Lesson 7: Securing the Door: Settings, Signals, and Proof

You’ve built the door.Now you teach it how to behave.This lesson isn’t about adding more software — it’s about reducing noise until every movement tells you something useful.Ava calls this “the hinge stage”: where you tighten the structure so it moves only when you do.Each toggle, each setting, each pause before a click — that’s not delay.That’s defense engineered into habit.

The Structure Beneath Calm

The new wallet window opens — clean, almost empty.
No coins yet. No noise. Just potential.

Ava watches the cursor hover.
“This,” she says, “is where most people start clicking randomly until it ‘looks right.’
That’s how doors stay half-open.”

She gestures for you to pause.
“We’ll lock it before we use it. Every wallet has settings that decide how it behaves — like hinges, alarms, and keys.”

The Local Password

The wallet asks for one last step: set a password.
“This protects the device, not the blockchain,” Ava explains.
“If someone steals your laptop, this is what stops them from walking straight through your wallet.”

You type a strong phrase — long, personal, never reused.
She nods. “Length is strength. Complexity helps, but randomness lasts.”

Then she points to Auto-Lock.
“Set it to five minutes.
Not because you plan to forget — but because you will.”

You toggle it on.
Ava smiles slightly. “That timer is your safety net on bad days — tired, distracted, rushed. Everyone has them.”

Rabby — The Transparent Door

You open Rabby, its dashboard simple and deliberate.
Ava steps closer.
“Rabby is built for people who want to see what’s about to happen before it does,” she says.

She moves your cursor to two toggles and switches them on:

Pre-Sign Simulation → “Shows you the result before you confirm a transaction.
You see what’s about to move, what it’ll cost, and where it’s going.”

Approval Warnings → “Tells you when you’re giving a contract permission to move your tokens.
You don’t want to find that out afterward.”

“These two keep your hands visible,” she adds. “You’ll never have to guess what you just signed.”

You test it once — the interface flashes a preview before letting you confirm.
Ava nods. “That pause before signing? That’s the sound of protection.”

MetaMask — The Classic Door

You switch to MetaMask for comparison.
The small fox icon blinks, curious.

“MetaMask is the veteran,” Ava says. “Everyone builds for it, but you have to tune it yourself.”

In Settings → Advanced, she has you enable:

Advanced Gas Controls → “So you know what you’re paying. Gas isn’t just a fee — it’s the heartbeat of the chain. Learn its rhythm early.”

Expanded Transaction Prompts → “Never sign blind. Every extra line of text is context.”

She leans back. “When something hides details, assume they matter.”

Proving the Lock

“Now,” Ava says, “prove the door shuts.”

You lock the wallet manually.
Then you unlock it.
You repeat the motion — once, twice — until it feels natural.

“Muscle memory saves you when adrenaline hits,” she says.
“When things move fast — prices, trades, alerts — you want this to be instinct.
Locking is control. Unlocking is intent.”

The clicks feel rhythmic now — crisp, deliberate.

Isolation — One Wallet, One Space

Ava glances at your browser bar, noticing the temptation to open another extension.
“One wallet per profile,” she says firmly.
“No overlap. No shortcuts.”

You hesitate, and she explains:
“When multiple wallets live in the same browser, each can read what the others see.
That’s how mistakes happen — wrong account, wrong network, wrong approval.
Keep them separate, and each wallet stays honest.”

She writes a small equation on her notepad:
Clarity > Convenience. Always.

Then, quieter: “You’ll never regret the seconds you spent keeping things clean.”

The Reflection

You lean back. The dashboard glows faintly — not empty anymore, but secure.
Every toggle means something now.

Ava watches you absorb the silence.
“That’s what safety feels like here,” she says. “Not fear.
Just structure — calm enough to make mistakes small, deliberate enough to learn fast.”

Your First Transaction: Motion With Proof

Ava closes the settings tab and studies the faint reflection on your screen.
“The door’s ready,” she says. “Now we open it — once, on purpose.”
She places a new yellow note beside your keyboard: Plan → Act → Verify → Close.
“This is the first real step into the network,” she adds. “Not simulation, not theory — just proof that calm moves faster than impulse.”
She meets your eyes.
“Let’s make something small, deliberate, and real.”