# Secrets

Keep private values behind their declared scope and distinguish permission from disclosure.

A secret is a private value with controlled use and scope. A name, handle or permission to request work is not the value itself. Keep credentials out of logs, prompts and launcher text.

## Separate metadata from values

The service exposes secret metadata, scope, grants, recipients, replacement and retirement through distinct operations. A client should request only the operation its task requires. A listing is not evidence that the client may reveal the stored value.

## Agent execution

A reviewed launch can refer to the credentials and accounts its harness requires. The credential must remain at its intended boundary: selecting an account is not permission to forward its private value into an unrelated broker or tool.

## Sealed hand-off

The standalone cryptographic CLI can seal bytes to a recipient's key and attest to the envelope. Opening verifies the expected sender before decrypting and writes plaintext to a private output file. The syntax is in [Command line](/lys/reference/cli/).

## Replacement and retirement

Replacing a value, changing scope and retiring a secret are distinct changes with separate admission. Retain their receipts and investigate a refused operation before repeating it.