Export Wallet or Private Key

This is a guide to exporting your wallet or private key from Turnkey. For more information about the security of this flow, check out Enclave secure channels.

Implementation guides

Follow along with the Turnkey CLI, Embedded iframe, NodeJS, and Local Storage guides.

CLI

Install the latest version of Turnkey CLI to access the new import functionality. You can find detailed instructions for installation here.

Steps

1. Export a wallet (Turnkey activity)

   turnkey wallets export --name "New Wallet" -k <your Turnkey API key name> --organization <your organization ID> --export-bundle-output <path to your export bundle> --host api.turnkey.com
   

   • The --export-bundle-output (required) flag is the desired output file path for the “encrypted bundle” that will be returned by Turnkey. This bundle contains the encrypted key material.
2. Decrypt the bundle

   turnkey decrypt --export-bundle-input <path to your export bundle> --organization <your organization ID> --signer-quorum-key 04bce6666ca6c12e0e00a503a52c301319687dca588165b551d369496bd1189235bd8302ae5e001fde51d1e22baa1d44249f2de9705c63797316fc8b7e3969a665>> "<redacted mnemonic>"
   

   • The --export-bundle-input (required) flag is the file path for the “encrypted bundle” (from the previous step) that will be decrypted.
   • The --signer-quorum-key is the public key of Turnkey’s signer enclave. This is a static value.

   Congrats! You’ve exported your wallet

Private Key support

1. Export a wallet (Turnkey activity)

   turnkey private-keys export --name "New Private Key" -k <your local encryption key> --organization <your organization ID> --export-bundle-output <path to your export bundle> --host api.turnkey.com
   

   • The --export-bundle-output (required) flag is the desired output file path for the “encrypted bundle” that will be returned by Turnkey. This bundle contains the encrypted key material.
2. Decrypt the bundle

   turnkey decrypt --export-bundle-input <path to your export bundle> --organization <your organization ID> --signer-quorum-key 04bce6666ca6c12e0e00a503a52c301319687dca588165b551d369496bd1189235bd8302ae5e001fde51d1e22baa1d44249f2de9705c63797316fc8b7e3969a665>> "<redacted private key>"
   

   • The --export-bundle-input (required) flag is the file path for the “encrypted bundle” (from the previous step) that will be decrypted.
   • The --signer-quorum-key is the public key of Turnkey’s signer enclave. This is a static value.

   Congrats! You’ve exported your private key 🎉

Embedded iframe

• We have released open-source code to create target encryption keys and decrypt exported wallet mnemonics. We’ve deployed a static HTML page hosted on export.turnkey.com meant to be embedded as an iframe element (see the code here). This ensures the mnemonics are encrypted to keys that the user has access to, but that your organization does not (because they live in the iframe, on a separate domain).
• We have also built a package to help you insert this iframe and interact with it in the context of export: @turnkey/iframe-stamper

In the rest of this guide we’ll assume you are using these helpers.

Steps

Here’s a diagram summarizing the wallet export flow step-by-step (direct link):

Let’s review these steps in detail:

1. When a user on your application clicks “export”, display a new export UI. We recommend setting this export UI as a new hosted page of your application that contains language explaining the security best practices users should follow once they’ve successfully exported their wallet. Remember: once the wallet has been exported, Turnkey can no longer ensure its security.

   While the UI is in a loading state, your application uses @turnkey/iframe-stamper to insert a new iframe element:

   const iframeStamper = new IframeStamper({
   iframeUrl: "https://export.turnkey.com",
   // Configure how the iframe element is inserted on the page
   iframeContainer: yourContainer,
   iframeElementId: "turnkey-iframe",
   });
   
   // Inserts the iframe in the DOM. This creates the new encryption target key
   const publicKey = await iframeStamper.init();
   
   // Set state to not display iframe
   let displayIframe = "none";
   
   return (
   // The iframe element can be hidden until the wallet is exported
   <div style={{ display: displayIframe }} />
   );
   

2. Your code receives the iframe public key. Your application prompts the user to sign a new EXPORT_WALLET activity with the wallet ID and the iframe public key in the parameters.

3. Your application polls for the activity response, which contains an export bundle. Remember: this export bundle is an encrypted mnemonic which can only be decrypted within the iframe.

   Need help setting up async polling? Checkout our guide and helper here.

