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The AI agent API key vault, explained

How an encrypted key vault keeps your API keys out of the agent, out of the logs, and out of your prompts — and why that beats a .env file.

Updated 2026-08-22Reading time 4 min

The vault is a proxy, not a password manager

It does not just store a key — it makes the model call on the agent’s behalf. The key is decrypted in memory for one request and discarded, so it never reaches your device.

Encryption at rest

Keys are stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM. A database dump does not expose them, and the decryption key is separate from the stored data.

Revocable device tokens

Each device gets a signed token instead of the key. Lose a laptop and you revoke that token — the provider key stays valid and untouched.

Rotation is one paste

Rotate a key by pasting the new one into the vault once. Every device picks it up on the next request.

Vault vs .env

Vault.env
Where the key livesEncrypted on the platformPlain text on disk
Reaches the deviceNeverYes
RotationOne pasteEdit every machine