Accounts

The web3 accounts package contains functions to generate Ethereum accounts and sign transactions & data.

For using accounts functions, first install Web3 package using npm i web3 or yarn add web3 based on your package manager usage. After that, Accounts functions will be available as mentioned in following snippet.

import {Web3} from 'web3';

const web3 = new Web3();
const account = web3.eth.accounts.create();
const result = web3.eth.accounts.hashMessage("Test Message");

For using individual package install web3-eth-accounts package using npm i web3-eth-accounts or yarn add web3-eth-accounts and only import required functions. This is more efficient approach for building lightweight applications.

import {create,hashMessage} from 'web3-eth-accounts';

const account = create();
const result = hashMessage("Test Message");

Functions

create

▸ create(): Web3Account

Generates and returns a Web3Account object that includes the private and public key For creation of private key, it uses an audited package ethereum-cryptography/secp256k1 that is cryptographically secure random number with certain characteristics. Read more: https://www.npmjs.com/package/ethereum-cryptography#secp256k1-curve

Returns

Web3Account

A Web3Account object

web3.eth.accounts.create();
{
address: '0xbD504f977021b5E5DdccD8741A368b147B3B38bB',
privateKey: '0x964ced1c69ad27a311c432fdc0d8211e987595f7eb34ab405a5f16bdc9563ec5',
signTransaction: [Function: signTransaction],
sign: [Function: sign],
encrypt: [AsyncFunction: encrypt]
}

---

decrypt

▸ decrypt(keystore, password, nonStrict?): Promise<Web3Account>

Decrypts a v3 keystore JSON, and creates the account.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
keystore	string | KeyStore	the encrypted Keystore object or string to decrypt
password	string | Uint8Array	The password that was used for encryption
nonStrict?	boolean	if true and given a json string, the keystore will be parsed as lowercase.

Returns

Promise<Web3Account>

Returns the decrypted Web3Account object Decrypting scrypt

web3.eth.accounts.decrypt({
  version: 3,
  id: 'c0cb0a94-4702-4492-b6e6-eb2ac404344a',
  address: 'cda9a91875fc35c8ac1320e098e584495d66e47c',
  crypto: {
  ciphertext: 'cb3e13e3281ff3861a3f0257fad4c9a51b0eb046f9c7821825c46b210f040b8f',
     cipherparams: { iv: 'bfb43120ae00e9de110f8325143a2709' },
     cipher: 'aes-128-ctr',
     kdf: 'scrypt',
     kdfparams: {
       n: 8192,
       r: 8,
       p: 1,
       dklen: 32,
       salt: '210d0ec956787d865358ac45716e6dd42e68d48e346d795746509523aeb477dd'
     },
     mac: 'efbf6d3409f37c0084a79d5fdf9a6f5d97d11447517ef1ea8374f51e581b7efd'
   }
  }, '123').then(console.log);

> {
address: '0xcdA9A91875fc35c8Ac1320E098e584495d66e47c',
privateKey: '67f476289210e3bef3c1c75e4de993ff0a00663df00def84e73aa7411eac18a6',
signTransaction: [Function: signTransaction],
sign: [Function: sign],
encrypt: [AsyncFunction: encrypt]
}

---

encrypt

▸ encrypt(privateKey, password, options?): Promise<KeyStore>

encrypt a private key with a password, returns a V3 JSON Keystore

Read more: https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Web3-Secret-Storage-Definition

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
privateKey	Bytes	The private key to encrypt, 32 bytes.
password	string | Uint8Array	The password used for encryption.
options?	CipherOptions	Options to configure to encrypt the keystore either scrypt or pbkdf2

Returns

Promise<KeyStore>

Returns a V3 JSON Keystore

Encrypt using scrypt options:

web3.eth.accounts.encrypt(
   '0x67f476289210e3bef3c1c75e4de993ff0a00663df00def84e73aa7411eac18a6',
   '123',
   {
       n: 8192,
	    iv: web3.utils.hexToBytes('0xbfb43120ae00e9de110f8325143a2709'),
	    salt: web3.utils.hexToBytes('0x210d0ec956787d865358ac45716e6dd42e68d48e346d795746509523aeb477dd'),
	}).then(console.log)

