Vault SecretRefs

Vault SecretRefs

The bundled Vault plugin lets OpenClaw resolve exec SecretRefs from HashiCorp Vault at Gateway startup and reload time. OpenClaw stores Vault references in config, keeps resolved values in the in-memory secrets snapshot, and does not write the resolved API keys back to openclaw.json.

Use this when you already run Vault or want model provider keys to live outside OpenClaw config files. For the SecretRef runtime model, see Secrets management.

Before you begin

You need:

• OpenClaw with the bundled vault plugin available
• a reachable Vault server
• Vault auth that can produce a client token with read access to the secret paths OpenClaw should resolve
• the environment that starts the Gateway must include VAULT_ADDR and either VAULT_TOKEN, OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=token_file with VAULT_TOKEN_FILE, or a configured JWT/Kubernetes login

The resolver talks to Vault over HTTP from Node. The Gateway does not need the Vault CLI to resolve SecretRefs.

Enable the bundled plugin before running the openclaw vault commands:

openclaw plugins enable vault

Store a provider key in Vault

OpenClaw defaults to KV v2 mounted at secret, matching Vault dev-server examples. For production Vault, set OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_MOUNT to your actual KV mount path before creating SecretRef ids. With the OpenClaw defaults, this SecretRef id:

providers/openrouter/apiKey

reads this Vault field:

secret/data/providers/openrouter -> apiKey

One way to create it with the Vault CLI is:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<openrouter-api-key>
vault kv put secret/providers/openrouter apiKey="$OPENROUTER_API_KEY"

Use a scoped client token for OpenClaw, not a root token. For the default KV v2 layout, a minimal policy for model provider keys looks like:

path "secret/data/providers/*" {
  capabilities = ["read"]
}

Make Vault visible to the Gateway

For an uncontainerized local Gateway, export Vault settings in the same shell that starts OpenClaw. The default auth method reads a Vault client token from VAULT_TOKEN:

export VAULT_ADDR=https://vault.example.com
export VAULT_TOKEN=<vault-client-token>

If Vault Agent writes a token sink file, use token-file auth:

export VAULT_ADDR=https://vault.example.com
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=token_file
export VAULT_TOKEN_FILE=/vault/secrets/token

For a Vault server signed by a private CA, either install that CA in the host trust store and enable Node system trust:

export NODE_USE_SYSTEM_CA=1

Or provide a PEM bundle directly:

export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/path/to/vault-ca.pem

These variables must be present when OpenClaw starts. The Vault plugin forwards them to its resolver process.

For non-interactive JWT auth, use a workload JWT file and a Vault role of type jwt:

export VAULT_ADDR=https://vault.example.com
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=jwt
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_MOUNT=jwt
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_ROLE=openclaw
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_JWT_FILE=/var/run/secrets/tokens/vault

The JWT file should be a projected workload token, such as a Kubernetes service account token with an audience accepted by the Vault role. Interactive OIDC browser login is useful for humans, but Gateway runtime needs non-interactive JWT login or a token file.

For Vault’s Kubernetes auth method, use kubernetes. This is intended for Gateways running as Pods; the default mount is kubernetes, and the default JWT file is the standard service account token path:

export VAULT_ADDR=https://vault.example.com
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=kubernetes
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_ROLE=openclaw

Set OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_MOUNT only when Vault mounted Kubernetes auth somewhere other than auth/kubernetes. Set OPENCLAW_VAULT_JWT_FILE only when the service account token is projected at a custom path.

Optional settings:

export VAULT_NAMESPACE=<namespace-name>
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_MOUNT=secret
export OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_VERSION=2

Check what the current shell can see:

openclaw vault status

When more than one Vault-backed secret provider is configured, select one by alias:

openclaw vault status --provider-alias corp-vault

openclaw vault status never prints VAULT_TOKEN; it reports only whether the token, token file, and JWT file are set.

If the Gateway runs as a service, LaunchAgent, systemd unit, scheduled task, or container, that runtime environment must receive the same Vault variables. Setting variables in an interactive shell only proves that shell, not the already-running Gateway.

Generate and apply a SecretRef plan

Create a plan that maps OpenRouter’s model provider API key to Vault:

openclaw vault setup \
  --plan-out ./vault-secrets-plan.json \
  --openrouter-id providers/openrouter/apiKey

Apply and verify the plan:

openclaw secrets apply --from ./vault-secrets-plan.json --dry-run --allow-exec
openclaw secrets apply --from ./vault-secrets-plan.json --allow-exec
openclaw secrets audit --check --allow-exec
openclaw secrets reload

Use --allow-exec because the Vault plugin resolves through an OpenClaw-managed exec SecretRef provider.

