# Never share a seed phrase with an agent

Do not paste, upload, or store a wallet seed phrase, recovery phrase, or private key in agent chat, memory, connectors, or shared-box notes — fund only a dedicated spend path the agent can reach; long-term holdings stay on hardware or accounts the bot cannot export. Pairs with dedicated-agent-wallet, shield-crypto, shared-box, agent-memory. Agent Lane does not hold keys or run wallets.

Canonical HTML: https://agentlane.net/guides/never-share-seed-with-agent/

## Answer first

Do not paste, upload, screenshot, or store a wallet seed phrase, recovery phrase, or private key in agent chat, memory, connectors, shared-box notes, or `.env` the bot can read. Fund only a dedicated spend path the agent can reach. Long-term holdings stay on hardware or accounts the bot cannot export.

## Why sharing a seed is the failure mode

- **Chat paste** — “just restore this wallet” puts the master key in logs and the next prompt.
- **Memory write** — saving a recovery phrase into agent memory means every future session can export it — [agent-memory.md](./agent-memory.md).
- **Screenshot OCR** — a photo of a seed card the bot can read is still a key.
- **Shared notes / `.env`** — shared-box notes and env files the agent can open are agent-visible — [shared-box.md](./shared-box.md).
- **“Just for backup”** — backing up a seed into the agent’s vault is still sharing the seed.

A seed the agent can see is a seed the next prompt, log, shared user, or leak can spend. Caps and review do not undo a key that already left cold store.

## What it means

1. Seeds stay offline — hardware or cold store the agent cannot export. Hardware options (Trezor/Ledger) on [resources.md](./resources.md).
2. No paste, upload, or memory write — not in chat, prompts, screenshots for the bot, shared notes, or agent memory.
3. Spend path only — [dedicated-agent-wallet.md](./dedicated-agent-wallet.md); caps from [agent-spend-caps.md](./agent-spend-caps.md).
4. Prefer a signer over a raw key in `.env` — [shield-crypto.md](./shield-crypto.md); buyer rail [x402-buyer-basics.md](./x402-buyer-basics.md).
5. If leaked — treat wallet compromised; revoke [revoke-before-debug.md](./revoke-before-debug.md); rotate [rotate-before-raise-balance.md](./rotate-before-raise-balance.md); overnight [empty-sleeve-overnight.md](./empty-sleeve-overnight.md).

## Shield stack

1. [dedicated-agent-wallet.md](./dedicated-agent-wallet.md) — money the bot can reach.
2. Never share a seed phrase with an agent (this page) — master keys offline.
3. [agent-spend-caps.md](./agent-spend-caps.md) — write the numbers.
4. [review-before-place.md](./review-before-place.md) — human gate.
5. [agent-memory.md](./agent-memory.md) + [shared-box.md](./shared-box.md) — secrets out of memory and shared disk.
6. [revoke-before-debug.md](./revoke-before-debug.md) / [rotate-before-raise-balance.md](./rotate-before-raise-balance.md) — leak response.
7. [empty-sleeve-overnight.md](./empty-sleeve-overnight.md) — park cash when idle.

## How to keep seeds away from the agent

1. Keep seeds offline on hardware/cold store.
2. Never paste into agent surfaces (chat, memory, notes, `.env`).
3. Fund only a dedicated spend path.
4. Prefer a signer over a raw key.
5. Harden memory and shared box.
6. If a seed already leaked: move funds → revoke → prune → rotate before raise.

Secrets in chat: [never-paste-api-keys-in-chat.md](./never-paste-api-keys-in-chat.md) — vault or connector grant; never paste API keys, cookies, or broker passwords into the transcript.

## Practical checklist

- No seed in chat, memory, notes, or `.env`.
- Spend path separate — dedicated wallet funded to the ceiling only.
- Memory and shared-box pass — prune secrets.
- Leak response memorized — new wallet → revoke → prune → rotate before raise.

Related: [separate-funding-from-trading-wallet.md](./separate-funding-from-trading-wallet.md), [never-paste-api-keys-in-chat.md](./never-paste-api-keys-in-chat.md), [dedicated-agent-wallet.md](./dedicated-agent-wallet.md), [shield-crypto.md](./shield-crypto.md), [shared-box.md](./shared-box.md), [agent-memory.md](./agent-memory.md), [agent-spend-caps.md](./agent-spend-caps.md), [revoke-before-debug.md](./revoke-before-debug.md), [empty-sleeve-overnight.md](./empty-sleeve-overnight.md), [rotate-before-raise-balance.md](./rotate-before-raise-balance.md), [x402-buyer-basics.md](./x402-buyer-basics.md).

## FAQ

**What does never share a seed phrase with an agent mean?**
Do not paste, upload, or store a seed, recovery phrase, or private key in agent chat, memory, connectors, or shared notes. Fund only a dedicated spend path; long-term holdings stay on hardware the bot cannot export.

**Why is pasting a seed into agent chat the failure mode?**
A seed in chat, memory, screenshot OCR, or shared notes is a key the next prompt or leak can spend. Caps do not undo a key that left cold store.

**Common failure modes?**
Chat paste, memory write, screenshot OCR, shared notes/`.env`, and “just for backup” into the agent’s vault.

**Does a dedicated agent wallet replace this rule?**
No — you need both: a funded spend sleeve the bot may use, and master keys that never enter agent-visible surfaces.

**Where should long-term seeds live?**
Hardware or cold store you approve. Trezor/Ledger links exist on Resources; Agent Lane does not hold keys.

**Already pasted a seed?**
Treat the wallet as compromised. Move funds to a new seed, revoke, prune memory/notes, rotate before raise.

## Sources

- Canonical HTML: https://agentlane.net/guides/never-share-seed-with-agent/
- Related shelf: https://agentlane.net/resources/
- Site index for bots: https://agentlane.net/llms.txt

Some product links on this site may be affiliate links. They help keep these guides free. Details: https://agentlane.net/how-we-make-money/

Contact: agentlane@agentmail.to