> {
version: 3,
id: 'c0cb0a94-4702-4492-b6e6-eb2ac404344a',
address: 'cda9a91875fc35c8ac1320e098e584495d66e47c',
crypto: {
  ciphertext: 'cb3e13e3281ff3861a3f0257fad4c9a51b0eb046f9c7821825c46b210f040b8f',
  cipherparams: { iv: 'bfb43120ae00e9de110f8325143a2709' },
  cipher: 'aes-128-ctr',
  kdf: 'scrypt',
  kdfparams: {
    n: 8192,
    r: 8,
    p: 1,
    dklen: 32,
    salt: '210d0ec956787d865358ac45716e6dd42e68d48e346d795746509523aeb477dd'
  },
  mac: 'efbf6d3409f37c0084a79d5fdf9a6f5d97d11447517ef1ea8374f51e581b7efd'
}
}

Encrypting using pbkdf2 options:

web3.eth.accounts.encrypt('0x348ce564d427a3311b6536bbcff9390d69395b06ed6c486954e971d960fe8709',
'123',
{
	iv: 'bfb43120ae00e9de110f8325143a2709',
	salt: '210d0ec956787d865358ac45716e6dd42e68d48e346d795746509523aeb477dd',
	c: 262144,
	kdf: 'pbkdf2',
}).then(console.log)

>
{
  version: 3,
  id: '77381417-0973-4e4b-b590-8eb3ace0fe2d',
  address: 'b8ce9ab6943e0eced004cde8e3bbed6568b2fa01',
  crypto: {
    ciphertext: '76512156a34105fa6473ad040c666ae7b917d14c06543accc0d2dc28e6073b12',
    cipherparams: { iv: 'bfb43120ae00e9de110f8325143a2709' },
    cipher: 'aes-128-ctr',
    kdf: 'pbkdf2',
    kdfparams: {
      dklen: 32,
      salt: '210d0ec956787d865358ac45716e6dd42e68d48e346d795746509523aeb477dd',
      c: 262144,
      prf: 'hmac-sha256'
    },
  mac: '46eb4884e82dc43b5aa415faba53cc653b7038e9d61cc32fd643cf8c396189b7'
  }
}

---

hashMessage

▸ hashMessage(message, skipPrefix?): string

Hashes the given message. The data will be UTF-8 HEX decoded and enveloped as follows: "\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n" + message.length + message and hashed using keccak256.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default value	Description
message	string	undefined	A message to hash, if its HEX it will be UTF8 decoded.
skipPrefix	boolean	false	(default: false) If true, the message will be not prefixed with "\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n" + message.length

Returns

string

The hashed message

web3.eth.accounts.hashMessage("Hello world")

> "0x8144a6fa26be252b86456491fbcd43c1de7e022241845ffea1c3df066f7cfede"

web3.eth.accounts.hashMessage(web3.utils.utf8ToHex("Hello world")) // Will be hex decoded in hashMessage

> "0x8144a6fa26be252b86456491fbcd43c1de7e022241845ffea1c3df066f7cfede"

web3.eth.accounts.hashMessage("Hello world", true)

> "0xed6c11b0b5b808960df26f5bfc471d04c1995b0ffd2055925ad1be28d6baadfd"

---

parseAndValidatePrivateKey

▸ parseAndValidatePrivateKey(data, ignoreLength?): Uint8Array

Get the private key Uint8Array after the validation. Note: This function is not exported through main web3 package, so for using it directly import from accounts package.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
data	Bytes	Private key
ignoreLength?	boolean	Optional, ignore length check during validation

Returns

Uint8Array

The Uint8Array private key

parseAndValidatePrivateKey("0x08c673022000ece7964ea4db2d9369c50442b2869cbd8fc21baaca59e18f642c")

> Uint8Array(32) [
186,  26, 143, 168, 235, 179,  90,  75,
101,  63,  84, 221, 152, 150,  30, 203,
  8, 113,  94, 226,  53, 213, 216,   5,
194, 159,  17,  53, 219,  97, 121, 248
]