If the Gateway is not running yet, start it normally after applying the plan instead of running openclaw secrets reload.

Configure more provider keys

Built-in shortcuts:

openclaw vault setup --openai-id providers/openai/apiKey
openclaw vault setup --anthropic-id providers/anthropic/apiKey
openclaw vault setup --openrouter-id providers/openrouter/apiKey

Multiple provider keys in one plan:

openclaw vault setup \
  --plan-out ./vault-secrets-plan.json \
  --openai-id providers/openai/apiKey \
  --anthropic-id providers/anthropic/apiKey \
  --openrouter-id providers/openrouter/apiKey

Bundled providers without shortcuts, or already-configured OpenAI-compatible and custom model providers, use --provider-key:

openclaw vault setup \
  --plan-out ./vault-secrets-plan.json \
  --provider-key local-openai=providers/local-openai/apiKey \
  --provider-key groq=providers/groq/apiKey

Each --provider-key <provider=id> writes a SecretRef to models.providers.<provider>.apiKey. For custom providers, it does not create the provider’s baseUrl, api, or models settings; configure those first.

Use --target <path=id> for any known SecretRef target path:

openclaw vault setup \
  --target channels.telegram.botToken=channels/telegram/botToken \
  --target models.providers.openai.headers.x-api-key=providers/openai/proxyKey \
  --target auth-profiles:main:profiles.openai.key=providers/openai/apiKey

Bare target paths apply to openclaw.json. Use auth-profiles:<agentId>:<path> for existing auth-profiles.json targets. The target path must be a registered OpenClaw SecretRef target. The setup command does not create arbitrary named secrets in OpenClaw; Vault remains the secret store, and OpenClaw stores SecretRefs only on supported config fields.

SecretRef id format

Vault SecretRef ids use this convention:

<vault-secret-path>/<field>

Examples:

SecretRef id	Default KV v2 Vault read	Returned field
providers/openrouter/apiKey	secret/data/providers/openrouter	apiKey
providers/openai/apiKey	secret/data/providers/openai	apiKey
teams/agent-prod/openrouter	secret/data/teams/agent-prod	openrouter

The returned Vault field must be a string.

For KV v1, set:

export OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_VERSION=1

Then providers/openrouter/apiKey reads:

secret/providers/openrouter -> apiKey

What OpenClaw stores

Applying a Vault setup plan stores a plugin-managed provider:

{
  "source": "exec",
  "pluginIntegration": {
    "pluginId": "vault",
    "integrationId": "vault"
  }
}

Credential fields point at that provider:

{ "source": "exec", "provider": "vault", "id": "providers/openrouter/apiKey" }

The resolved value lives only in the active runtime secrets snapshot.

Containers and managed deployments

Containerized Gateways still use the same plugin and SecretRef config. The container must receive:

• VAULT_ADDR
• one auth source:
  • VAULT_TOKEN
  • OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=token_file plus VAULT_TOKEN_FILE
  • OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=jwt plus OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_MOUNT, OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_ROLE, and OPENCLAW_VAULT_JWT_FILE
  • OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=kubernetes plus OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_ROLE; optionally override OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_MOUNT or OPENCLAW_VAULT_JWT_FILE
• optional VAULT_NAMESPACE, OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_MOUNT, and OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_VERSION

When using Kubernetes, prefer OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=kubernetes when Vault has Kubernetes auth configured for the cluster. Use OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_METHOD=jwt only when Vault is configured to treat the cluster as a generic JWT/OIDC issuer. Either option is better than a long-lived Vault token in a Kubernetes Secret. Vault Agent sidecar or injector deployments can use token_file instead.

For multi-tenant Vault setups, keep tenant routing in Vault policy and deployment config. OpenClaw does not require a fixed mount, role, or path: each Gateway environment can set its own OPENCLAW_VAULT_KV_MOUNT, OPENCLAW_VAULT_AUTH_ROLE, and SecretRef ids. If one shared Gateway must resolve different Vault users at the same time, use manually configured exec providers that wrap distinct auth environments, or split tenants across Gateway environments with separate Vault env.

Related

• Secrets management
• openclaw secrets
• Plugin inventory