nodejs-lib

# Secret management

  • Simple to install via npm (npm i -g @naturalcycles/nodejs-lib or yarn global add @naturalcycles/nodejs-lib)
  • Scripts immediately available in global $PATH (if installed globally)
  • Opinionated, based on directory structure conventions
  • Light (few dependencies)
  • Exposes Node.js API (with types) so you can programmaticaly use same function that CLI provides (only if you want to)

# Encryption

Based on Stronger Encryption and Decryption in Node.js (opens new window).

aes-256-cbc algorithm is used by default.

Random initialization vector (IV) is used, prepended to the encrypted file (first 16 bytes).

Encrypted file is stored in binary format (Buffer), containing concatenated (byte range in brackets):

  • IV (0, 16)
  • Payload (16, ...)

# CLI commands

  • secrets-gen-key: Generate a SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY to be used for encryption/decryption of secret files.
  • secrets-encrypt: Encrypt all files (except already encrypted *.enc) in ./secret folder. .enc is added to the file.
  • secrets-decrypt: Decrypt all encrypted files (*.enc) in ./secret folder. .enc extension is removed after encryption, files are overwritten.

# Key

Commands secrets-encrypt and secrets-decrypt need a key to perform an operation (generate it with secrets-gen-key first time).

Key can be passed in one of the following ways, in order of preference:

  1. --encKey myKey CLI argument (overrides everything else)
  2. SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable.
  3. SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY in .env file in your project folder (cwd).

Also, you can provide e.g --encKeyVar SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY_B - name of env variable to read key from.

# Usage

All examples are for global installation. For local installations prepend the command with yarn (or npm run).

# secrets-gen-key

Generate a SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY to be used for encryption/decryption of secret files.

Keep it secret, provide as env variable SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY to the following commands.

# secrets-encrypt

Encrypt all files (except already encrypted *.enc) in ./secret folder (and its subfolder). .enc is added to the file.

Example: secret1.json will become secret1.json.enc.

Options:

  • --pattern - directory (pattern) to encrypt (default to ./secret). Can provide many like --pattern p1 p2 or --pattern p1 --pattern p2. Supports globby pattern, e.g --pattern ./secret/**/*.txt.
  • --encKey - provide encryption key
  • --encKeyVar - read encryption key from env variable with this name (default SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY).
  • --algorithm - encryption algorithm to use (default aes-256-cbc).
  • --del - delete source files after successful encryption. Be careful!
  • help - list possible options

# secrets-decrypt

Decrypt all encrypted files (*.enc) in ./secret folder (and its subfolders). .enc extension is removed after encryption, files are overwritten.

Example: secret1.json.enc will become secret1.json.

Options: same as secrets-encrypt.

Except --dir is used instead of --pattern. Example: --dir ./secret will decrypt all ./secret/**/*.enc.

# .gitignore

Use dev-lib (opens new window) and yarn update-from-dev-lib.

Otherwise, this is the right config for .gitignore:

# All secrets are ignored, except encrypted
/secret/**/*.*
!/secret/**/*.enc

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