# Connection Keys ## The Connection Key A **connection key** is what you need to connect to someone with Holesail. The QR code has connection key stored in it for easy sharing. Connection keys are automatically generated but you can specify custom connection keys. They should be at least 32 chars long for security purpose but you can override that with the --force flag. ### The Key and Keypair Custom Keys act as a **seed** for generating a Keypair. This keypair is used to announce yourself on the peer-to-peer network and for authentication. The keypair has a public key and a private key. We announce the public key on the network and that is what becomes your address, other peers will find you through this public key. Private key on the other hand is a method for authentication. More on public and private keys in the next section. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.holesail.io/terminology/connection-keys.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.