What is the "Keys" folder and "key-UUID.xml" file?

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Before I begin - as always, thanks for the great software.

Manager Desktop on Windows 11. I store my Manager business file in a location other than the default AppData location (I doubt this variable matters).

By coincidence I noticed that the custom location noted above has a new “Keys” subfolder and within that folder is a file “key-UUID.xml”. Both the folder and file were created in early May. I update Manager pretty regularly, so I assume it was created around that time as part of a normal code change/release.

The XML file has a bunch of sections/tags (not up on XML lingo, sorry) - creationDate, activationDate, expirationDate, a descriptor section with sub-sections of encryption algorithm, validation algorithm, and a master key value. The expiration date appears to be 90 days after the creationDate/activationDate (both of these are the same).

I guess my questions really boil down to:

  • Is this file super duper important for the purposes of backup/restore/company recovery? Is it somehow related to Windows DPAPI?

  • What happens if my system crashes and I have to reinstall Windows? Can I not use my business file without that key?

  • Are there any new backup considerations for this file? I was able to take a fresh business backup to a different (non-empty) folder and open up the file but for all I know there was DPAPI magic happening to open the file and that wouldn’t work on a separate machine.

  • What’s the deal with the expirationDate? Is each key file “conjoined” to the related business/manager file?

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This is to encrypt cookies. But on desktop edition this is meaningless because desktop edition does not use persistent cookies. In the latest version (25.7.29) I made it so desktop edition does not create Keys folder at all.

On server edition, if you delete this folder, all the users will lose their cookies. This means they will need to log in again, set their language etc. But nothing critical.

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