(isLocked === false, 'WalletManager is locked');Updating the Password
To change the current password, invoke the updatePassphrase method, and provide both the old and new passwords:
const newPassword = 'my-new-password';
await walletManager.updatePassphrase(password, newPassword);Reminder: Always Lock Your WalletManager
Always ensure you lock the WalletManager after completing operations. This step is critical for securing your wallets.
await walletManager.unlock(newPassword);
// perform your tasks...
walletManager.lock(); // Always lock your WalletManager when you're done
console.assert(walletManager.isLocked === true, 'WalletManager is unlocked');By using WalletManager to manage lock and unlock states, you introduce an additional layer of security. Never forget to lock your WalletManager when it's not in use.