---

privateKeyToAccount

▸ privateKeyToAccount(privateKey, ignoreLength?): Web3Account

Get an Account object from the privateKey

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
privateKey	Bytes	String or Uint8Array of 32 bytes
ignoreLength?	boolean	if true, will not error check length

Returns

Web3Account

A Web3Account object

info

The Web3Account.signTransaction is not stateful if directly imported from accounts package and used. Network access is required to get the account nonce and chainId to sign the transaction, so use Web3.eth.accounts.signTransaction for signing transactions.

web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAccount("0x348ce564d427a3311b6536bbcff9390d69395b06ed6c486954e971d960fe8709");

>    {
			address: '0xb8CE9ab6943e0eCED004cDe8e3bBed6568B2Fa01',
			privateKey: '0x348ce564d427a3311b6536bbcff9390d69395b06ed6c486954e971d960fe8709',
			sign,
			signTransaction,
			encrypt,
	}

---

privateKeyToAddress

▸ privateKeyToAddress(privateKey): string

Get the ethereum Address from a private key

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
privateKey	Bytes	String or Uint8Array of 32 bytes

Returns

string

The Ethereum address

Example

web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAddress("0xbe6383dad004f233317e46ddb46ad31b16064d14447a95cc1d8c8d4bc61c3728")

> "0xEB014f8c8B418Db6b45774c326A0E64C78914dC0"

---

privateKeyToPublicKey

▸ privateKeyToPublicKey(privateKey, isCompressed): string

Get the public key from a private key

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
privateKey	Bytes	String or Uint8Array of 32 bytes
isCompressed	boolean	if true, will generate a 33 byte compressed public key instead of a 65 byte public key

Returns

string

The public key

Example

web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToPublicKey("0x1e046a882bb38236b646c9f135cf90ad90a140810f439875f2a6dd8e50fa261f", true)

> "0x42beb65f179720abaa3ec9a70a539629cbbc5ec65bb57e7fc78977796837e537662dd17042e6449dc843c281067a4d6d8d1a1775a13c41901670d5de7ee6503a" // uncompressed public key

---

recover

▸ recover(data, signatureOrV?, prefixedOrR?, s?, prefixed?): string

Recovers the Ethereum address which was used to sign the given data

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
data	string | SignatureObject	Either a signed message, hash, or the signatureObject
signatureOrV?	string	signature or V
prefixedOrR?	string | boolean	prefixed or R
s?	string	S value in signature
prefixed?	boolean	(default: false) If the last parameter is true, the given message will NOT automatically be prefixed with "\\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\\n" + message.length + message, and assumed to be already prefixed and hashed.

Returns

string

The Ethereum address used to sign this data

const data = 'Some data';
const sigObj = web3.eth.accounts.sign(data, '0xbe6383dad004f233317e46ddb46ad31b16064d14447a95cc1d8c8d4bc61c3728')

> {
  message: 'Some data',
  messageHash: '0x1da44b586eb0729ff70a73c326926f6ed5a25f5b056e7f47fbc6e58d86871655',
  v: '0x1b',
  r: '0xa8037a6116c176a25e6fc224947fde9e79a2deaa0dd8b67b366fbdfdbffc01f9',
  s: '0x53e41351267b20d4a89ebfe9c8f03c04de9b345add4a52f15bd026b63c8fb150',
  signature: '0xa8037a6116c176a25e6fc224947fde9e79a2deaa0dd8b67b366fbdfdbffc01f953e41351267b20d4a89ebfe9c8f03c04de9b345add4a52f15bd026b63c8fb1501b'
}

// now recover
web3.eth.accounts.recover(data, sigObj.v, sigObj.r, sigObj.s)

> 0xEB014f8c8B418Db6b45774c326A0E64C78914dC0

---

recoverTransaction

▸ recoverTransaction(rawTransaction): string

Recovers the Ethereum address which was used to sign the given RLP encoded transaction.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
rawTransaction	string	The hex string having RLP encoded transaction

