Local-first secrets for developers and agents

Your vault stays local. Your agents stay useful.

TinyVault is one Go binary that encrypts developer secrets in a local vault and lets tools use them without routinely exposing values to the model. No account, hosted service, or control plane.

Start in five minutes Connect an agent

1: Go binary
1: local vault database
MCP: agent tool surface
0: hosted backends

tinyvault

local

tvault init

created ~/.tvault/vault.db

tvault set STRIPE_KEY --from-env .env

Secret 'STRIPE_KEY' set successfully

tvault run -- npm run deploy

secret injected into the child, not the parent shell

A smaller trust boundary

Let the secret reach the process—not the conversation.

TinyVault’s agent tools are shaped around outcomes. Search returns metadata. Generation returns non-secret metadata. Export returns a file path. Execution injects values into a child process and can redact literal values in captured output when policy enables it. A raw read exists, but it is the explicit exception.

Local vault databaseencrypted values · readable metadata

Child processReceives selected values as environment variables

Typical agent responseReceives metadata, paths, ciphertext, or command output; raw reads remain an explicit exception

Redaction reduces accidental leaks; it is not a sandbox. The threat model explains the boundary in full.

One vault, three surfaces

Use the interface that fits the caller.

The CLI, terminal studio, and MCP server all use the same storage, encryption, project boundaries, and audit trail. There is no sync layer to drift and no second database to secure.

Humans + scripts

CLI

Store, search, inject, sync, seal, share, rotate, and roll back from one composable command.

tvault run -- npm start02

Humans + terminals

Studio

Browse projects, metadata, versions, and audit history in a read-only-by-default terminal UI.

tvault studio03

Agents + automations

MCP

Give an agent task-shaped tools, a disk-loaded policy, and value-minimizing defaults over stdio.

tvault mcp

Beyond set and get

A complete local secrets workflow.

Replace the loose collection of plaintext files, one-off scripts, and copied credentials with one inspectable tool.

Explore the guides

Tame `.env` sprawl

Import without shell expansion, detect drift, sync in either direction, or keep commit-safe placeholders in the repo.

Dotenv workflows →

Share without sharing a passphrase

Wrap a project key to X25519 recipients. Removing one re-keys the updated live vault; retained snapshots remain readable.

Recipient sharing →

Commit ciphertext, not credentials

Use standalone encrypted env files, Kubernetes-shaped sealed manifests, or transparent Git clean/smudge filters.

Committable secrets →

Recover from a bad rotation

Every overwrite archives the prior encrypted value. Inspect metadata and roll back non-destructively to a new version.

Versioning and rollback →

Model environments explicitly

Group development, staging, and production projects; compare drift, inherit defaults, pin overrides, and promote deliberately.

Environment groups →

Inspectable security

No mystery service between you and your keys.

The encryption path is compact enough to audit: Argon2id derives a key-encryption key, each project gets its own data-encryption key, and AES-256-GCM authenticates every encrypted value.

Read the architecture

You rememberPassphrase

Argon2id

Held in memoryKEK

AES-GCM wrap

One per projectDEK

AES-GCM encrypt

Authenticated ciphertextSecret values

An intentionally narrow product

Know when TinyVault fits—and when it does not.

Use TinyVault when

You want local development secrets without a hosted account.
You need to inject values into any process that reads environment variables.
You want an agent to act on secrets while minimizing value exposure.
You prefer one portable binary and one local database with encrypted secret values.

Choose another tool when

You need managed team sync, centralized RBAC, or an admin console.
You require dynamic credentials, cloud KMS, HSMs, or high availability.
You need account recovery or escrow if the passphrase is lost.
You need isolation from another malicious process running as the same OS user.

Read the full threat model before trusting TinyVault with anything important

Local by default

Build with secrets.
Keep the values out of the way.

Install the binary, create a vault, and inject your first secret in a few minutes.

Open the quickstart