Secrets sit in env files or CI variables
Secret stores belong in mature cloud work: AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, GCP Secret Manager, or Vault.
Try this first
- 1Move DB passwords, API keys, certs into the secret store
- 2App fetches via SDK with IAM/RBAC, no plaintext config
- 3Enable auditing and rotation where the service supports it
- 4CI/CD pulls secrets via OIDC or short-lived tokens, no long-lived keys
When to bring us in
Cross-cloud or multi-tenant, HashiCorp Vault is sturdy but adds ops work.
See also
- Everyone logs in with the AWS root accountRoot is for emergencies and billing. Day-to-day work belongs in IAM users or SSO.
- Every developer has AdministratorAccessAdministratorAccess everywhere is convenient now, painful later. Start with role-based policies.
- Everyone has individual IAM users with their own passwordIdentity Center (formerly AWS SSO) links to your IdP and issues temporary credentials per session.
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