Vault Enhancements w/ UI v3.0.0

Vault-backed API key management for the OpenClaw Control dashboard. Keys are stored in a secure file (~/.openclaw/secrets.json, mode 0600) and referenced via OpenClaw's built-in Secrets System. The AI agent never sees your keys.

Status: ✅ Active

Features

1. Vault-Backed Storage

Keys are stored in ~/.openclaw/secrets.json (file permissions 0600). When you save a key, the UI:

1. Writes the value to the vault file
2. Configures the file secret provider in openclaw.json (if not already present)
3. Replaces the plaintext config value with a SecretRef object
4. Shows a restart notification — user must restart gateway for changes to take effect

Config before migration:

{
  "env": {
    "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-proj-abc123..."
  }
}

Config after migration:

{
  "env": {
    "OPENAI_API_KEY": { "source": "file", "provider": "default", "id": "/OPENAI_API_KEY" }
  },
  "secrets": {
    "providers": {
      "default": { "source": "file", "path": "~/.openclaw/secrets.json", "mode": "json" }
    },
    "defaults": { "file": "default" }
  }
}

Vault file (~/.openclaw/secrets.json):

{
  "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-proj-abc123..."
}

2. One-Click Migration

The "🔒 Migrate to Vault" button appears when plaintext keys are detected. It:

• Scans openclaw.json for all plaintext API key values
• Moves each to the vault file
• Replaces with SecretRef objects in config
• Auto-configures the file provider if needed
• Reports what was migrated

3. Dynamic Key Discovery

The UI automatically scans the entire config for API keys — no hardcoded list.

Detection patterns: apiKey, api_key, token, secret, *_KEY, *_TOKEN, *_SECRET

Where it looks:

• env.* — Environment variables
• skills.entries.*.apiKey — Skill-specific keys
• messages.tts.*.apiKey — TTS provider keys
• Any nested config path

Known providers get friendly names, descriptions, and "Get key ↗" links:

4. Vault Status Banner

Top of the page shows:

• 🔒 Vault Active (green) — All keys in vault, provider configured
• ⚠️ X Plaintext Keys Detected (yellow) — Migration recommended

5. Key Status Badges

Each key row shows:

• VAULT (green) — Stored in secure vault file
• PLAINTEXT (yellow) — Still in config as raw string
• NOT SET (grey) — Not configured

6. Vault-Only Keys Section

Keys stored in the vault that aren't referenced by any config path are displayed in a dedicated "Vault-Only Keys" card. These are keys created manually or by skills that don't have a corresponding env/config entry. Each shows:

• 🔒 icon with the key name (monospace)
• Masked value preview
• Delete button

7. Manual "+ Add Secret" Form

The Vault tab header includes a "+ Add Secret" button that expands an inline form:

• KEY_NAME input (monospace, UPPER_SNAKE_CASE recommended)
• Secret value input (password field)
• Save / Cancel buttons
• Writes to vault with envEntry: false — no config entry created, no restart triggered
• Key appears immediately in the "Vault-Only Keys" section

8. Restart Notification Banner

When a vault write triggers a config change, a yellow warning banner appears:

⚠ New secrets require a gateway restart to take effect. [Restart Now]

The banner persists until the user clicks "Restart Now" or refreshes. This replaces the previous auto-reload behavior that caused unexpected gateway restarts.

9. Skills Vault Key Selector

On the Skills tab, skills that declare a primaryEnv get a vault key selector instead of a raw password input:

When unlinked:

• Dropdown shows all vault keys with 🔒 icons
• "Select vault key for ENV_NAME…" placeholder
• Selecting a key writes a SecretRef to skills.entries.<key>.apiKey in config
• "＋ Add new vault key…" option opens inline creation form

When linked:

• Shows 🔒 KEY_NAME with an "Unlink" button
• Unlink removes the SecretRef from config

Inline key creation:

• KEY_NAME + Secret value fields
• "Save & Link" creates the vault key and links it to the skill in one step
• Key also appears in the Vault tab's vault-only keys section

10. Skills Expanded by Default

All skill groups (workspace, built-in, managed) render expanded (<details open>) for better discoverability. Previously workspace and built-in were collapsed by default.

11. Auth Profiles Display

Auth profile keys (from auth-profiles.json) that are stored in the vault are listed with their status. Backend RPCs support listing, error reset, and deletion.

Architecture

Security Model

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Browser                                                  │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │  Vault Tab                                        │    │
│  │  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐    │    │
│  │  │ OpenAI: [••••••••••] [Save] [✕]  🟢VAULT │    │    │
│  │  │ Anthropic: [        ] [Save]     ⚪NOT SET│    │    │
│  │  │ + Add Secret  [KEY_NAME] [value] [Save]   │    │    │
│  │  └──────────────────────────────────────────┘    │    │
│  │                                                   │    │
│  │  Skills Tab                                       │    │
│  │  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐    │    │
│  │  │ whisper-api: 🔒 OPENAI_API_KEY  [Unlink] │    │    │
│  │  │ sag:         [Select vault key ▾]         │    │    │
│  │  └──────────────────────────────────────────┘    │    │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                           │                               │
│                           ▼ (direct RPC, not via agent)   │
└───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                    ┌───────▼───────┐
                    │   Gateway     │
                    │ secrets.write │
                    │ skills.update │
                    └──┬─────────┬──┘
                       │         │
              ┌────────▼──┐  ┌──▼────────────┐
              │ secrets.   │  │ openclaw.json  │
              │ json       │  │ (SecretRef     │
              │ (0600)     │  │  objects only) │
              └────────────┘  └────────────────┘

