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Secrets

docs/cli/secrets.md

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openclaw secrets

Use openclaw secrets to manage SecretRefs and keep the active runtime snapshot healthy.

Command roles:

  • reload: gateway RPC (secrets.reload) that re-resolves refs and swaps runtime snapshot only on full success (no config writes).
  • audit: read-only scan of configuration/auth/generated-model stores and legacy residues for plaintext, unresolved refs, and precedence drift (exec refs are skipped unless --allow-exec is set).
  • configure: interactive planner for provider setup, target mapping, and preflight (TTY required).
  • apply: execute a saved plan (--dry-run for validation only; dry-run skips exec checks by default, and write mode rejects exec-containing plans unless --allow-exec is set), then scrub targeted plaintext residues.

Recommended operator loop:

bash
openclaw secrets audit --check
openclaw secrets configure
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json --dry-run
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json
openclaw secrets audit --check
openclaw secrets reload

If your plan includes exec SecretRefs/providers, pass --allow-exec on both dry-run and write apply commands.

Exit code note for CI/gates:

  • audit --check returns 1 on findings.
  • unresolved refs return 2.

Related:

Reload runtime snapshot

Re-resolve secret refs and atomically swap runtime snapshot.

bash
openclaw secrets reload
openclaw secrets reload --json
openclaw secrets reload --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789 --token <token>

Notes:

  • Uses gateway RPC method secrets.reload.
  • If resolution fails, gateway keeps last-known-good snapshot and returns an error (no partial activation).
  • JSON response includes warningCount.

Options:

  • --url <url>
  • --token <token>
  • --timeout <ms>
  • --json

Audit

Scan OpenClaw state for:

  • plaintext secret storage
  • unresolved refs
  • precedence drift (auth-profiles.json credentials shadowing openclaw.json refs)
  • generated agents/*/agent/models.json residues (provider apiKey values and sensitive provider headers)
  • legacy residues (legacy auth store entries, OAuth reminders)

Header residue note:

  • Sensitive provider header detection is name-heuristic based (common auth/credential header names and fragments such as authorization, x-api-key, token, secret, password, and credential).
bash
openclaw secrets audit
openclaw secrets audit --check
openclaw secrets audit --json
openclaw secrets audit --allow-exec

Exit behavior:

  • --check exits non-zero on findings.
  • unresolved refs exit with higher-priority non-zero code.

Report shape highlights:

  • status: clean | findings | unresolved
  • resolution: refsChecked, skippedExecRefs, resolvabilityComplete
  • summary: plaintextCount, unresolvedRefCount, shadowedRefCount, legacyResidueCount
  • finding codes:
    • PLAINTEXT_FOUND
    • REF_UNRESOLVED
    • REF_SHADOWED
    • LEGACY_RESIDUE

Configure (interactive helper)

Build provider and SecretRef changes interactively, run preflight, and optionally apply:

bash
openclaw secrets configure
openclaw secrets configure --plan-out /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json
openclaw secrets configure --apply --yes
openclaw secrets configure --providers-only
openclaw secrets configure --skip-provider-setup
openclaw secrets configure --agent ops
openclaw secrets configure --json

Flow:

  • Provider setup first (add/edit/remove for secrets.providers aliases).
  • Credential mapping second (select fields and assign {source, provider, id} refs).
  • Preflight and optional apply last.

Flags:

  • --providers-only: configure secrets.providers only, skip credential mapping.
  • --skip-provider-setup: skip provider setup and map credentials to existing providers.
  • --agent <id>: scope auth-profiles.json target discovery and writes to one agent store.
  • --allow-exec: allow exec SecretRef checks during preflight/apply (may execute provider commands).

Notes:

  • Requires an interactive TTY.
  • You cannot combine --providers-only with --skip-provider-setup.
  • configure targets secret-bearing fields in openclaw.json plus auth-profiles.json for the selected agent scope.
  • configure supports creating new auth-profiles.json mappings directly in the picker flow.
  • Canonical supported surface: SecretRef Credential Surface.
  • It performs preflight resolution before apply.
  • If preflight/apply includes exec refs, keep --allow-exec set for both steps.
  • Generated plans default to scrub options (scrubEnv, scrubAuthProfilesForProviderTargets, scrubLegacyAuthJson all enabled).
  • Apply path is one-way for scrubbed plaintext values.
  • Without --apply, CLI still prompts Apply this plan now? after preflight.
  • With --apply (and no --yes), CLI prompts an extra irreversible confirmation.
  • --json prints the plan + preflight report, but the command still requires an interactive TTY.

Exec provider safety note:

  • Homebrew installs often expose symlinked binaries under /opt/homebrew/bin/*.
  • Set allowSymlinkCommand: true only when needed for trusted package-manager paths, and pair it with trustedDirs (for example ["/opt/homebrew"]).
  • On Windows, if ACL verification is unavailable for a provider path, OpenClaw fails closed. For trusted paths only, set allowInsecurePath: true on that provider to bypass path security checks.

Apply a saved plan

Apply or preflight a plan generated previously:

bash
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json --allow-exec
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json --dry-run
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json --dry-run --allow-exec
openclaw secrets apply --from /tmp/openclaw-secrets-plan.json --json

Exec behavior:

  • --dry-run validates preflight without writing files.
  • exec SecretRef checks are skipped by default in dry-run.
  • write mode rejects plans that contain exec SecretRefs/providers unless --allow-exec is set.
  • Use --allow-exec to opt in to exec provider checks/execution in either mode.

Plan contract details (allowed target paths, validation rules, and failure semantics):

What apply may update:

  • openclaw.json (SecretRef targets + provider upserts/deletes)
  • auth-profiles.json (provider-target scrubbing)
  • legacy auth.json residues
  • ~/.openclaw/.env known secret keys whose values were migrated

Why no rollback backups

secrets apply intentionally does not write rollback backups containing old plaintext values.

Safety comes from strict preflight + atomic-ish apply with best-effort in-memory restore on failure.

Example

bash
openclaw secrets audit --check
openclaw secrets configure
openclaw secrets audit --check

If audit --check still reports plaintext findings, update the remaining reported target paths and rerun audit.