Deleting Keys

Command

To delete a key from sscd, you can use the key delete command in the following manner:

sscd keys delete <keyname>

IMPORTANT:: Please bear in mind that before you delete a key, you should ensure that

1. There are no assets i.e. chainlets associated to the address belonging to the key being deleted. If there are any assets, you will not be able to transact with these assets as those transactions would require signatures provided by the key.

2. The address associated with the key does not have an escrow balance. If the balance exists, you can only withdraw this balance if you have a way to regenerate the key being deleted.

3. Most importantly, you should ensure that you have a way to regenecrate the key i.e. you have the mnemonic phrase used to create the key. Without this mnemonic, the key cannot be regenerated once deleted.

Deleting Key Example

In the following example, we have a key called test that we'd like to delete from sscd

Here are the details of the key indicating that it is present in sscd

$ sscd keys show test1
- address: saga1z0uscdcprxcun2mlnyrz5kelemmjw768sdrgz5
  name: test1
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"A+u4iLJZWZHHcRIEbme8ppbmk1jYTpZVio8anPqAIQ31"}'
  type: local

Note: It is a good idea to get prompted for confirmation while deleting a key. However, if you do not wish to be prompted for confirmation, simply pass the -y flag:

sscd keys delete <keyname> -y

To delete with confirmation:

$ sscd keys delete test1
Key reference will be deleted. Continue? [y/N]: y
Key deleted forever (uh oh!)

Checking Deletion

Here we list all existing keys in sscd (default os keyring) to check that the key named test1 has actually been deleted.

$ sscd keys list
- address: saga14hyhswxf0shnpzup406yvjejmfsrjnvzq897re
  name: fundkey
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"A4lAzjJ4bZnZIEhYQvW+qsgg9SzwQOkOgFG+q5enEv4l"}'
  type: local
- address: saga1tkax73wxs047nc8kaalhfc4ar6gay2sde28crx
  name: mykey1
  pubkey: '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.secp256k1.PubKey","key":"A1YCpZPIzs6MXTiMAOnlEK6Cq8+JQMii9a4vUnyQ0qGs"}'
  type: local

Further Details

To get a full list of options on the keys delete command, type

sscd keys delete --help