> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://shinkalabs.gitbook.io/hub/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://shinkalabs.gitbook.io/hub/andromeda/security/key-management.md).

# Key management

Andromeda never stores the private material for the keys it uses to sign things on its own behalf. Those keys live in a key management service (KMS) with sign-only policies; Andromeda calls the KMS's sign operation and never reads the key.

## The keys

There are two of them, kept separate:

* **Audit-log signing key (ed25519).** Signs each entry in a tenant's [audit log](/hub/andromeda/guides/audit-log.md) hash chain. The corresponding public key is published so anyone can verify the log without trusting Andromeda.
* **FHE-decision authority key (ed25519).** Signs the confidential decisions that the on-chain [`fhe-gated`](/hub/andromeda/guides/deploy-policy/fhe-gated.md) policy validates. The policy holds an allowlist of accepted decision keys on-chain; a decision signed by anything else is rejected.

Each key has its own sign-only policy in the KMS and its own access credential, so the audit path and the FHE path are isolated from each other.

## What Andromeda holds outside the KMS

* The **gas-sponsor keypair**, used to pay Solana fees and act as fee payer on transactions Andromeda assembles for the flows it controls. It is never an authority over a dWallet and never the "user" from an on-chain program's point of view. See [Custody-free design](/hub/andromeda/security/custody-free.md).
* **API keys**, stored only as SHA-256 hashes; the raw key is shown once at creation.

## What Andromeda never holds

* A complete dWallet private key (Ika 2PC-MPC splits it).
* The private material of the two KMS-held keys above.
* Any private key for the Encrypt surface (those transactions are signed client-side).

## Why the design

* A compromise of the API does not yield the audit-signing key, so a tampered log is still detectable.
* A compromise of the API does not yield the FHE-decision key, so a forged decision still fails the on-chain check.
* The gas-sponsor key, even if it leaked, cannot move user funds or override a policy; it can only pay fees.

The KMS configuration itself (policies, credentials, rotation) is an operational concern and is not part of this documentation.


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