4. Your application injects the export bundle into the iframe for decryption and displays the iframe upon success:

   // Inject export bundle into iframe
   let success = await iframeStamper.injectWalletExportBundle(exportBundle);
   
   if (success !== true) {
   throw new Error("unexpected error while injecting export bundle");
   }
   
   // If successfully injected, update the state to display the iframe
   iframeDisplay = "block";
   

   Export is complete! The iframe now displays a sentence of words separated by spaces.

   

   The exported wallet will remain stored within Turnkey’s infrastructure. In your Turnkey dashboard, the exported user Wallet will be flagged as “Exported”.

Export as Private Keys

Turnkey also supports exporting Wallet Accounts and Private Keys as private keys.

Wallet Accounts

Follow the same steps above for exporting Wallets as mnemonics, but instead use the EXPORT_WALLET_ACCOUNT activity and the injectKeyExportBundle method from the @turnkey/iframe-stamper.

Private Keys

Follow the same steps above for exporting Wallets as mnemonics, but instead use the EXPORT_PRIVATE_KEY activity and the injectKeyExportBundle method from the @turnkey/iframe-stamper. You can pass an optional keyFormat to injectKeyExportBundle(keyFormat) that will apply either hexadecimal or solana formatting to the private key that is exported in the iframe. The default key format is hexadecimal, which is used by MetaMask, MyEtherWallet, Phantom, Ledger, and Trezor for Ethereum keys. For Solana keys, you will need to pass the solana key format.

At the end of a successful private key export, the iframe displays a private key.

NodeJS

A full example Node script can be found here: https://github.com/tkhq/sdk/tree/main/examples/export-in-node

Steps

1. Initialize a new Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-server";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkeyClient = new Turnkey({
       apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
       apiPublicKey: process.env.API_PUBLIC_KEY!,
       apiPrivateKey: process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY!,
       defaultOrganizationId: process.env.ORGANIZATION_ID!,
     });
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const keyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const privateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const publicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   const exportResult = await turnkeyClient.apiClient().exportWallet({
     walletId: walletId,
     targetPublicKey: publicKey,
   });
   

4. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: privateKey,
     organizationId,
     returnMnemonic: true,
   });
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your wallet

   The process is largely similar for both private keys and individual wallet accounts.

Private Key support

1. Initialize a new Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-server";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkeyClient = new Turnkey({
       apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
       apiPublicKey: process.env.API_PUBLIC_KEY!,
       apiPrivateKey: process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY!,
       defaultOrganizationId: process.env.ORGANIZATION_ID!,
     });
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const keyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const privateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const publicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   const exportResult = await turnkeyClient.apiClient().exportPrivateKey({
     privateKeyId: privateKeyId,
     targetPublicKey: publicKey,
   });
   

4. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: privateKey,
     organizationId,
     returnMnemonic: false,
   });
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your private key

Wallet Account support

1. Initialize a new Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-server";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkeyClient = new Turnkey({
       apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
       apiPublicKey: process.env.API_PUBLIC_KEY!,
       apiPrivateKey: process.env.API_PRIVATE_KEY!,
       defaultOrganizationId: process.env.ORGANIZATION_ID!,
     });
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const keyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const privateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const publicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   const exportResult = await turnkeyClient.apiClient().exportWalletAccount({
     address: address, // your specific wallet account address
     targetPublicKey: publicKey,
   });
   

4. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: privateKey,
     organizationId,
     returnMnemonic: false,
   });
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your wallet account

Local Storage

If you do not have access to an iframe (e.g. in a mobile context) or would prefer not to use an iframe, using Local Storage is an alternative method. Note that there are security considerations here due to the fact that anyone in control of your domain can access Local Storage variables.

Steps

1. Initialize Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-browser";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkey = new Turnkey({
     apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
     defaultOrganizationId: process.env.TURNKEY_ORGANIZATION_ID,
   });
   const passkeyClient = turnkey.passkeyClient();
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const embeddedKeyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const embeddedPrivateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const embeddedPublicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Save the private key in Local Storage

   // Storage keys
   const STORAGE_KEYS = {
     EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_private_key",
     EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_public_key",
   };
   
   await LocalStorage.setItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY,
     embeddedPrivateKey,
   );
   
   // Note that the public key can always be derived separately via the `getPublicKey` from `@turnkey/crypto`
   await LocalStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY, embeddedPublicKey);
   

4. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   4. Call export (Turnkey activity), using the embedded key as the target key for the exportWallet activity:

   const exportResult = await passkeyClient.exportWallet({
     walletId, // desired wallet ID
     targetPublicKey: embeddedPublicKey,
   });
   

5. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: embeddedPrivateKey,
     organizationId, // your organization ID (this may be a suborg)
     returnMnemonic: true,
   });
   

6. Remove embedded key from Local Storage. This is recommended because (1) this key doesn't have to be persistent in the first place, and (2) reduces the risk of pattern detection.

