{
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  "schemaVersion": "1.0.0",
  "id": "smart-account-recovery",
  "canonical": "https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/smart-account-recovery/",
  "collection": "ethereum",
  "title": "Smart-account recovery: replacing access without a seed phrase",
  "description": "Understand preconfigured smart-account recovery through guardians or delayed signer replacement, including the authority and monitoring trade-offs.",
  "aliases": [],
  "dates": {
    "published": "2026-10-02",
    "modified": "2026-10-02",
    "verified": "2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z",
    "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02"
  },
  "authorship": {
    "publisher": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project",
    "process": "AI-assisted research and drafting with a separate automated source-verification pass; no external expert or named human review is implied."
  },
  "quickAnswer": {
    "text": "Smart-account recovery uses an account’s configured rules to restore control, often by replacing signers through guardians or a delayed recovery process. It must be supported and set up by that account design. It does not reconstruct a lost private key, and recovery authorities introduce their own security and availability assumptions.",
    "claimId": "smart-account-recovery-quick-answer",
    "sourceIds": [
      "safe-recovery",
      "eip4337"
    ]
  },
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "Preparation",
      "value": "The cited Safe recovery design requires setup before signer access is lost.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "id": "preparation",
      "claimId": "smart-account-recovery-fact-preparation"
    },
    {
      "label": "Mechanism",
      "value": "A recoverer proposes signer or threshold changes through the configured process.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "id": "mechanism",
      "claimId": "smart-account-recovery-fact-mechanism"
    },
    {
      "label": "Delay",
      "value": "The cited Safe design lets current signers reject recovery only if they can meet the signer threshold.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "id": "delay",
      "claimId": "smart-account-recovery-fact-delay"
    }
  ],
  "prerequisites": [
    "ethereum-smart-accounts"
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "example",
      "heading": "Replace authority rather than recover a secret",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "The cited Safe RecoveryHub documentation describes a recoverer proposing new signers and a threshold. After the waiting period, any account can execute the proposal while it remains valid. The old signer’s private key need not be recreated.",
        "This is an example of a specific module-based design, not a feature automatically available on every smart account. The document includes historical interface details; actual deployed settings must be inspected."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "tradeoff",
      "heading": "The recovery path is also an authorization path",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "A recoverer capable of replacing signers has meaningful power. In the cited Safe design, rejecting a proposal requires the current signer threshold. A remaining signer below that threshold cannot cancel alone, so monitoring and a delay do not by themselves guarantee a veto.",
        "Using several independent recovery participants can change availability and trust assumptions. It does not remove them, and losing all recovery access can still leave the account inaccessible."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "check",
      "heading": "Record the actual recovery configuration",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "Identify the enabled module, recoverer accounts, threshold, delay, expiration and who can cancel or execute a proposal. Test that the participants understand the process before relying on it.",
        "Recovery cannot generally be added after all currently authorized routes have been lost. An educational description is not evidence that your particular account already has a working recovery path."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "Can social recovery retrieve the private key of an ordinary account?",
      "answer": "No. The mechanism described here changes authorization in a configured smart account. It does not derive a missing private key from a public address.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "safe-recovery",
        "eth-accounts"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "smart-account-recovery-quick-answer",
      "articleSlug": "smart-account-recovery",
      "statement": "Smart-account recovery uses an account’s configured rules to restore control, often by replacing signers through guardians or a delayed recovery process. It must be supported and set up by that account design. It does not reconstruct a lost private key, and recovery authorities introduce their own security and availability assumptions.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-15e4e64134381ae1",
        "source-0bc8df50fb6b85e4"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-15e4e64134381ae1",
          "locator": "What are Recoverers?; Two-step recovery execution; How to set up the account recovery"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-0bc8df50fb6b85e4",
          "locator": "Specification; Bundlers; Paymasters; Security Considerations"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "ethereum",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z",
        "reviewer": "Codex independent automated reviewer /root/verify_ethereum_100",
        "notes": [
          "Read Safe Custom recovery setup, recoverer ability to replace signers/threshold, required current signer threshold for rejection, any-account delayed execution and configured expiry.",
          "Corrected key fact and risk paragraph to make the threshold veto explicit, and specified any-account execution after delay while valid. Historical Safe interface details are not presented as universal current settings; no private-key reconstruction is claimed."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "smart-account-recovery-fact-preparation",
