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Aptos Documentation

Python SDK - Creating and Managing Accounts

There are several ways to generate account credentials using the Python SDK. You can use:

  • Account.generate() for a new Ed25519 account
  • Account.generate_secp256k1() for a new Secp256k1 account
  • Account.from_private_key(...) to restore from an existing key
  • Account.from_mnemonic(...) to derive from a BIP-39 phrase

Account.generate() is the most commonly used method to create keys for a new account. It defaults to Ed25519, but you can also specify Secp256k1:

from aptos_sdk.v2 import Account


# Derive an Ed25519 account
account1 = Account.generate()


# Derive a Secp256k1 account
account2 = Account.generate_secp256k1()

Once you have generated credentials, you must fund the account for the network to know it exists.

In devnet environments this can be done with a faucet:

from aptos_sdk.v2 import Account, Aptos, AptosConfig, Network


async with Aptos(AptosConfig(network=Network.DEVNET)) as aptos:
    account1 = Account.generate()
    # Fund an account with 1 Devnet APT
    await aptos.faucet.fund_account(account1.address, 100_000_000)

On testnet you can mint at the mint page.

Other Ways To Represent Accounts

Section titled “Other Ways To Represent Accounts”

If you have a private key, mnemonic phrase, or equivalent representation, you can create an Account to manage those credentials while using the Python SDK.

Derive an account from private key

Section titled “Derive an account from private key”
from aptos_sdk.v2 import Account
from aptos_sdk.v2.crypto import Ed25519PrivateKey, Secp256k1PrivateKey


# Ed25519 from hex (also accepts AIP-80, for example ed25519-priv-0x...)
private_key = Ed25519PrivateKey.from_str(private_key_hex)
account = Account.from_private_key(private_key)


# Secp256k1 from hex
secp_key = Secp256k1PrivateKey.from_str(secp_private_key_hex)
secp_account = Account.from_private_key(secp_key)

Derive an account from a mnemonic

Section titled “Derive an account from a mnemonic”
from aptos_sdk.v2 import Account
from aptos_sdk.v2.crypto import generate_mnemonic, validate_mnemonic


phrase = generate_mnemonic()  # 12 words by default; pass 24 for extra entropy
assert validate_mnemonic(phrase)


# Default: Ed25519 at m/44'/637'/0'/0'/0'
account = Account.from_mnemonic(phrase)


# Secp256k1 from the same phrase
secp_account = Account.from_mnemonic(phrase, secp256k1=True)


# Additional accounts from the same seed
account_1 = Account.from_mnemonic(phrase, path="m/44'/637'/1'/0'/0'")

Account fields are properties, not methods: use account.address, account.public_key, and account.private_key.