Recovery and backups
Backups matter because Pali is non-custodial. The wallet cannot recover a seed phrase, password, private key, or passkey authenticator secret for you.
Seed phrase backup
Write down your wallet seed phrase and keep it offline. Anyone with the seed phrase can control the derived accounts.
Passkey backup status
Passkeys can be device-bound or synced by the platform account provider. Pali surfaces backup-related status where available, but the exact behavior depends on the authenticator, browser, and operating system.
You may see status that suggests whether a passkey is device-bound, backup-eligible, or backed up/synced. A synced passkey is usually more convenient because it can follow you through a platform account such as Apple, Google, or Microsoft. A device-bound passkey or hardware security key can be stricter, but losing that device may make recovery harder.
| Status you may see | What it means | Convenience | Security tradeoff | Good fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backed up or synced | The passkey appears to be stored by a platform passkey provider and may sync to other trusted devices. | Highest. You can often recover after replacing a phone or laptop by signing back into the platform account. | The passkey secret is still protected by the platform passkey system, but the security boundary includes the platform account, account recovery process, and synced devices. | Everyday wallets, dapp accounts, institution onboarding, and smaller balances. |
| Backup eligible | The authenticator says the passkey can be backed up or synced, but it may not currently be synced. | Medium to high, depending on whether sync is enabled. | Future platform settings may move the credential into cloud sync. Review the provider and device settings if this matters to you. | Users who want recovery flexibility but still want to inspect whether sync is active. |
| Device-bound or not backed up | The passkey appears tied to one authenticator or device. | Lower. If the device is lost and no other recovery path exists, recovery can be harder or impossible. | Stronger isolation because control is concentrated in that authenticator instead of a cloud-synced account. | Larger balances, higher-security accounts, hardware security keys, and cold-wallet-style usage. |
| Unknown or unavailable | The browser, OS, or authenticator did not expose enough backup information. | Unknown. | Do not assume either cloud recovery or device-bound isolation. Treat it as ambiguous until you verify the authenticator setup. | Temporary use, testing, or cases where you can independently verify the passkey provider. |
Cloud-synced passkeys are still secure for normal use: the private key is not handed to Pali or the dapp, WebAuthn remains origin-bound, and user verification is still performed by the platform authenticator. The tradeoff is that the platform account becomes part of your wallet security model. For cold storage, treasury funds, or large long-term balances, prefer a device-bound authenticator or hardware security key and keep only smaller operational funds in synced passkey-controlled accounts.
Backup status is a signal to help you choose between convenience and security. It does not replace your seed phrase backup, and it does not mean Pali or an institution can recover a passkey secret for you.
Recovering smart accounts
Pali smart-account recovery depends on the installed modules. A passkey-controlled account needs the relevant WebAuthn credential to approve future actions. A guardian recovery module can replace the active validator after the configured timelock if the guardian threshold signs the recovery intent. The recovery flow may:
- Reconstruct deterministic Pali account records from wallet metadata.
- Ask for a WebAuthn assertion when a passkey validator must prove control.
- Use guardian recovery when the active validator needs to be replaced.
- Skip accounts already in the wallet.
- Show recoverable accounts with balance and activity hints where available.
- Import the accounts selected by the user.
Dapp creation and wallet recovery
When a dapp calls wallet_prepareSmartAccount, Pali creates a smart account and saves durable metadata locally after deployment and any requested validator setup completes.
If a smart account exists on-chain and is missing locally, use Pali's wallet recovery flow. Pali skips accounts already present locally and lets the user choose which remaining accounts to import.