get_viewing_key

Fetch your viewing key from the Directory contract

Fetch your viewing key from the Directory genesis contract using signed read authentication.

Signatures

def get_viewing_key(
    w3: Web3,
    encryption: EncryptionState,
    private_key: PrivateKey,
) -> Bytes32

async def async_get_viewing_key(
    w3: AsyncWeb3,
    encryption: EncryptionState,
    private_key: PrivateKey,
) -> Bytes32

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
w3	Web3 / AsyncWeb3	Web3 instance with Seismic support
encryption	EncryptionState	Encryption state from wallet client
private_key	PrivateKey	Signing key for authentication

Returns

Bytes32 — 32-byte AES-256 viewing key.

Raises ValueError if no viewing key is registered for the caller's address.

Example

import os
from seismic_web3 import PrivateKey, SEISMIC_TESTNET
from seismic_web3.src20 import get_viewing_key

pk = PrivateKey.from_hex_str(os.environ["PRIVATE_KEY"])
w3 = SEISMIC_TESTNET.wallet_client(pk)

viewing_key = get_viewing_key(w3, w3.seismic.encryption, pk)
print(f"Viewing key: {viewing_key.hex()}")

Notes

• Uses a signed read (getKey()) so that msg.sender is authenticated — only the key owner can retrieve it

• Typically called internally by watch_src20_events() to fetch the key before polling

See Also

• register_viewing_key — Register a viewing key

• check_has_key — Check if an address has a key (public, no auth)

• watch_src20_events — Calls this internally