This article provides the algorithm and instructions on how to use tools.

Every account has 4 keys roles:  owner, active, posting, and memo.  The algorithm used to generate the private key depends upon the the *account*, *role*, and *password*.

**Algorithm** 

     secret = SHA256( account + role + password ) 
     
**C++ Algorithm**

    string seed = account + role + password;
    auto secret = fc::sha256::hash(  seed.c_str(), seed.size() );
    auto key    = fc::ecc::private_key::regenerate( secret );


**Using the CLI wallet**
The command line wallet has a helper api call that will return the public key and private key in WIF format.

    locked >>> get_private_key_from_password username active "password" 
    [
    "STM5SKxjN1YdrFLgoPcp9KteUmNVdgE8DpTPC9sF6jbjVqP9d2Utq",
    "5JamTPvZyQsHf8c2pbN92F1gUY3sJkpW3ZJFzdmfbAJPAXT5aw3"
    ]     

**Note**: The username and keys generated are not validated against the blockchain state and are not saved in your wallet. This CLI api is merely a utility. **STM5SKxjN1YdrFLgoPcp9KteUmNVdgE8DpTPC9sF6jbjVqP9d2Utq** is the public key in Steem format, and  **5JamTPvZyQsHf8c2pbN92F1gUY3sJkpW3ZJFzdmfbAJPAXT5aw3** is the private key in [Bitcoin's Wallet Import Format (WIF)](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_import_format).