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chadixearthchadixearth/graphyloop/skills/secrets-hygiene/SKILL.md

secrets-hygiene

Skill3 starsChanged 11 days agoMITView on GitHub

Use this skill whenever a task needs an API key, database URL, deploy token or any other credential. Covers where credentials live, how to ask for one without putting it in the chat, how to get it into the file the app reads, and what must never be printed or committed.

  • Reads credentials

6 other projects use a version of this.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

6 rules. 0 are common, 4 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 6 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 4

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 2

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  • could be automatic: a setting could enforce it
  1. Very specific:

    Before any commit that touches .env*, config, or CI files.

    line 16
  2. Very specific:

    Ask by NAME, never by paste: If a key is missing, tell the user the exact key name and where to obtain it (e.g.

    line 24
  3. Distinctive:

    No credential in source: No literals, no "temporary" hardcoding, no keys in test files.

    line 45
  4. Distinctive:

    Rotate, do not hide: If a real credential was committed or pasted, say so immediately and tell the user to rotate it.

    line 49
  5. Distinctive:

    Least privilege: Prefer a project-scoped token over an account-wide one.

    line 52
  6. Distinctive:

    Never include a value in the summary, even truncated.

    line 59

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 6 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

Credential handling

A credential in a chat transcript is a leaked credential: transcripts are logged, summarized, and sometimes trained on. A credential in a committed file is worse — it is public and permanent. Both are avoidable with the same short procedure.

When to activate

  • A task needs Supabase keys, a database URL, a Vercel/hosting token, or any API key.
  • A tool call fails with "missing env var" / 401 / "invalid API key".
  • Before any commit that touches .env*, config, or CI files.

Procedure

  1. Check before asking. secrets_status (or graphyloop_secrets_status) reports, per provider, which keys exist, where each comes from (process env, graphyloop store, .env file) and what is missing. It returns masks, never values.
  2. Ask by NAME, never by paste. If a key is missing, tell the user the exact key name and where to obtain it (e.g. SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY from Settings → API). Then store it with secrets_set — it lands in <project>/.graphyloop/secrets.json, chmod 600, git-ignored before the first write. Never ask them to paste it into the conversation.
  3. Materialize it, do not read it. env_sync copies stored values into the env file the framework actually reads (.env.local for Next/Vite), adds the framework public alias for public keys only, and refreshes a values-free .env.example. Values move file-to-file; they never pass through your context.
  4. Verify before using. preflight (target=db|deploy|all) reports blockers and warnings. Clear the blockers first — a missing key found now costs nothing, found at integration it fails late and confusingly.

Hard rules

  • Never print, echo, log or repeat a credential value — not in a report, not in a command you show the user, not in a test fixture, not in a commit message.
  • Public vs secret is not cosmetic. A SUPABASE_ANON_KEY may reach the browser (RLS still applies). A service-role key bypasses RLS entirely: it must never appear in client code, and never behind a NEXT_PUBLIC_* / VITE_* name, because those are inlined into the browser bundle.
  • No credential in source. No literals, no "temporary" hardcoding, no keys in test files. Read from env; fail loudly with the key name when it is absent.
  • .env* must be git-ignored before it has content. If an env file exists and .gitignore does not cover it, fix that before any commit.
  • Rotate, do not hide. If a real credential was committed or pasted, say so immediately and tell the user to rotate it. Deleting the line does not un-leak it — the value stays in git history and in the transcript.
  • Least privilege. Prefer a project-scoped token over an account-wide one; prefer anon + RLS over service-role; use service-role only in server-side code that needs it.

Reporting

Say which keys are present and which are missing, by name, with masks only. Never include a value in the summary, even truncated.

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