Returns

string

The Ethereum address used to sign this transaction

web3.eth.accounts.recoverTransaction('0xf869808504e3b29200831e848094f0109fc8df283027b6285cc889f5aa624eac1f55843b9aca008025a0c9cf86333bcb065d140032ecaab5d9281bde80f21b9687b3e94161de42d51895a0727a108a0b8d101465414033c3f705a9c7b826e596766046ee1183dbc8aeaa68');
> "0x2c7536E3605D9C16a7a3D7b1898e529396a65c23"

---

sign

▸ sign(data, privateKey): SignResult

Signs arbitrary data with a given private key.

info

The value passed as the data parameter will be UTF-8 HEX decoded and wrapped as follows: "\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n" + message.length + message

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
data	string	The data to sign
privateKey	Bytes	The 32 byte private key to sign with

Returns

SignResult

The signature Object containing the message, messageHash, signature r, s, v

web3.eth.accounts.sign('Some data', '0x4c0883a69102937d6231471b5dbb6204fe5129617082792ae468d01a3f362318')
> {
message: 'Some data',
messageHash: '0x1da44b586eb0729ff70a73c326926f6ed5a25f5b056e7f47fbc6e58d86871655',
v: '0x1c',
r: '0xb91467e570a6466aa9e9876cbcd013baba02900b8979d43fe208a4a4f339f5fd',
s: '0x6007e74cd82e037b800186422fc2da167c747ef045e5d18a5f5d4300f8e1a029',
signature: '0xb91467e570a6466aa9e9876cbcd013baba02900b8979d43fe208a4a4f339f5fd6007e74cd82e037b800186422fc2da167c747ef045e5d18a5f5d4300f8e1a0291c'
}

---

signMessageWithPrivateKey

▸ signMessageWithPrivateKey(hash, privateKey): SignResult

Takes a hash of a message and a private key, signs the message using the SECP256k1 elliptic curve algorithm, and returns the signature components.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
hash	string	The hash of the message to be signed, represented as a hexadecimal string.
privateKey	Bytes	The private key used to sign the message, represented as a byte array.

Returns

SignResult

• The signature Object containing the message, messageHash, signature r, s, v

---

signRaw

▸ signRaw(data, privateKey): SignResult

Signs raw data with a given private key without adding the Ethereum-specific prefix.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
data	string	The raw data to sign. If it's a hex string, it will be used as-is. Otherwise, it will be UTF-8 encoded.
privateKey	Bytes	The 32 byte private key to sign with

Returns

SignResult

The signature Object containing the message, messageHash, signature r, s, v

web3.eth.accounts.signRaw('Some data', '0x4c0883a69102937d6231471b5dbb6204fe5129617082792ae468d01a3f362318')
> {
  message: 'Some data',
  messageHash: '0x43a26051362b8040b289abe93334a5e3662751aa691185ae9e9a2e1e0c169350',
  v: '0x1b',
  r: '0x93da7e2ddd6b2ff1f5af0c752f052ed0d7d5bff19257db547a69cd9a879b37d4',
  s: '0x334485e42b33815fd2cf8a245a5393b282214060844a9681495df2257140e75c',
  signature: '0x93da7e2ddd6b2ff1f5af0c752f052ed0d7d5bff19257db547a69cd9a879b37d4334485e42b33815fd2cf8a245a5393b282214060844a9681495df2257140e75c1b'
}

---

signTransaction

▸ signTransaction(transaction, privateKey): Promise<SignTransactionResult>

Signs an Ethereum transaction with a given private key.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
transaction	TypedTransaction	The transaction, must be a legacy, EIP2930 or EIP 1559 transaction type
privateKey	string	The private key to import. This is 32 bytes of random data.

Returns

Promise<SignTransactionResult>

A signTransactionResult object that contains message hash, r, s, v, transaction hash and raw transaction.

This function is not stateful here. We need network access to get the account nonce and chainId to sign the transaction. This function will rely on user to provide the full transaction to be signed. If you want to sign a partial transaction object Use Web3.eth.accounts.sign instead.

