Keys Manager

Manage API keys locally from the terminal using the `keys` CLI. Use when users want to store, retrieve, search, import, export, or organize API keys and secr...

A skill for managing API keys and secrets locally using the keys CLI tool.

Installation

The keys CLI must be installed first:

brew install stym06/tap/keys

Or with Go:

go install github.com/stym06/keys@latest

Commands

Store a key

keys add <name> <value>

If the key already exists, the user is prompted to overwrite, edit, or cancel.

Retrieve a key

keys get <name>       # print value directly
keys get              # interactive typeahead picker

Browse keys interactively

keys see

Opens a TUI with fuzzy search, checkboxes, clipboard copy, and age indicators.

• space — toggle selection
• tab — copy selected as KEY=VAL
• ctrl+y — copy selected as export KEY=VAL
• ctrl+e — export selected to .env file
• enter — add a new key (when no matches found)
• esc — quit

Masked view

keys peek

Same as see but values are hidden as ***. Press r to reveal individual keys. Useful for screen-sharing.

Edit a key

keys edit <name>

Opens a TUI editor. tab switches fields, enter saves, esc cancels.

Delete a key

keys rm <name>

Export keys

keys env              # interactive selector, writes .env file
keys expose           # print export statements to stdout

Import from .env

keys import <file>

Parses .env files — handles comments, quotes, and export prefixes. Reports new vs updated counts.

Profiles

Isolate keys by project or environment:

keys profile use <name>     # switch profile
keys profile list           # list all profiles (* = active)

All add, get, rm, see, and other commands operate within the active profile.

Inject keys into commands

$(keys inject API_KEY DB_HOST) ./my-script.sh          # inline env vars
docker run $(keys inject -d API_KEY DB_HOST) my-image  # Docker -e flags
$(keys inject --all) ./my-script.sh                    # all keys from active profile
$(keys inject --all --profile dev) ./my-script.sh      # all keys from specific profile

Outputs keys as space-separated KEY=VAL pairs (or -e KEY=VAL with --docker) for use in command substitution.

Audit key access

keys audit              # summary: access count + last used per key
keys audit --log        # full access log (most recent first)
keys audit --log -n 20  # last 20 events
keys audit --clear      # clear the audit log

Tracks when keys are accessed via get, inject, and expose. Useful for understanding which keys agents and scripts are using.

Check required keys

keys check              # reads .keys.required from current directory
keys check reqs.txt     # custom file

Reads key names from a file (one per line, # comments supported) and reports which are present or missing. Exits with code 1 if any are missing — useful for CI and agent pre-flight checks.

Example .keys.required:

# Agent dependencies
OPENAI_KEY
SERP_API_KEY
DATABASE_URL

Sync keys between machines

# On machine A (has the keys)
keys sync serve
# Serving 12 keys from profile "default"
# Passphrase: olive-quilt-haven
# Waiting for connections...

# On machine B (wants the keys)
keys sync pull                       # auto-discover via mDNS
keys sync pull 192.168.1.10:7331     # or connect directly

Peer-to-peer sync over the local network. Auto-discovers peers via mDNS (Bonjour), encrypted with a one-time passphrase (AES-256-GCM). Works over WiFi, Tailscale, or any reachable network. Smart merge: adds new keys, updates older ones, skips newer local ones.

Delete all keys

keys nuke

Requires typing nuke to confirm. Only affects the active profile.

Version

keys version
keys --version

Authentication

On macOS, keys prompts for Touch ID before any command that accesses keys. Authentication is cached per terminal session — the first command triggers Touch ID, subsequent commands in the same shell skip the prompt.

Commands that skip authentication: profile, completion, version, help.

On non-macOS systems or when biometrics are unavailable, access is allowed without prompting.

Examples

Typical workflow

keys add OPENAI_KEY sk-proj-abc123
keys add STRIPE_KEY sk_test_4eC3
keys get OPENAI_KEY
keys see                    # browse and copy
keys env                    # generate .env for a project

Multi-project setup

keys profile use projectA
keys import .env
keys profile use projectB
keys add DB_HOST prod-db.example.com
keys profile list

Quick export to shell

eval $(keys expose)

Guidelines

• Always use keys get <name> when the user knows the exact key name
• Use keys get (no args) when the user wants to search/pick interactively
• Use keys peek instead of keys see when the user is screen-sharing or wants masked output
• Use keys profile to separate keys across different projects or environments
• Use keys import for bulk loading from existing .env files
• Suggest keys env when the user needs to generate a .env file for a specific project
• Use keys inject when the user wants to pass keys directly to a command or Docker container without creating files
• Use keys audit to review which keys are being accessed and how often
• Use keys check before running agents to verify all required keys are available
• Use keys sync serve + keys sync pull to transfer keys between machines without cloud services