Mnemonic Accounts

Overview

Mnemonic Accounts create Avalanche accounts from mnemonic phrases (seed words). Mnemonics provide a human-readable way to backup and restore accounts, making them ideal for user-facing applications.

Best for:

User-facing applications
Mobile wallets
Desktop wallets
Applications requiring easy account recovery

Creating Mnemonic Accounts

Basic Usage

import { mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";
import type { AvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

const mnemonic =
  "abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon about";
const account: AvalancheAccount = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic);

console.log("EVM Address:", account.getEVMAddress());
console.log("X-Chain Address:", account.getXPAddress("X"));
console.log("P-Chain Address:", account.getXPAddress("P"));

Parameters

mnemonic: string - The mnemonic phrase (required)
options?: MnemonicToAccountOptions - Optional derivation path configuration

Options Interface

interface MnemonicToAccountOptions {
  accountIndex?: number; // Account index (default: 0)
  addressIndex?: number; // Address index (default: 0)
  changeIndex?: number; // Change index (default: 0)
  xpAccountIndex?: number; // XP account index (default: 0)
  xpAddressIndex?: number; // XP address index (default: 0)
  xpChangeIndex?: number; // XP change index (default: 0)
  path?: string; // Custom derivation path for EVM Account
  xpPath?: string; // Custom derivation path for XP Account
}

Generating Mnemonics

Generate Random Mnemonic

import {
  generateMnemonic,
  mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount,
} from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";
import type { AvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

const mnemonic: string = generateMnemonic();
console.log("Generated mnemonic:", mnemonic);

const account: AvalancheAccount = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic);

console.log("EVM address:", account.getEVMAddress());
console.log("X-Chain address:", account.getXPAddress("X"));
console.log("P-Chain address:", account.getXPAddress("P"));

// ⚠️ IMPORTANT: Store mnemonic securely
// Never log it in production or commit to version control

Generate Mnemonic in Different Languages

import {
  generateMnemonic,
  english,
  spanish,
  japanese,
} from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

// Generate mnemonic in different languages
const englishMnemonic = generateMnemonic(english);
const spanishMnemonic = generateMnemonic(spanish);
const japaneseMnemonic = generateMnemonic(japanese);
// Also available: french, italian, portuguese, czech, korean, simplifiedChinese, traditionalChinese

Derivation Paths

Default Derivation Paths

The Avalanche Client SDK uses different derivation paths for EVM and XP accounts:

// EVM (C-Chain) derivation path
// Standard BIP44 path for Ethereum
const evmPath = "m/44'/60'/0'/0/0"; // m/44'/60'/{accountIndex}'/{changeIndex}/{addressIndex}

// XP (X/P-Chain) derivation path
// Standard BIP44 path for Avalanche
const xpPath = "m/44'/9000'/0'/0/0"; // m/44'/9000'/{xpAccountIndex}'/{xpChangeIndex}/{xpAddressIndex}

Custom Derivation Paths

import { mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";
import type { AvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

const mnemonic = "abandon abandon abandon...";

// Create account with custom derivation paths
const account: AvalancheAccount = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic, {
  accountIndex: 0,
  addressIndex: 0,
  changeIndex: 0,
  path: "m/44'/60'/0'/0/0", // Custom path
});

Multiple Accounts from Same Mnemonic

import { mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

const mnemonic = "abandon abandon abandon...";

// Different account indices
const account0 = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic, { accountIndex: 0 });
const account1 = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic, { accountIndex: 1 });

// Different address indices
const addr0 = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic, { addressIndex: 0 });
const addr1 = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic, { addressIndex: 1 });

Getting Addresses

const account = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(mnemonic);

// All chain addresses
const evmAddress = account.getEVMAddress();
const xChainAddress = account.getXPAddress("X");
const pChainAddress = account.getXPAddress("P");

// Network-specific
const mainnet = account.getXPAddress("X", "avax");
const testnet = account.getXPAddress("X", "fuji");

Using with Wallet Client

import { createAvalancheWalletClient } from "@avalanche-sdk/client";
import { avalanche } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/chains";
import { mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount } from "@avalanche-sdk/client/accounts";

const account = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(process.env.MNEMONIC!);

const walletClient = createAvalancheWalletClient({
  account,
  chain: avalanche,
  transport: { type: "http" },
});

// C-Chain transaction
const txHash = await walletClient.send({
  to: "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9db96C4b4d8b6",
  amount: 0.001,
});

// X/P-Chain transaction
const xpTx = await walletClient.xChain.prepareBaseTxn({
  outputs: [{ addresses: [account.getXPAddress("X")], amount: 1 }],
});
await walletClient.sendXPTransaction(xpTx);

Security

Never expose mnemonics in client-side code or commit them to version control. Use environment variables.

// ✅ Good
const account = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount(process.env.MNEMONIC!);

// ❌ Bad
const account = mnemonicsToAvalancheAccount("abandon abandon abandon...");

Next Steps

HD Key Accounts - Learn about hierarchical deterministic accounts
Account Utilities - Account validation and utilities
Using Accounts with Clients - Client integration patterns
Network-Specific Addresses - Multi-network support

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