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docs: Added documentation for the improved vault implementation

Alex Clarke
2026-06-03 09:01:06 -06:00
parent 1e8a53c014
commit e768fa448b
3 changed files with 119 additions and 32 deletions
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Getting-Started.md
+3 -2
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ After installation, you can generate the configuration files and directories by
coyote --info
```
Then, you need to set up the Coyote vault by creating a vault password file. Coyote will do this for you automatically and
guide you through the process when you first attempt to access the vault. So, to get started, you can run:
Then, you need to set up the Coyote vault. On your first run, Coyote walks you through choosing a secrets provider
(Local, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager, Azure Key Vault, gopass, or 1Password) and configuring it. See the
[vault documentation](Vault) for the full list of providers and configuration details. To get started, you can run:
```sh
coyote --list-secrets
Sharing-Configurations.md
+4 -3
@@ -197,7 +197,8 @@ MCP server entries (and other config files) can reference vault secrets with `{{
install completes, Coyote scans the resulting `mcp.json` for placeholders that are not yet in your vault and either:
- **In a TTY:** prompts you, one secret at a time, whether to add it to the vault now. On the first "Yes", Coyote
initializes the vault password file (if needed). On "No", the secret is deferred and reported at the end.
initializes the vault (if needed; for the Local provider, this just means creating the password file). On "No", the
secret is deferred and reported at the end.
- **In a non-TTY environment:** skips prompts entirely; lists every missing secret in a final reminder block, with the
commands you can run later (`coyote --add-secret <NAME>` or `.vault add <NAME>`).
@@ -249,8 +250,8 @@ asset type plus a `README` describing the customization workflow.
The following are **intentionally** outside the install-remote feature's scope:
- **`config.yaml`** (the global Coyote config). It holds user-specific things like editor preference, vault password file
path, client API keys, OAuth tokens, and similar. Merging a shared `config.yaml` would risk breaking auth or routing
- **`config.yaml`** (the global Coyote config). It holds user-specific things like editor preference, secrets provider
configuration, client API keys, OAuth tokens, and similar. Merging a shared `config.yaml` would risk breaking auth or routing
traffic somewhere unexpected. Settings that genuinely benefit from sharing (like default models) already belong
inside individual agents' or roles' configs.
- **Sessions, RAGs, agent runtime data.** These accumulate as you use Coyote and aren't shareable in a meaningful way.
Vault.md
+112 -27
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
The Coyote vault lets users store sensitive secrets and credentials securely so that there's no plaintext secrets
anywhere in your configurations.
anywhere in your configurations.
It's based on the [G-Man library](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/gman) (which also comes in a binary format) which
functions as a universal secret management tool.
It's built on the [G-Man library](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/gman), which supports multiple secrets providers:
a local encrypted file, AWS Secrets Manager, Google Cloud Secret Manager, Azure Key Vault, gopass, and 1Password. You
pick the one that fits your workflow and Coyote handles the rest.
![Vault Demo](./images/vault/vault-demo.gif)
---
# Usage
The Coyote vault can be used in one of two ways: via the CLI or via the REPL for interactive usage.
The Coyote vault can be used in one of two ways: via the CLI or via the REPL for interactive usage. The same commands
work regardless of which provider you've configured.
## CLI Usage
The vault is utilized from the CLI with the following flags:
@@ -33,6 +35,94 @@ The vault can be accessed from within the Coyote REPL using the `.vault` command
The manipulation of your vault is guided in the same way as the CLI usage, ensuring ease of use.
# Supported Providers
Coyote supports six secrets providers via [G-Man](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/gman). The default is **Local** (an encrypted file on this machine), but you
can switch to any of the others.
| Provider | Storage | What it needs |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| `local` (default) | Encrypted file at `vault.yml` in your Coyote config directory | A password file you create on first run |
| `aws_secrets_manager` | AWS Secrets Manager | An authenticated AWS CLI (`aws sso login` or `aws configure`) |
| `gcp_secret_manager` | Google Cloud Secret Manager | `gcloud auth application-default login` |
| `azure_key_vault` | Azure Key Vault | `az login` |
| `gopass` | The `gopass` password manager | The `gopass` CLI installed and initialized |
| `one_password` | 1Password | The `op` CLI installed and signed in (`op signin`) |
If you're not logged into the relevant CLI when Coyote needs to read a secret, you'll get an auth error with the
canonical login command. Coyote does not try to log you in automatically.
# Configuration
There are two ways to configure your secrets provider in `config.yaml`:
## Shorthand: `vault_password_file`
If all you want is the default Local provider, just set the path to a password file:
```yaml
vault_password_file: ~/.coyote_password
```
This is shorthand for "use the Local provider with this password file". It's the simplest setup if you don't
want to use a dedicated secrets provider external to Coyote.
## Explicit: `secrets_provider`
For any non-Local provider (or if you want to be explicit about your Local setup), use the `secrets_provider` block:
```yaml
# Local
secrets_provider:
type: local
password_file: ~/.coyote_password
# AWS Secrets Manager
secrets_provider:
type: aws_secrets_manager
aws_profile: default
aws_region: us-east-1
# Google Cloud Secret Manager
secrets_provider:
type: gcp_secret_manager
gcp_project_id: my-project-id
# Azure Key Vault
secrets_provider:
type: azure_key_vault
vault_name: my-vault-name
# gopass
secrets_provider:
type: gopass
store: my-store # Optional; omit to use the default store
# 1Password
secrets_provider:
type: one_password
vault: Production # Optional; omit to use the default vault
account: my.1password.com # Optional; omit to use the default account
```
When `secrets_provider` is set, the legacy `vault_password_file` field is ignored.
