Setting Up Your Wallet

This guide covers everything about setting up your Kairo wallet—from initial passkey creation to advanced configuration options.

Understanding the Setup Process

When you set up Kairo, you're creating three interconnected components:

Your passkey — Secures your local key share with biometrics
Your dWallet — The distributed wallet that holds your signing capability
Your policy — The rules that govern what transactions can be signed

Each component adds a layer of protection. Let's set them up properly.

Step 1: Creating Your Passkey

Your passkey is the foundation of your Kairo security. It's a modern authentication method that uses your device's secure hardware.

What Makes Passkeys Secure

Hardware-bound — The private key lives in your device's secure enclave
Biometric-protected — Requires your fingerprint, face, or device PIN
Phishing-resistant — Can't be tricked into signing for the wrong site
Syncable — Can be backed up via iCloud or Google Password Manager

Creating Your Passkey

Open the Kairo extension and click Get Started
When prompted, click Create Passkey
Your device will ask for biometric authentication
Complete the scan (fingerprint or face)
Your passkey is now created

Important: Your passkey encrypts your local key share. Without it, you cannot sign transactions from this device.

Passkey Sync Options

Apple Devices (iCloud Keychain) If you use iCloud Keychain, your passkey automatically syncs to your other Apple devices. This means you can use Kairo on your iPhone, iPad, or other Mac.

Android/Chrome (Google Password Manager) Google Password Manager can sync passkeys across your Android devices and Chrome browsers signed into your Google account.

No Sync You can also choose not to sync. In this case, your passkey only works on the device where you created it.

Step 2: Setting Up Your dWallet

Your dWallet is where the cryptographic magic happens. It's a distributed wallet—one piece on your device, one piece on Kairo's network.

Import vs. Generate

Importing an existing wallet is best when:

You already have funds in a wallet you want to protect
You want to keep your existing addresses
You're upgrading from a traditional wallet setup

Generating a new wallet is best when:

You're starting fresh
You want Kairo's full recovery capabilities from day one
You don't have existing assets to migrate

Importing an Existing Wallet

Choose Import Existing Wallet
Enter your private key
- This is typically a long hex string starting with 0x
- Or your 12/24 word seed phrase
Kairo encrypts this with your passkey immediately
The displayed address should match your existing wallet
Click Continue to proceed

Security note: Your private key is encrypted locally and split using 2PC-MPC. The complete key never exists in any single location after import.

Generating a New Wallet

Choose Create New Wallet
Kairo generates fresh key material
Your new address is displayed
Record your backup information (covered in Recovery Options)
Click Continue to proceed

Step 3: Understanding Your Wallet Structure

After setup, your wallet consists of:

| Component | Location | Purpose | |-----------|----------|---------| | Local key share | Your device (encrypted) | Your half of the signing capability | | Network key share | Kairo's MPC network | Their half of the signing capability | | Policy | Sui blockchain | Rules governing what can be signed | | Binding | Sui blockchain | Links your dWallet to your policy |

All of these work together. A transaction only succeeds when:

Both key shares cooperate (you + Kairo)
Your policy approves the transaction
The binding confirms the correct policy version

Wallet Configuration Options

Display Settings

Customize how Kairo appears:

Network preference — Which blockchain to show by default
Currency display — USD, EUR, or crypto-native values
Transaction history — How many recent transactions to cache

Security Settings

Fine-tune your security:

Auto-lock timeout — How long before requiring re-authentication
Approval confirmation — Require explicit approval for every transaction vs. auto-approve trusted patterns
Notification preferences — What activities trigger alerts

Advanced Settings

For power users:

Custom RPC endpoints — Use your own node
Gas preferences — Default gas limits and priority fees
Developer mode — Expose additional debugging information

Connecting to dApps

Kairo works with any dApp that supports standard wallet connections:

First Connection

Visit any dApp (Uniswap, OpenSea, Aave, etc.)
Click "Connect Wallet"
Select Kairo Guard from the wallet list
Approve the connection in the Kairo popup
You're connected!

What dApps See

To dApps, your Kairo wallet looks like any other wallet:

Same address format
Standard connection protocol
Normal transaction flow

The protection happens behind the scenes.

Managing Connections

View and manage your dApp connections:

Open Kairo extension
Go to Settings → Connected Sites
See all sites with active connections
Disconnect any site you no longer trust

Backup Recommendations

Before you start using your wallet:

Verify your passkey syncs (if using cloud sync)
Note your wallet address for reference
Record your dWallet object ID (found in Settings → Advanced)
Consider exporting an encrypted backup (see Recovery Options)

Troubleshooting Setup

Passkey Creation Fails

Ensure your device supports passkeys (most devices from 2020+ do)
Check that biometrics are enabled in your device settings
Try using your device PIN instead of biometrics

Import Shows Wrong Address

Verify you entered the correct private key
Check you're looking at the right network (Ethereum vs. other chains)
Private keys from some wallets need format conversion

Extension Not Showing

Ensure the extension is enabled in Chrome's extension manager
Try pinning the extension to your toolbar
Restart your browser

Next Steps

Now that your wallet is set up:

Create your first policy — Define your protection rules
Set up recovery options — Protect against device loss
Explore multi-chain support — Use Kairo across blockchains