Identities in SORA

Identities are a crucial component of your Stellar workflow in SORA. They represent the accounts you use to interact with the Stellar network, providing a user-friendly interface to manage your Stellar keys and addresses.

SHOWCASE CLIP

New to SORA? Check out our Identities showcase clip to see how to create, manage, and use your Stellar identities in SORA!

Identities Dashboard

Central hub for managing Stellar identities in SORA.

The Identities dashboard provides an overview of all your Stellar identities. Here's what you'll find:

1. Identity List: Displays all your identities with color-coded icons and names.
2. Identity Count: Shows the total number of identities you have.
3. Search Bar: Allows you to quickly find specific identities.
4. Create New Identity: A button to initiate the identity creation process.

WARNING

Always keep your identity information, especially private keys and seed phrases, secure and confidential.

Generating a New Identity

To generate a new identity:

1. Click the "Create New Identity" button in the top right corner.
2. Select the "Generate Identity" tab in the modal that appears.

3. Fill in the following details:
   • Identity Name: Enter a name for your new identity.
   • Network Passphrase: Enter the network passphrase.
   • Network: Select the network (e.g., Public, Testnet, Futurenet).
   • RPC URL: Enter the RPC URL for the selected network.
4. (Optional) Expand the "Options" section to configure advanced settings:
   • Seed: Specify a custom seed for key generation.
   • HD Path: Set a custom HD derivation path.
   • As Secret: Output the generated identity as a secret key.
   • Global: Use global config.
   • Default Seed: Generate the default seed phrase (useful for testing).
5. Click "Create" to generate your new identity.

INFO

Generating a new identity creates a new Stellar account with a unique public and private key pair.

Adding an Existing Identity

To add an existing identity:

1. Click the "Create New Identity" button.
2. Select the "Add Identity" tab in the modal.

3. Provide the following information:
   • Identity Name: Enter a name for your identity.
   • Seed Phrase: Enter your 12-word seed phrase.
   • Secret Key: Enter your secret key.
4. (Optional) Expand the "Options" section to configure:
   • Global: Use global config.
   • Config Directory: Specify a custom config directory for testing.
5. Click "Add" to import your existing identity.

Funding an Identity

For testing purposes, you can fund an identity on test networks:

1. Click the "Fund" button next to an identity.
2. Enter the following details:
   • Network Name: e.g., "Futurenet" or "Testnet".
   • Network Passphrase: The passphrase for the selected network.
   • RPC URL: The RPC endpoint for the network.
3. (Optional) Configure additional options like HD Path or using global config.
4. Click "Fund" to add test funds to your identity.

WARNING

Funding is only available on test networks and should not be used on the public Stellar network.

Removing an Identity

To remove an identity from SORA:

1. Click the "Remove" button next to an identity.
2. Confirm the identity name.
3. (Optional) Configure options like using global config or specifying a config directory.
4. Click "Remove" to delete the identity from SORA.

IMPORTANT

Be cautious when removing identities, especially if they hold real assets. This action cannot be undone.

Viewing Identity Details

SORA allows you to view detailed information about each identity:

1. Click the "Info" button next to an identity.
2. A dialog will show the identity's:
   • Private Key: The secret key for the identity.
   • Public Address: The public Stellar address.

WARNING

Never share your private key. Keep it secure at all times.

Using Identities in Soroban Development

Identities in SORA are essential for interacting with the Soroban smart contract platform(1):

1. Contract Deployment: Use your identity to sign and deploy smart contracts to the Stellar network.
2. Contract Invocation: Interact with deployed contracts using your identity for authentication.
3. Asset Management: Create and manage custom assets on the Stellar network.
4. Testing: Utilize different identities to simulate various user interactions with your contracts.

Tips for Efficient Use

1. Use Descriptive Names: Choose clear, unique names for your identities to easily distinguish between them.
2. Regular Backups: Always keep secure backups of your seed phrases and private keys.
3. Test Network Usage: Use test networks for development and testing to avoid risking real assets.
4. Identity Organization: Use the search function to quickly find specific identities as your list grows.
5. Network-Specific Identities: Consider creating separate identities for different Stellar networks (e.g., Testnet, Futurenet, Mainnet).

Behind the Scenes

SORA uses the Stellar CLI's keys command to manage identities. Here are some of the operations performed:

• stellar keys add: Add a new identity
• stellar keys generate: Generate a new identity with a seed phrase
• stellar keys fund: Fund an identity on a test network
• stellar keys ls: List identities
• stellar keys rm: Remove an identity
• stellar keys show: Display identity details

While SORA provides a user-friendly interface for these operations, understanding the underlying commands can be helpful for advanced users and troubleshooting.