secrets-engine/README.md
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Add value-safe verification and audit reporting
Assistant: codex
Assistant-Model: gpt-5.6-sol
Assistant-Session: 01a0217e-8c4c-7383-be6b-f50a6e485306
2026-08-23 12:33:38 +02:00

3.3 KiB

secrets-engine

Headless, multi-application, multi-tenant secrets workflow and automation layer for approved secret custody, delivery, and lifecycle work across build, test, and production stages.

OpenBao remains the custody and enforcement backend. secrets-engine owns the operator and agent interaction model: catalog, decision checks, plan/apply, guarded provisioning, verification, delivery, evidence, lifecycle metadata, and native-access deactivation. Local evidence can be inspected through an allowlisted per-lane audit summary without exposing record detail.

Start Here

Core Direction

The MVP proves the whynot-design-npm-publish lane end to end:

  1. describe the lane in a non-secret catalog (catalog/);
  2. verify an approved decision (State Hub or local fixture);
  3. apply OpenBao policy/auth metadata through a stage-aware role;
  4. provision and verify the value without printing it;
  5. run a workload command through safe exec-time delivery.

Target command shape:

secrets-engine exec --catalog whynot-design-npm-publish -- npm publish

Quickstart

uv venv && uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
source .venv/bin/activate
secrets-engine catalog list

# Run the whole pilot chain live against a throwaway OpenBao dev server:
SECRETS_ENGINE_HUB_URL="" bash scripts/demo-e2e.sh

The implementation is a Python package (src/secrets_engine/). OpenBao is reached only through the bao CLI adapter (openbao.py); the rest of the code speaks in lanes and guarded plans.

Security Rules

  • Do not put raw secret values in Git, State Hub, chat, prompts, issue comments, workplans, or normal logs.
  • OpenBao is the backend custody and audit authority.
  • Build, test, and production have separate policy boundaries.
  • Production actions require approved decisions except explicit break-glass flows.
  • Temporary bootstrap OpenBao credentials must live outside repos, use mode 0600, be revocable, and be removed after narrower auth is working.