Passkeys and your recovery code: how signing in works

Rootsgen doesn't use passwords or email addresses to sign you in. Instead, your account is protected by a passkey - a credential tied to your device (or your password manager) that proves it's you without you ever typing or remembering a secret.

What a passkey actually is

When you register or add a passkey, your device creates a private key that never leaves it, and gives Rootsgen only the matching public half. Signing in just proves your device still holds that private key - unlocked the same way you already unlock your phone or computer (fingerprint, face, screen-lock PIN, or a physical security key). Nobody, including Rootsgen, can see or intercept a fingerprint or password from this - the browser and your device handle it entirely, and Rootsgen never learns what unlocked it, only that it succeeded.

Adding a passkey for another device

A passkey you create on your phone doesn't automatically work on your laptop, unless both are signed into the same password manager (Chrome/Google Password Manager, Windows Hello with a Microsoft account, iCloud Keychain, Bitwarden, 1Password, and others all support this, each in its own way) - so most people end up with a separate passkey per device, which is completely normal and expected. There are two ways to add one, depending on where you're starting from.

If you're already using the new device

Sign in there directly - if it has no passkey yet, its own Sign In screen will say so. Instead, go to Preferences → Passkeys on a device that already works, and use the linking method below with the new device sitting right in front of you.

Linking a new device (the normal way to do this)

This is the one to use for a phone, tablet or second computer that doesn't have a passkey yet, while you still have a working one somewhere else - it's quicker than it sounds, and doesn't touch your recovery code or sign you out anywhere.

1. On a device you're already signed into, go to Preferences → Passkeys and choose Add a passkey for another device…. You'll be shown a short code, like 7F3K-9QXR.
2. ⏱ Within 10 minutes - the code stops working after that, and a fresh one is easy to generate if you run out of time - on the new device, open Sign In and choose Have a code from another device?. Type the code in (no username needed - the code alone identifies your account).
3. Follow your new device's own prompt (fingerprint, face, PIN or security key) to create its passkey. You're signed in on it immediately, no separate second step.
4. Back on the first device, Preferences → Passkeys updates on its own within a few seconds to show the new device in your list - you don't need to refresh the page or do anything else there.

The code is single-use - once redeemed, typing it again anywhere else does nothing. If it expires before you get to step 2, just generate a fresh one; nothing is lost.

Your full list of passkeys (Preferences → Passkeys) shows every device you've added, with a name and the date, so you can tell them apart and remove one you no longer use (lost or replaced hardware, for instance).

Your recovery code

Shown once, straight after you first register (and again any time you use it, or generate a fresh one from Preferences). It's the one thing you must save somewhere safe, alongside your username - a password manager, or written down securely.

If you ever lose access to every device with a passkey on it, choose Lost access? on the sign-in page, enter your username and recovery code, and you'll be asked to register a brand new passkey on whatever device you have in front of you right then. A fresh recovery code is issued at the same time, since the old one is single-use - the one you just used can never work again.

If you lose your recovery code too, with no working passkey left, there is no automatic way back in - this is a deliberate trade-off for not holding an email address or password that could otherwise be used to prove who you are. Contact admin@rootsgen.net directly and describe your situation; genuine cases are handled individually.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a password manager? No - your device's own built-in passkey support (Windows Hello, iCloud Keychain/Face ID/Touch ID, Android's fingerprint/face unlock) is enough on its own. A password manager only helps if you want the same passkey to work across several unrelated devices without adding it separately on each one.

What happens if I lose my phone? If you still have another device signed in, just remove the lost phone's passkey from Preferences → Passkeys - nothing else to do. If the phone was your ONLY device with a passkey and you don't use a syncing password manager, use your recovery code instead (see above) to register a new passkey on whatever device you have.

Is a passkey less secure than a password? The opposite - a passkey can't be phished, guessed, or reused from a data breach elsewhere, because there's no shared secret to steal in the first place.