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+
+# Operational Security & Migration Workflows
+
+## 1. Migration Strategy: 12-Word to 24-Word
+Clarinet does not offer a "compatibility mode" for legacy 12-word wallets. If your deployment funds are in a 12-word wallet, you must perform a key rotation.
+
+### The Migration Workflow
+1.  **Generate Identity:** Use a secure, offline-capable tool (like `bip39-cli` or a hardware wallet) to generate a new 24-word mnemonic.
+2.  **Derive Address:** Identify the public Stacks (SP...) address associated with this new seed.
+3.  **Fund Transfer:** Execute an on-chain transfer of STX from the old 12-word wallet to the new 24-word wallet.
+4.  **Reconfigure:** Update `settings/Mainnet.toml` with the new mnemonic.
+
+> **Warning:** This effectively forces a rotation of keys. Ensure you update any hardcoded references to the deployer address in your dApps or off-chain indexers.
+
+## 2. CI/CD Pipeline Security
+Automated deployments (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) present specific challenges because there is no human to enter a password for encrypted mnemonics.
+
+
+
+### Best Practices for CI/CD
+1.  **Environment Variables:** Store the 24-word mnemonic as a **Secret** in your CI platform (e.g., `STACKS_DEPLOYER_MNEMONIC`).
+2.  **Dynamic Injection:** Use a build script to inject the secret into `settings/Mainnet.toml` at runtime.
+3.  **Quoting:** You must handle the spaces in the mnemonic carefully.
+
+**Example Injection Pattern:**
+```bash
+# Ensure the mnemonic is quoted to treat spaces as a single string
+sed -i "s|DEPLOYER_MNEMONIC_PLACEHOLDER|$STACKS_DEPLOYER_MNEMONIC|g" settings/Mainnet.toml
+```
+
+3. Local Development Security: Encryption
+For local development, especially on machines that might be shared or physically accessible, never store plaintext mnemonics.
+
+Using Clarinet Encryption (v3.11+):
+
+Run the encryption command:
+
+```bash
+
+clarinet deployments encrypt
+```
+Enter your 24-word phrase and a strong password.
+
+Clarinet will return a ciphertext (e.g., U2FsdGVkX1...).
+
+Replace mnemonic with encrypted_mnemonic in your config.
+
+Runtime Behavior: When you run clarinet deployments apply, the CLI will detect the encrypted field and pause execution to request the password via stdin. This adds a layer of Multi-Factor Authentication (Something you have + Something you know).
+
+4. Hardware Wallet Integration
+For high-value contract deployments, the gold standard is offline signing.
+
+While Clarinet requires a mnemonic for automation, you can decouple the Build and Sign steps:
+
+Use Clarinet to generate the raw transaction payload.
+
+Transfer the payload to an air-gapped machine or use stacks.js to sign it with a hardware wallet (Ledger/Trezor).
+
+Broadcast the signed transaction separately.
+
+This method avoids ever exposing the mnemonic to the development machine's file system, essentially bypassing the settings.toml risk entirely.