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openclaw/docs/cli/secrets.md
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Vincent Koc fd1662f49c fix(cli): retire invalid secret flags and prove doctor recovery (#118926)
* test(qa): add doctor CLI recovery coverage

* test(qa): secure doctor exec SecretRef proof

* test(qa): gate doctor systemd recovery proof

* test(qa): normalize doctor terminal output

* test(qa): close doctor probe sockets

* test(qa): classify doctor probe as foreign

* test(qa): track doctor probe sockets

* test(qa): retain doctor instance narrowing

* test(qa): preserve observed doctor recovery proof

* test(qa): keep doctor recovery on stable dist

* test(qa): honor Windows exec ACL blocking

* test(qa): use canonical home for systemd recovery

* test(qa): follow bounded gateway recovery

* test(qa): accept lifecycle service label

* test(qa): align doctor recovery contract

Punchcard-Session: crisp-lantern-orchard-nv

* docs(secrets): remove retired provider bypasses

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* test(qa): isolate doctor recovery target

Punchcard-Session: crisp-lantern-orchard-nv

* fix(cli): retire invalid secret provider flags

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* test(qa): isolate doctor supervisor mode

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* fix(plugins): remove dead secret path bypass

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* chore: drop release-owned changelog entry

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* test(qa): isolate doctor sudo scope

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* fix(secrets): remove dead path bypass

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* test(qa): isolate systemd user bus

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2026-08-05 11:20:23 +08:00

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Markdown

---
summary: "CLI reference for `openclaw secrets` (reload, audit, configure, apply)"
read_when:
- Re-resolving secret refs at runtime
- Auditing plaintext residues and unresolved refs
- Configuring SecretRefs and applying one-way scrub changes
title: "Secrets"
---
# `openclaw secrets`
Manage SecretRefs and keep the active runtime snapshot healthy.
| Command | Role |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `reload` | Gateway RPC (`secrets.reload`): re-resolves refs and atomically publishes the owner-aware runtime snapshot (no config writes); eligible owner failures may publish as cold or stale warnings |
| `audit` | Read-only scan of config/auth/generated-model stores and legacy residues for plaintext, unresolved refs, and precedence drift (exec refs skipped unless `--allow-exec`) |
| `configure` | Interactive planner for provider setup, target mapping, and preflight (requires a TTY) |
| `apply` | Executes a saved plan (`--dry-run` validates only and skips exec checks by default; write mode rejects exec-containing plans unless `--allow-exec`), then scrubs 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 the dry-run and write `apply` commands.
Exit codes for CI/gates:
- `audit --check` returns `1` on findings.
- Unresolved refs return `2` (regardless of `--check`).
Related: [Secrets Management](/gateway/secrets) · [1Password plugin](/plugins/onepassword) · [SecretRef Credential Surface](/reference/secretref-credential-surface) · [Security](/gateway/security)
## Reload runtime snapshot
```bash
openclaw secrets reload
openclaw secrets reload --json
openclaw secrets reload --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789 --token <token>
```
Uses gateway RPC method `secrets.reload`. Healthy owners refresh independently. Eligible failed owners become stale only when their ref identities, provider definitions, and complete non-secret owner contract are unchanged; new or changed failures become cold. This degraded activation succeeds and reports `warningCount`. Strict or unmapped failures return an error and preserve the previously active snapshot.
Options: `--url <url>`, `--token <token>`, `--timeout <ms>`, `--json`.
## Audit
Scans 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)
The `.env` scan covers the effective state directory and the directory containing the active config. When both paths name the same file, it is scanned once.
Sensitive provider header detection is name-heuristic based: it flags headers whose name matches common auth/credential fragments (`authorization`, `x-api-key`, `token`, `secret`, `password`, `credential`).
```bash
openclaw secrets audit
openclaw secrets audit --check
openclaw secrets audit --json
openclaw secrets audit --allow-exec
```
Report shape:
- `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 `secrets.providers` aliases), then credential mapping (select fields, assign `{source, provider, id}` refs), then preflight and optional apply.
Flags:
- `--providers-only`: configure `secrets.providers` only, skip credential mapping
- `--skip-provider-setup`: skip provider setup, 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)
`--providers-only` and `--skip-provider-setup` cannot be combined.
Notes:
- Requires an interactive TTY.
- Targets secret-bearing fields in `openclaw.json` plus `auth-profiles.json` for the selected agent scope; canonical supported surface: [SecretRef Credential Surface](/reference/secretref-credential-surface).
- Supports creating new `auth-profiles.json` mappings directly in the picker flow.
- Runs preflight resolution before apply.
- Generated plans default to scrub options enabled (`scrubEnv`, `scrubAuthProfilesForProviderTargets`, `scrubLegacyAuthJson`). Apply is one-way for scrubbed plaintext values.
- `--plan-out` refuses to create a plan whose UTF-8 serialized form exceeds 16 MiB (16,777,216 bytes), matching the `apply --from` input limit.
- Without `--apply`, the CLI still prompts `Apply this plan now?` after preflight.
- With `--apply` (and no `--yes`), the CLI prompts an extra irreversible-migration confirmation.
- `--json` prints the plan + preflight report, but still requires an interactive TTY.
### Exec provider safety
Package managers often expose symlinked command paths. Resolve the real binary path (for example with `realpath "$(command -v vault)"`) and configure that absolute, non-symlink path; use `trustedDirs` to restrict executables to approved directories. On Windows, provider paths fail closed when ACL verification is unavailable, with no provider-level bypass.
## Apply a saved plan
```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
```
`--dry-run` validates preflight without writing files; exec SecretRef checks are skipped by default in dry-run. Write mode rejects plans containing exec SecretRefs/providers unless `--allow-exec`. Use `--allow-exec` to opt in to exec provider checks/execution in either mode.
`--from` must point to a regular file no larger than 16 MiB (16,777,216 bytes). The byte limit applies to the complete serialized file, including whitespace.
What `apply` may update:
- `openclaw.json` (SecretRef targets + provider upserts/deletes)
- `auth-profiles.json` (provider-target scrubbing)
- legacy `auth.json` residues
- `.env` files in the effective state and active-config directories, for known secret keys whose values were migrated
Plan contract details (allowed target paths, validation rules, failure semantics): [Secrets Apply Plan Contract](/gateway/secrets-plan-contract).
### Why no rollback backups
`secrets apply` intentionally does not write rollback backups containing old plaintext values. Safety comes from strict preflight plus 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.
## Related
- [CLI reference](/cli)
- [Secrets management](/gateway/secrets)
- [Vault SecretRefs](/plugins/vault)
- [1Password plugin](/plugins/onepassword)