{
  "id": "rc1-recover-metamask",
  "title": "The Recovery",
  "context": {
    "wallet": "MetaMask extension",
    "platform": "Chrome extension",
    "network": "mainnet",
    "settings": "defaults",
    "version": "web/5.157.3",
    "observed": "2026-08-31",
    "captures": [
      {
        "run": "20260831-213515-recover-metamask",
        "note": "live recovery capture — fresh device, re-imported the throwaway SRP under mitmproxy, then recorded the re-sync. 289 decrypted requests / 48 hosts. Nothing signed or sent. PROVES the seed stayed local: 0 seed bytes appeared in any request body."
      }
    ]
  },
  "_comment": "What happens when the device is gone — or when YOU are gone (the call's 'what if you vanish from the face of the earth?'). This maps the honest core: restoring a self-custody wallet on a new device. The good news is stark and real — the recovery act itself is LOCAL and private: you re-enter your Secret Recovery Phrase, the key is re-derived on the device, and it never touches the network. Zero third parties. But that is the ONLY self-sovereign recovery, and it has no safety net: lose the phrase and the funds are gone forever — there is no protocol-level recovery-from-loss and no protocol-level inheritance. Every EASIER option hands the recovery switch to someone else: social recovery needs guardians plus a relay service; a cloud backup puts an (encrypted) key share behind Google or Apple, who become the gate to your funds; a custodian 'recovers' you by re-running KYC because they hold the keys. And even the private path re-exposes you: the moment your restored wallet re-syncs, the RPC (Infura) links your addresses to a new device and IP again. Provenance: code / reference, NOT live-captured — the install + RPC legs re-use infrastructure observed on other maps; on the Evidence validation queue.",
  "steps": [
    {
      "id": "reinstall-wallet",
      "phase": "discover",
      "name": "Google Web Store · re-install the wallet",
      "host": "clients2.google.com",
      "actor": "google",
      "purpose": "Recovery starts by re-installing the wallet code on the new device",
      "need": "T",
      "carries": [
        "ip",
        "wallet_version"
      ],
      "returns": "the wallet code — which you must trust before typing your phrase into it",
      "can_block": true,
      "on_failure": "blocks",
      "failure_note": "no store access → no wallet to recover into",
      "worst_lie": {
        "outcome": "wrong_code",
        "note": "a malicious build is where your recovery phrase would be stolen the instant you type it — recovery re-runs the same code-trust as a fresh install"
      },
      "removable_by": "none",
      "provenance": {
        "status": "code",
        "ref": "same code-distribution gate as every other map (Web Store install); the recovery path re-uses it"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "enter-seed",
      "phase": "construct",
      "name": "Enter your Secret Recovery Phrase · local",
      "host": "(on device)",
      "actor": "self",
      "purpose": "You type your 12/24 words; the key is re-derived on the device and never sent",
      "need": "C",
      "carries": [
        "selected_address"
      ],
      "births": [
        "selected_address"
      ],
      "returns": "your wallet, rebuilt — with no third party involved",
      "can_block": false,
      "on_failure": "silent",
      "worst_lie": {
        "outcome": "none",
        "note": "nothing leaves the device here; the phrase re-derives the key locally"
      },
      "removable_by": "none",
      "provenance": {
        "status": "observed",
        "ref": "20260831-213515-recover-metamask — CONFIRMED local: across 289 decrypted requests, 0 seed words appeared in any body. The phrase re-derives the key on-device with no network call."
      },
      "notes": "The one self-sovereign recovery, and its whole catch. It works only if you still have the phrase. Lose it and the funds are gone — there is no reset. If YOU vanish, no one recovers these funds without this phrase: there is no protocol-level inheritance, and a custodian would demand probate. The easier alternatives all add a third party: guardians + a recovery service (social recovery), or an encrypted key share behind Google/Apple (cloud backup), or a custodian who holds the keys and re-KYCs you."
    },
    {
      "id": "recover-rpc-resync",
      "phase": "discover",
      "name": "Infura · multichain re-sync (12 chains)",
      "host": "mainnet.infura.io",
      "actor": "infura",
      "purpose": "The restored wallet re-queries the RPC for balances/nonce — and does it across a dozen chains, not just Ethereum",
      "need": "R",
      "carries": [
        "ip",
        "selected_address"
      ],
      "returns": "your balances — and, to the RPC, a fresh link from your addresses to a new device + IP, on every chain",
      "can_block": true,
      "on_failure": "degrade",
      "worst_lie": {
        "outcome": "false_belief",
        "note": "the RPC can show wrong balances on restore, e.g. hiding funds so you think recovery failed"
      },
      "removable_by": "custom_rpc",
      "provenance": {
        "status": "observed",
        "ref": "20260831-213515-recover-metamask — mainnet.infura.io (21) plus tron/solana/bitcoin/linea/polygon/arbitrum/optimism/base/bsc/monad-mainnet.infura.io. One RPC provider sees your addresses across ~12 chains on restore."
      },
      "notes": "Bigger than the code-traced map assumed: recovery fans out to ~12 Infura chain endpoints at once (Tron, Solana, Bitcoin included), so a single provider re-links these addresses to you on a new machine across every chain, the instant the wallet reconnects.",
      "fixed_by": [
        "private-rpc",
        "verifiable-rpc"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "recover-token-resync",
      "phase": "background",
      "name": "MetaMask APIs · re-discover tokens, positions, prices",
      "host": "accounts.api.cx.metamask.io",
      "actor": "consensys-apis",
      "purpose": "The wallet re-fetches your token list, positions and prices to rebuild the portfolio view",
      "need": "T",
      "carries": [
        "ip",
        "selected_address",
        "holdings"
      ],
      "returns": "your portfolio view, rebuilt",
      "can_block": false,
      "on_failure": "degrade",
      "worst_lie": {
        "outcome": "false_belief"
      },
      "removable_by": "basic_functionality_off",
      "provenance": {
        "status": "observed",
        "ref": "20260831-213515-recover-metamask — accounts.api / token.api / tokens.api / price.api.cx.metamask.io re-query your holdings on restore (several carry an authorization header)"
      },
      "notes": "The recovered wallet re-broadcasts what you hold to the wallet backend, exactly as a fresh unlock does."
    },
    {
      "id": "recover-profile-sync",
      "phase": "background",
      "name": "MetaMask · re-authenticate + profile sync",
      "host": "authentication.api.cx.metamask.io",
      "actor": "consensys-apis",
      "purpose": "On restore the wallet signs back in to MetaMask's backend and pulls your synced profile",
      "need": "T",
      "carries": [
        "ip",
        "auth_token",
        "all_addresses"
      ],
      "returns": "a session token and your cloud-synced profile — re-linking this new device to your MetaMask identity",
      "can_block": false,
      "on_failure": "degrade",
      "worst_lie": {
        "outcome": "false_belief"
      },
      "removable_by": "basic_functionality_off",
      "provenance": {
        "status": "observed",
        "ref": "20260831-213515-recover-metamask — authentication.api.cx.metamask.io (GET/POST/PUT) + user-storage.api.cx.metamask.io, both with authorization headers; also notification/subscription/rewards APIs"
      },
      "notes": "A finding the code-traced map missed entirely: recovery isn't just keys + balances. MetaMask re-authenticates you to its own backend and restores a CLOUD-SYNCED PROFILE (user-storage), so 'self-custody' recovery still re-attaches your new device to a MetaMask account identity with a durable auth token."
    }
  ]
}