   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY,
     embeddedPrivateKey,
   );
   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY,
     embeddedPublicKey,
   );
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your wallet

   The process is largely similar for both private keys and individual wallet accounts.

Private Key support

1. Initialize Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-browser";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkey = new Turnkey({
     apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
     defaultOrganizationId: process.env.TURNKEY_ORGANIZATION_ID,
   });
   const passkeyClient = turnkey.passkeyClient();
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const keyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const privateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const publicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Save the private key in Local Storage

   // Storage keys
   const STORAGE_KEYS = {
     EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_private_key",
     EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_public_key",
   };
   
   await LocalStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY, privateKey);
   
   // Note that the public key can always be derived separately via the `getPublicKey` from `@turnkey/crypto`
   await LocalStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY, publicKey);
   

4. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   const exportResult = await passkeyClient.exportPrivateKey({
     privateKeyId, // desired private key ID
     targetPublicKey: publicKey,
   });
   

5. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: privateKey,
     organizationId, // your organization ID (this may be a suborg)
     returnMnemonic: false, // N/A as we're working with a private key, not a wallet
   });
   

6. Remove embedded key from Local Storage. This is recommended because (1) this key doesn't have to be persistent in the first place, and (2) reduces the risk of pattern detection.

   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY,
     embeddedPrivateKey,
   );
   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY,
     embeddedPublicKey,
   );
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your private key 🎉

Wallet Account support

1. Initialize Turnkey client

   import { Turnkey } from "@turnkey/sdk-browser";
   import { generateP256KeyPair, decryptExportBundle } from "@turnkey/crypto";
   
   ...
   
   const turnkey = new Turnkey({
     apiBaseUrl: "https://api.turnkey.com",
     defaultOrganizationId: process.env.TURNKEY_ORGANIZATION_ID,
   });
   const passkeyClient = turnkey.passkeyClient();
   

2. Generate a new P256 Keypair — this will serve as the target that Turnkey will encrypt key material to

   const keyPair = generateP256KeyPair();
   const privateKey = keyPair.privateKey;
   const publicKey = keyPair.publicKeyUncompressed;
   

3. Save the private key in Local Storage

   // Storage keys
   const STORAGE_KEYS = {
     EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_private_key",
     EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY: "@turnkey/embedded_public_key",
   };
   
   await LocalStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY, privateKey);
   
   // Note that the public key can always be derived separately via the `getPublicKey` from `@turnkey/crypto`
   await LocalStorage.setItem(STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY, publicKey);
   

4. Call export (Turnkey activity)

   4. Call export (Turnkey activity), using the embedded key as the target key for the exportWalletAccount activity:

   const exportResult = await passkeyClient.exportWalletAccount({
     address, // your specific wallet account address
     targetPublicKey: publicKey,
   });
   

5. Decrypt encrypted bundle

   const decryptedBundle = await decryptExportBundle({
     exportBundle: exportResult.exportBundle,
     embeddedKey: privateKey,
     organizationId, // your organization ID (this may be a suborg)
     returnMnemonic: false, // N/A as we're working with a wallet account, not a wallet
   });
   

6. Remove embedded key from Local Storage. This is recommended because (1) this key doesn't have to be persistent in the first place, and (2) reduces the risk of pattern detection.

   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PRIVATE_KEY,
     embeddedPrivateKey,
   );
   await LocalStorage.removeItem(
     STORAGE_KEYS.EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_KEY,
     embeddedPublicKey,
   );
   

   Congrats! You’ve exported your wallet account

Solana notes

Solana paths do not include an index. Creating a wallet account with an index specified could lead to unexpected behavior when exporting and importing into another wallet.

When importing into a multichain wallet such as Phantom, see this guide on matching private keys across Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon.

UI customization

Everything is customizable in the import iframe except the sentence of mnemonic words, which is minimally styled: the text is left-aligned and the padding and margins are zero. Here’s an example of how you can configure the styling of the iframe.

const iframeCss = `
  iframe {
      box-sizing: border-box;
      width: 400px;
      height: 120px;
      border-radius: 8px;
      border-width: 1px;
      border-style: solid;
      border-color: rgba(216, 219, 227, 1);
      padding: 20px;
  }
`;

return (
  <div style={{ display: iframeDisplay }} id="your-container">
    <style>{iframeCss}</style>
  </div>
);