Declarative Configuration

SecretSpec uses secretspec.toml to declare what secrets your application needs, separating requirements from storage mechanisms for portability across environments.

Basic Structure

[project]
name = "my-app"
revision = "1.0"
extends = ["../shared/common"]  # Optional: inherit from other configs

[profiles.default]
DATABASE_URL = { description = "PostgreSQL connection string", required = true }
API_KEY = { description = "External API key", required = true }
LOG_LEVEL = { description = "Logging verbosity", required = false, default = "info" }

Secret Declarations

Each secret is declared with configuration options:

SECRET_NAME = {
  description = "Human-readable explanation",  # Required: shown in prompts
  required = true,                            # Optional: defaults to true
  default = "value"                           # Optional: fallback if not set
}

Options:

• description: Explains the secret’s purpose (required)
• required: Whether the secret must be provided (default: true)
• default: Fallback value for optional secrets

Configuration Inheritance

SecretSpec supports sharing common secrets across projects through the extends field.

Basic Example

shared/common/secretspec.toml

[project]
name = "common"

[profiles.default]
DATABASE_URL = { description = "Main database", required = true }
LOG_LEVEL = { description = "Log verbosity", required = false, default = "info" }

myapp/secretspec.toml

[project]
name = "myapp"
extends = ["../shared/common"]

[profiles.default]
DATABASE_URL = { description = "MyApp database", required = true }  # Override
API_KEY = { description = "External API key", required = true }     # Add new

Monorepo Structure

monorepo/
├── shared/
│   ├── base/secretspec.toml      # Common secrets
│   └── database/secretspec.toml  # DB-specific (extends base)
└── services/
    ├── api/secretspec.toml       # API service (extends database)
    └── frontend/secretspec.toml  # Frontend (extends base)

Multiple Inheritance

[project]
name = "api-service"
extends = ["../../shared/base", "../../shared/database", "../../shared/auth"]

Rules:

• Child definitions completely replace parent definitions
• Later sources in extends override earlier ones
• Each profile is merged independently
• Paths are relative to the containing file

Best Practices

1. Descriptive names: Use STRIPE_API_KEY instead of generic API_KEY
2. Clear descriptions: Help developers understand each secret’s purpose
3. Sensible defaults: Provide development defaults, require production values
4. Modular inheritance: Create reusable base configurations for common patterns

Complete Example

[project]
name = "web-api"
revision = "2.1.0"
extends = ["../shared/base", "../shared/auth"]

[profiles.default]
# Inherits DATABASE_URL, LOG_LEVEL from base
# Inherits JWT_SECRET, SESSION_SECRET from auth
# Service-specific additions:
STRIPE_API_KEY = { description = "Stripe payment API", required = true }
REDIS_URL = { description = "Redis cache connection", required = true }
PORT = { description = "Server port", required = false, default = "3000" }