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Managing Your Keys

Keys are cryptographic identities you use to sign documents. Each key can sign documents, and anyone can verify those signatures using your key's public identifier (DID).

What Are Keys?

Keys in Proof Keys Studio are:

  • Cryptographic identities: Used to prove you signed a document
  • Unique identifiers: Each key has a unique DID (Decentralized Identifier)
  • Signing tools: Used to create proofs on documents

When you sign in or register, you automatically get a default key that's ready to use immediately.

Viewing Your Keys

On the Keys page, you'll see:

  • Key carousel: All your keys displayed horizontally
  • Key details: For each key, you see:
  • Label: The name you gave it (e.g., "default", "production-key")
  • DID: The unique identifier (e.g., did:key:z6Mk...)
  • Created: When the key was created
  • Expires: When it expires (if you set an expiry date)

Navigating Keys: - Click any key chip to select it - Use your mouse wheel over the carousel to scroll through keys - The selected key is highlighted

Creating New Keys

You can create additional keys for different purposes:

  1. On the Keys page, click the create + chip
  2. In the New Key modal:
  3. Enter a label (e.g., "production", "testing", "personal")
  4. Optionally set an expiry date (when the key should stop working)
  5. Click Create key

Your new key appears in the carousel and is ready to use.

Why Create Multiple Keys? - Use different keys for different purposes (work vs. personal) - Rotate keys periodically for security - Organize keys by project or use case

Key Limits

  • Anonymous users: Can have 1 key total
  • Registered users: Can have up to 5 keys total

If you try to create more keys than allowed, you'll see an error message.

Default Keys

Your default key is special:

  • Automatically created when you sign in or register
  • Always labeled "default"
  • Cannot be upgraded to use a DID (only custom keys can be upgraded)
  • Cannot be deleted (it's your primary key)

You can still use your default key to sign documents - it works just like any other key!

Copying Key Information

To copy a key's DID:

  1. Find the key in the carousel
  2. Click the copy icon next to the DID
  3. The DID is copied to your clipboard

Useful for: - Sharing your key identifier with others - Referencing keys in other systems - Verifying proofs

Key Expiry

When creating a key, you can optionally set an expiry date:

  • The key will stop working after the expiry date
  • Useful for temporary keys or security rotation
  • The expiry date is shown in the key details

If you don't set an expiry date, the key never expires.

What's Next?