Backend RPCs

Skills-Status Integration

SkillStatusEntry includes a vaultKeyId field that reads the raw config JSON (not the runtime-resolved config where SecretRefs are replaced with resolved strings). This is done via extractVaultKeyIdFromConfig() which reads and caches openclaw.json directly, checking for SecretRef objects in skills.entries.<key>.apiKey.

Restart Behavior

No auto-restart on vault save. Previously, secrets.write called reloadSecrets() which could trigger a gateway restart. Now:

• Vault-only saves (envEntry: false) don't touch config — no restart needed
• Config-touching saves return restartNeeded: true — UI shows a restart banner
• Skills vault linking writes to config via writeConfigFile() — triggers the config file watcher which causes a gateway restart (inherent to the config watcher system)

OpenClaw Secrets System Integration

This skill uses OpenClaw's built-in Secrets System (src/secrets/):

• File provider: { source: "file", path: "~/.openclaw/secrets.json", mode: "json" }
• SecretRef format: { source: "file", provider: "default", id: "/<KEY_NAME>" }
• Runtime resolution: prepareSecretsRuntimeSnapshot() resolves all refs at gateway startup
• Security: File permissions checked (0600), ownership verified, path guards

The secrets system also supports env and exec providers for advanced setups (e.g., environment variables, external vault commands). The file provider is the default for this UI.

Files Modified (Source Locations in OpenClaw Repo)

Reference Files

apikeys-ui/
├── SKILL.md                              # This file
├── INSTALL_INSTRUCTIONS.md               # Step-by-step installation (legacy)
└── reference/
    ├── apikeys-controller.ts             # UI controller (vault tab)
    ├── apikeys-views.ts                  # UI view (vault tab)
    ├── secrets-rpc.ts                    # Backend vault RPCs
    ├── skills-controller.ts              # UI controller (skills vault integration)
    ├── skills-views.ts                   # UI view (vault key selector)
    ├── skills-status.ts                  # Backend skill status with vaultKeyId
    └── skills-rpc.ts                     # Backend skills update RPC

Key Design Decisions

1. No auto-restart on save — secrets.write no longer calls reloadSecrets(). A restart banner with "Restart Now" button lets the user decide when to restart.

2. Vault-only keys — Keys created with envEntry: false don't appear in config. A separate secrets.list call finds all vault entries and shows orphan keys in a dedicated section.

3. Raw config reading for vaultKeyId — The runtime resolves SecretRefs to strings, so loadConfig() returns resolved values. extractVaultKeyIdFromConfig() reads the raw JSON file directly (with mtime caching) to detect SecretRef objects.

4. Skills expanded by default — All <details> groups render open for better UX. Collapsed-by-default hid skills that needed configuration.

5. Skills use vault references, not plaintext — Skills with primaryEnv get a vault key selector dropdown instead of a password input. Linking writes a SecretRef to skills.entries.<key>.apiKey in config.

6. Inline key creation from skills — "＋ Add new vault key…" in the skills dropdown creates a vault entry and links it in one step, reducing friction.

Changelog

v3.0.0

• Manual "+ Add Secret" form in Vault tab header — create vault keys without config entries
• Vault-Only Keys section — shows keys in vault not referenced by config
• Restart notification banner — yellow warning with "Restart Now" button replaces auto-reload
• Skills vault key selector — dropdown replaces raw password input for skills with primaryEnv
• Skills inline key creation — "＋ Add new vault key…" creates and links in one step
• Skills expanded by default — all groups open, no more collapsed-by-default
• vaultKeyId on SkillStatusEntry — reads raw config JSON to detect SecretRef objects
• envEntry param on secrets.write — controls whether an env block entry is created
• vaultKeyId param on skills.update — writes SecretRef or unlinks skill from vault key

v2.0.0

• Vault-backed storage: Keys stored in ~/.openclaw/secrets.json (mode 0600) instead of plaintext config
• SecretRef integration: Config values replaced with OpenClaw SecretRef objects pointing to vault
• One-click migration: "Migrate to Vault" batch-migrates all plaintext keys
• Vault status banner: Green (all secure) or yellow warning (plaintext detected)
• Key badges: VAULT / PLAINTEXT / NOT SET per key
• New RPCs: secrets.status, secrets.list, secrets.write, secrets.delete, secrets.migrate
• Plugin UI registration: Moved from old nav to plugin architecture (settings group, position 1)
• Auto-provider config: Saving a key auto-configures the file secret provider if not present

v1.1.0

• Dynamic key discovery — scans entire config instead of hardcoded list
• Auto-grouping by category (Environment / Skills / Other)
• Common env keys shown even if not configured

v1.0.0

• Initial release with hardcoded provider slots
• Save/Clear functionality via config.patch