> ⚠️ **Important:** The `secrets_provider` block itself cannot use `{{SECRET_NAME}}` interpolation. Coyote needs to
> initialize the vault *before* it can resolve any secrets, so the provider's own configuration must be literal values.
> All *other* fields in your config (API keys, MCP server env vars, agent variables, etc.) support `{{SECRET_NAME}}`
> references as normal.
# First-Run Setup
The first time you start Coyote without a config file, a wizard walks you through picking a secrets provider:
1. Choose a provider from the menu (Local, AWS, GCP, Azure, gopass, 1Password).
2. Coyote prompts you for the provider-specific config (AWS profile/region, GCP project ID, Azure vault name, etc.).
3. For non-Local providers, Coyote performs a **round-trip validation**: it writes a probe secret to the backend, reads
it back, then deletes it. If your credentials don't have the right permissions, or if you're not logged in, Coyote
bails out *before* you fill out the rest of the wizard, with a hint pointing to the correct login command.
4. For the Local provider, Coyote prompts you to create a password file.
Once the provider is set up, the wizard continues with your LLM/API provider selection and writes your `config.yaml`.
If you set up Coyote with one provider and later want to switch, just edit your `config.yaml` to change (or add) the
`secrets_provider` block.
# Motivation
Coyote is intended to be highly configurable and adaptable to many different use cases. This means that users of Coyote
should be able to share configurations for agents, tools, roles, etc. with other users or even entire teams.
@@ -40,29 +130,24 @@ should be able to share configurations for agents, tools, roles, etc. with other
My objective is to encourage this, and to make it so that users can easily version their configurations using version
control. Good VCS hygiene dictates that one *never* commits secrets or sensitive information to a repository.
Since a number of files and configurations in Coyote may contain sensitive information, the vault exists to solve this problem.
Since a number of files and configurations in Coyote may contain sensitive information, the vault exists to solve this
problem. How you share secrets across a team depends on your provider:
Users can either share the vault password with a team, making it so a single configuration can be pulled from VCS and used
by said team. Alternatively, each user can maintain their own vault password and expect other users to replace secret values
with their user-specific secrets.
- **Local:** Either share the vault password with the team (one config + one shared password file) or have each user
maintain their own password and substitute their own secret values.
- **AWS / GCP / Azure / gopass / 1Password:** Each team member uses their own credentials against the shared backend.
The vault becomes a natural single source of truth. Rotating a secret in one place propagates to everyone using
that config.
# How it works
When you first start Coyote, if you don't already have a vault password file, it will prompt you to create one. This file
houses the password that is used to encrypt and decrypt secrets within Coyote. This file exists so that you are not prompted
for a password every time Coyote attempts to decrypt a secret.
When you encrypt a secret, it uses the local provider for `gman` to securely store those secrets in the Coyote vault file.
This file is typically located at your Coyote configuration directory under `vault.yml`. If you open this file, you'll see a
bunch of gibberish. This is because all secrets are encrypted using the password you provided, meaning only you can decrypt them.
Secrets are specified in Coyote configurations using the same variable templating as the [Jinja templating engine](https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/stable/):
# Referencing Secrets
Secrets are referenced in Coyote configurations using the same variable templating as the [Jinja templating engine](https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/stable/):
```
{{some_variable}}
```
So whenever you want Coyote to use a secret from the vault, you simply specify the secret name in this format in the applicable
file.
So whenever you want Coyote to use a secret from the vault, you simply specify the secret name in this format in the
applicable file. The same syntax works regardless of which provider stores the secret.
**Example:**
Suppose my vault has a secret called `GITHUB_TOKEN` in it, and I want to use that in the MCP configuration. Then, I simply replace
@@ -93,16 +178,17 @@ the expected value in my `mcp.json` with the templated secret:
}
```
At runtime, Coyote will detect the templated secret and replace it with the decrypted value from the vault before executing.
At runtime, Coyote will detect the templated secret and replace it with the decrypted value from the vault before
executing.
# Supported Files
At the time of writing, the following files support Coyote secret injection:
| File Type | Description | Limitations |
|-------------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `config.yaml` | The main Coyote configuration file | Cannot use secret injection on the `vault_password_file` field |
| `functions/mcp.json` | The MCP server configuration file | |
| `<agent>/tools.<py/sh>` | Tool files for agents | Specific configuration and only supported for Agents, not all global tools ([see below](#environment-variable-secret-injection-in-agents)) |
| File Type | Description | Limitations |
|-------------------------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `config.yaml` | The main Coyote configuration file | Cannot use secret injection on the `vault_password_file` field or anywhere inside the `secrets_provider` block |
| `functions/mcp.json` | The MCP server configuration file | |
| `<agent>/tools.<py/sh>` | Tool files for agents | Specific configuration and only supported for Agents, not all global tools ([see below](#environment-variable-secret-injection-in-agents)) |
Note that all paths are relative to the Coyote configuration directory. The directory varies by system, so you can find yours by
@@ -146,4 +232,3 @@ follows:
```
For more information about variable usage within agents, refer to the [Variables section](Agents#user-defined-variables) of the [Agents documentation](Agents)