      "articleSlug": "smart-account-recovery",
      "statement": "Preparation: The cited Safe recovery design requires setup before signer access is lost.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-15e4e64134381ae1"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-15e4e64134381ae1",
          "locator": "What are Recoverers?; Two-step recovery execution; How to set up the account recovery"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "ethereum",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z",
        "reviewer": "Codex independent automated reviewer /root/verify_ethereum_100",
        "notes": [
          "Read Safe Custom recovery setup, recoverer ability to replace signers/threshold, required current signer threshold for rejection, any-account delayed execution and configured expiry.",
          "Corrected key fact and risk paragraph to make the threshold veto explicit, and specified any-account execution after delay while valid. Historical Safe interface details are not presented as universal current settings; no private-key reconstruction is claimed."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "smart-account-recovery-fact-mechanism",
      "articleSlug": "smart-account-recovery",
      "statement": "Mechanism: A recoverer proposes signer or threshold changes through the configured process.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-15e4e64134381ae1"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-15e4e64134381ae1",
          "locator": "What are Recoverers?; Two-step recovery execution; How to set up the account recovery"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "ethereum",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z",
        "reviewer": "Codex independent automated reviewer /root/verify_ethereum_100",
        "notes": [
          "Read Safe Custom recovery setup, recoverer ability to replace signers/threshold, required current signer threshold for rejection, any-account delayed execution and configured expiry.",
          "Corrected key fact and risk paragraph to make the threshold veto explicit, and specified any-account execution after delay while valid. Historical Safe interface details are not presented as universal current settings; no private-key reconstruction is claimed."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "smart-account-recovery-fact-delay",
      "articleSlug": "smart-account-recovery",
      "statement": "Delay: The cited Safe design lets current signers reject recovery only if they can meet the signer threshold.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-15e4e64134381ae1"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-15e4e64134381ae1",
          "locator": "What are Recoverers?; Two-step recovery execution; How to set up the account recovery"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "ethereum",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
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        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z",
        "reviewer": "Codex independent automated reviewer /root/verify_ethereum_100",
        "notes": [
          "Read Safe Custom recovery setup, recoverer ability to replace signers/threshold, required current signer threshold for rejection, any-account delayed execution and configured expiry.",
          "Corrected key fact and risk paragraph to make the threshold veto explicit, and specified any-account execution after delay while valid. Historical Safe interface details are not presented as universal current settings; no private-key reconstruction is claimed."
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "safe-recovery",
      "label": "Recovery with Safe",
      "publisher": "Safe",
      "url": "https://help.safe.global/articles/9622260218-account-recovery-with-saferecoveryhub",
      "locator": "What are Recoverers?; Two-step recovery execution; How to set up the account recovery",
      "note": "Recovery arrangements depend on the wallet’s configured authorization mechanism.",
      "version": null,
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T17:21:47.385Z",
      "contentSha256": "6432d936869a4fc99d8bb51eabbc50d40c76baa02eaf4f3bb85b525868b9691d",
      "recordId": "source-15e4e64134381ae1"
    },
    {
      "id": "eip4337",
      "label": "Account Abstraction Using Alt Mempool",
      "publisher": "Ethereum Improvement Proposals",
      "url": "https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4337",
      "locator": "Specification; Bundlers; Paymasters; Security Considerations",
      "note": "User operations, bundler transaction submission and paymaster validation.",
      "version": "EIP/ERC-4337; retrieved document hash recorded",
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T17:03:42.486Z",
      "contentSha256": "ba69db925f98b811c8b73915af67c25fa70fc8d5d8c8f2c4166ab376e0fcb115",
      "recordId": "source-0bc8df50fb6b85e4"
    },
    {
      "id": "eth-accounts",
      "label": "Ethereum accounts",
      "publisher": "ethereum.org contributors",
      "url": "https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/accounts/",
      "locator": "Account types; An account examined; Account creation",
      "note": "Key-controlled and code-controlled accounts, balances, nonces and storage.",
      "version": null,
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T17:03:41.958Z",
      "contentSha256": "262a5694899ae6f774aacae66b13d6929b658ecc9e23c276af9e23ee9455f034",
      "recordId": "source-2fb64d6fc5cedb00"
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  ],
  "related": {
    "articles": [
      "ethereum-accounts",
      "contract-proxies",
      "protocol-upgrades-and-admin-powers"
    ],
    "dossiers": [],
    "wallets": []
  },
  "revisionHistory": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-02",
      "kind": "published",
      "summary": "First publication after primary-source research and independent automated verification."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Smart-account recovery: replacing access without a seed phrase.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/smart-account-recovery/"
}