Signing a legacy transaction

import {signTransaction, Transaction} from 'web3-eth-accounts';

signTransaction(new Transaction({
	to: '0x118C2E5F57FD62C2B5b46a5ae9216F4FF4011a07',
	value: '0x186A0',
	gasLimit: '0x520812',
	gasPrice: '0x09184e72a000',
	data: '',
	chainId: 1,
	nonce: 0 }),
'0x4c0883a69102937d6231471b5dbb6204fe5129617082792ae468d01a3f362318')

> {
messageHash: '0x28b7b75f7ba48d588a902c1ff4d5d13cc0ca9ac0aaa39562368146923fb853bf',
v: '0x25',
r: '0x601b0017b0e20dd0eeda4b895fbc1a9e8968990953482214f880bae593e71b5',
s: '0x690d984493560552e3ebdcc19a65b9c301ea9ddc82d3ab8cfde60485fd5722ce',
rawTransaction: '0xf869808609184e72a0008352081294118c2e5f57fd62c2b5b46a5ae9216f4ff4011a07830186a08025a00601b0017b0e20dd0eeda4b895fbc1a9e8968990953482214f880bae593e71b5a0690d984493560552e3ebdcc19a65b9c301ea9ddc82d3ab8cfde60485fd5722ce',
transactionHash: '0xc5d2460186f7233c927e7db2dcc703c0e500b653ca82273b7bfad8045d85a470'

Signing an eip 1559 transaction

import {signTransaction, Transaction} from 'web3-eth-accounts';

signTransaction(new Transaction({
	to: '0xF0109fC8DF283027b6285cc889F5aA624EaC1F55',
	maxPriorityFeePerGas: '0x3B9ACA00',
	maxFeePerGas: '0xB2D05E00',
	gasLimit: '0x6A4012',
	value: '0x186A0',
	data: '',
	chainId: 1,
	nonce: 0}),
"0x4c0883a69102937d6231471b5dbb6204fe5129617082792ae468d01a3f362318")
> {
 messageHash: '0x5744f24d5f0aff6c70487c8e85adf07d8564e50b08558788f00479611d7bae5f',
v: '0x25',
r: '0x78a5a6b2876c3985f90f82073d18d57ac299b608cc76a4ba697b8bb085048347',
s: '0x9cfcb40cc7d505ed17ff2d3337b51b066648f10c6b7e746117de69b2eb6358d',
rawTransaction: '0xf8638080836a401294f0109fc8df283027b6285cc889f5aa624eac1f55830186a08025a078a5a6b2876c3985f90f82073d18d57ac299b608cc76a4ba697b8bb085048347a009cfcb40cc7d505ed17ff2d3337b51b066648f10c6b7e746117de69b2eb6358d',
transactionHash: '0xc5d2460186f7233c927e7db2dcc703c0e500b653ca82273b7bfad8045d85a470'
}

Signing an eip 2930 transaction

import {signTransaction, Transaction} from 'web3-eth-accounts';

signTransaction(new Transaction ({
	chainId: 1,
	nonce: 0,
	gasPrice: '0x09184e72a000',
	gasLimit: '0x2710321',
	to: '0xF0109fC8DF283027b6285cc889F5aA624EaC1F55',
	value: '0x186A0',
	data: '',
	accessList: [
		{
			address: '0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000101',
			storageKeys: [
				'0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000',
				'0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000060a7',
			],
		},
	],
}),"0x4c0883a69102937d6231471b5dbb6204fe5129617082792ae468d01a3f362318")

> {
messageHash: '0xc55ea24bdb4c379550a7c9a6818ac39ca33e75bc78ddb862bd82c31cc1c7a073',
v: '0x26',
r: '0x27344e77871c8b2068bc998bf28e0b5f9920867a69c455b2ed0c1c150fec098e',
s: '0x519f0130a1d662841d4a28082e9c9bb0a15e0e59bb46cfc39a52f0e285dec6b9',
rawTransaction: '0xf86a808609184e72a000840271032194f0109fc8df283027b6285cc889f5aa624eac1f55830186a08026a027344e77871c8b2068bc998bf28e0b5f9920867a69c455b2ed0c1c150fec098ea0519f0130a1d662841d4a28082e9c9bb0a15e0e59bb46cfc39a52f0e285dec6b9',
transactionHash: '0xc5d2460186f7233c927e7db2dcc703c0e500b653ca82273b7bfad8045d85a470'
}