dew/docs/features/vault.md

Dew Vault Secret Manager

Dew Vault is a secret manager for your projects. It helps you keep secrets out of version control by storing each secret as an encrypted file under .project/vault. By default the vault password is stored in .project/secrets/dew.vault.password.

Config

Vault settings live in .project/dew.yaml under dew.vault.

dew:
  vault:
    password_file: .project/secrets/dew.vault.password
    storage_dir: .project/vault
    generators:
      postgres_password:
        type: random_password
        description: Generate random PostgreSQL passwords.
        config:
          length: 64
          include_symbols: true
      jwt_secret:
        type: random_token
        description: Generate JWT signing secrets.
        config:
          encoding: base64
          bytes: 48
      service_uuid:
        type: uuid_v4
        description: Generate stable-looking unique IDs.

generators maps a generator name (for example postgres_password) to a built-in generator definition. Values under config are defaults and can be overridden per run or stored in secret rotation metadata.

Built-in generator types are resolved inside Dew, so secrets can be generated without depending on host binaries.

Commands

Most commands support --format [default|json] (default is default) for machine-friendly automation.

Initialize Vault

Initialize the vault storage and metadata.

dew vault init

dew vault init --password-file .project/secrets/dew.vault.password

List all secrets

List stored secrets.

dew vault list
dew vault list --format json

Set a secret

set stores or replaces a secret and optional metadata.

dew vault set <secret-name> # Prompts for secret value
dew vault set <secret-name> --env ENV_VAR_NAME # Uses value from environment variable
dew vault set <secret-name> --file /path/to/secret.txt # Uses value from file
echo "secret value" | dew vault set <secret-name> # Uses piped stdin

# Include metadata for automated rotation requirements
dew vault set DB_PASSWORD --metadata '{"rotation":{"enabled":true,"generator":"postgres_password","length":64}}'
dew vault set DB_PASSWORD --metadata-file .project/vault/db_password.meta.json

Get a secret

get retrieves a secret by name.

dew vault get <secret-name>
dew vault get <secret-name> --format json

Update a secret

update patches secret metadata and/or value. Omit value source flags to edit metadata only.

dew vault update <secret-name> --env ROLLED_PASSWORD
dew vault update <secret-name> --metadata '{"rotation":{"enabled":false}}'
dew vault update <secret-name> --metadata-file .project/vault/db_password.meta.json

Rename a secret

rename changes a secret identifier while preserving value and metadata.

dew vault rename OLD_NAME NEW_NAME
dew vault rename OLD_NAME NEW_NAME --format json

Generate a secret value

generate runs a built-in generator without writing to the vault by default.

dew vault generate postgres_password --length 64 --include_symbols
dew vault generate jwt_secret --bytes 64 --encoding base64
dew vault generate postgres_password --service payments --username app_user --format json

Pipe generated output directly into set when needed:

dew vault generate postgres_password --service payments | dew vault set DB_PASSWORD

Rotate secrets

rotate rewraps secrets with a new vault password when run without a name. When run with a secret name, it rotates only that secret. For a secret with rotation metadata (rotation.enabled: true and rotation.generator), Dew invokes that configured built-in generator using the provided rotation values.

dew vault rotate
dew vault rotate <secret-name>
dew vault rotate <secret-name> --format json

Delete a secret

delete removes a secret and metadata from the vault.

dew vault delete <secret-name>
dew vault delete <secret-name> --format json

Metadata format for rotation-aware secrets

Attach arbitrary metadata and include rotation policy details. Example shape:

{
  "rotation": {
    "enabled": true,
    "generator": "postgres_password",
    "service": "payments",
    "username": "app_user",
    "length": 64
  },
  "notes": "Rotate monthly and update app config via sidecar"
}

Rotation flow:

1. Define a built-in generator in dew.yaml under dew.vault.generators.
2. Attach rotation.generator and generator args to the secret metadata.
3. Run dew vault rotate <secret-name> to rotate one secret, or dew vault rotate to rotate all configured secrets.