Credential Manager

STATUS: MANDATORY SECURITY FOUNDATION

Consolidate scattered API keys and credentials into a secure, centralized

.env

file.

⚠️ This Is Not Optional

Centralized

.env

credential management is a core requirement for OpenClaw security. If your credentials are scattered across multiple files, stop and consolidate them now.

THE RULE: All credentials MUST be in

~/.openclaw/.env

ONLY. No workspace, no skills, no scripts directories.

See:

CORE-PRINCIPLE.md - Why this is non-negotiable
CONSOLIDATION-RULE.md - The single source principle

The Foundation

Every OpenClaw deployment MUST have:

~/.openclaw/.env (mode 600)

This is your single source of truth for all credentials. No exceptions.

Why?

Single location = easier to secure
File mode 600 = only you can read
Git-ignored = won't accidentally commit
Validated format = catches errors
Audit trail = know what changed

Scattered credentials = scattered attack surface. This skill fixes that.

What This Skill Does

Scans for credentials in common locations
Backs up existing credential files (timestamped)
Consolidates into
```
~/.openclaw/.env
```
Secures with proper permissions (600)
Validates security and format
Enforces best practices
Cleans up old files after migration

Detection Parameters

The skill automatically detects credentials by scanning for:

File Patterns:

```
credentials.json
```
files in config directories
```
.env
```
files
Memory files with
```
-creds
```
or
```
credentials
```
in the name

Sensitive Key Patterns:

API keys, access tokens, bearer tokens
Secrets, passwords, passphrases
OAuth consumer keys
Private keys, signing keys, wallet keys
Mnemonics and seed phrases

Security Checks:

File permissions (must be
```
600
```
)
Git-ignore protection
Format validation

Quick Start

Full Migration (Recommended)

# Scan for credentials
./scripts/scan.py
Review and consolidate
./scripts/consolidate.py
Validate security

./scripts/validate.py

Individual Operations

# Scan only
./scripts/scan.py
Consolidate specific service
./scripts/consolidate.py --service x
Backup without removing
./scripts/consolidate.py --backup-only
Clean up old files

./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm

Common Credential Locations

The skill scans these locations:

~/.config/*/credentials.json
~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*-creds.json
~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*credentials*.json
~/.env (if exists, merges)

Security Features

✅ File permissions: Sets

.env

to mode 600 (owner only) ✅ Git protection: Creates/updates

.gitignore

✅ Backups: Timestamped backups before changes ✅ Validation: Checks format, permissions, and duplicates ✅ Template: Creates

.env.example

(safe to share)

Output Structure

After migration:

~/.openclaw/
├── .env                     # All credentials (secure)
├── .env.example             # Template (safe)
├── .gitignore               # Protects .env
├── CREDENTIALS.md           # Documentation
└── backups/
    └── credentials-old-YYYYMMDD/  # Backup of old files

Supported Services

Common services auto-detected:

X (Twitter): OAuth 1.0a credentials
Molten: Agent intent matching
Moltbook: Agent social network
Botchan/4claw: Net Protocol
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google: AI providers
GitHub, GitLab: Code hosting
Generic:
```
API_KEY
```
,
```
*_TOKEN
```
,
```
*_SECRET
```
patterns

See references/supported-services.md for full list.

Security Best Practices

See references/security.md for detailed security guidelines.

Quick checklist:

✅
```
.env
```
has 600 permissions
✅
```
.env
```
is git-ignored
✅ No credentials in code or logs
✅ Rotate keys periodically
✅ Use separate keys per environment

Scripts

All scripts support

--help

for detailed usage.

scan.py

# Scan and report
./scripts/scan.py
Include custom paths
./scripts/scan.py --paths ~/.myapp/config ~/.local/share/creds
JSON output

./scripts/scan.py --format json

consolidate.py

# Interactive mode (prompts before changes)
./scripts/consolidate.py
Auto-confirm (no prompts)
./scripts/consolidate.py --yes
Backup only
./scripts/consolidate.py --backup-only
Specific service

./scripts/consolidate.py --service molten

validate.py

# Full validation
./scripts/validate.py
Check permissions only
./scripts/validate.py --check permissions
Fix issues automatically

./scripts/validate.py --fix

cleanup.py

# Dry run (shows what would be deleted)
./scripts/cleanup.py
Actually delete old files
./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm
Keep backups

./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm --keep-backups

Migration Workflow

Step 1: Discovery

./scripts/scan.py

Review output to see what will be migrated.

Step 2: Backup & Consolidate

./scripts/consolidate.py

Creates backups, builds

.env

, sets permissions.

Step 3: Validation

./scripts/validate.py

Ensures everything is secure and correct.

Step 4: Test Test your applications/skills with the new

.env

file.

Step 5: Cleanup

./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm

Removes old credential files (backups remain).

For Skill Developers: Enforce This Standard

Other OpenClaw skills MUST validate credentials are secure before using them:

Python Skills

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys
from pathlib import Path
Add credential-manager scripts to path
sys.path.insert(0, str(Path.home() / '.openclaw/skills/credential-manager/scripts'))
Enforce secure .env (exits if not compliant)
from enforce import require_secure_env, get_credential
require_secure_env()
Now safe to load credentials
api_key = get_credential('SERVICE_API_KEY')

Bash Skills

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
Validate .env exists and is secure
if ! python3 ~/.openclaw/skills/credential-manager/scripts/enforce.py; then
exit 1
fi
Now safe to load

source ~/.openclaw/.env

This creates a fail-fast system: If credentials aren't properly secured, skills refuse to run. Users are forced to fix it.

Loading Credentials

After migration, load from

.env

Python

import os
from pathlib import Path
Load .env
env_file = Path.home() / '.openclaw' / '.env'
with open(env_file) as f:
for line in f:
if '=' in line and not line.strip().startswith('#'):
key, val = line.strip().split('=', 1)
os.environ[key] = val
Use credentials
api_key = os.getenv('SERVICE_API_KEY')

Bash

# Load .env
set -a
source ~/.openclaw/.env
set +a
Use credentials

echo "$SERVICE_API_KEY"

Using Existing Loaders

If you migrated using OpenClaw scripts:

from load_credentials import get_credentials
creds = get_credentials('x')

Adding New Credentials

Edit

~/.openclaw/.env

# Add new service
NEW_SERVICE_API_KEY=your_key_here
NEW_SERVICE_SECRET=your_secret_here

Update template too:

# Edit .env.example
NEW_SERVICE_API_KEY=your_key_here
NEW_SERVICE_SECRET=your_secret_here

Rollback

If something goes wrong:

# Find your backup
ls -la ~/.openclaw/backups/
Restore specific file

cp ~/.openclaw/backups/credentials-old-YYYYMMDD/x-credentials.json.bak 

~/.config/x/credentials.json

Notes

Non-destructive by default: Original files backed up before removal
Idempotent: Safe to run multiple times
Extensible: Add custom credential patterns in scripts
Secure: Never logs full credentials, only metadata

Credential Manager

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