# Secrets

Concept · [Cloud, hosting and security](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/cloud)

Also called: secret, environment variable, environment variables, env vars, env var, env file, leaked key, secret management

[Passwords](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/authentication), [API keys](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/api-key) and other credentials that software needs to run. They are kept out of the code, usually in settings called environment variables, because a secret saved in a [repository](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/repository) stays findable in its history.

**For example:** A [developer](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/software-engineer) saves a [database](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/database) [password](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/authentication) in the code and pushes it to a public [repository](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/repository). The team has to change the password, because deleting the line does not remove it from the history.

## Connects to (8)

- [API key](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/api-key): A secret code that identifies your app to another service so that service will answer its API requests.
- [Repository](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/repository): The folder where a project's code lives, together with the full history of every change made to it.
- [Environment](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/environment): A separate copy of a system used for one purpose.
- [Encryption](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/encryption): Scrambling data with a key so only someone with the right key can read it.
- [Multi-factor authentication](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/mfa): A sign-in that asks for more than one kind of proof, drawn from something a person knows, something a person has and something a person is.
- [Sandbox](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/sandbox): A walled-off space where an agent can run commands and change files without reaching the rest of your computer, your accounts or the open…
- [Key rotation](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/key-rotation): Replacing passwords, API keys and other secrets on a schedule or after a possible leak, so an old stolen key stops working.
- [1Password](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/1password): A password manager.

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/secrets