Guide

Keep API keys out of your AI chats

Keep API keys out of AI chats by storing them in an encrypted vault on your machine and letting your AI fetch each key when it needs it. Vibedna's Vault does this, is free and open source under the MIT license, and sweeps your project for keys left in plain text.

Last checked 2026-10-25 against the live Vault page.

Why keys end up in chats

Keys end up pasted into chats, config files and notes, because that is the fastest thing to do at the moment you need one. Months later nobody knows which of six services that token belongs to, and it is in a file history forever. The fix is to make the fast thing also the clean thing.

How it works

Everything goes in once

Each key, token and password is encrypted on your machine behind a password only you know.

Your AI takes what it needs

It asks the vault for the exact key at the moment it needs it. You never paste one into a conversation again.

It checks your work

A sweep of your project reports any key left sitting in plain text, with the file and the line, before it ever reaches a commit.

What it does

One password

Every key, token and password is encrypted on your machine.

Fetched on demand

Your AI takes the key it needs by itself, when it needs it.

Finds leftovers

It knows what a real key looks like and catches twelve providers, not just yours.

It also opens on its own, by double click, when you just want to look something up.

Where it stops

If you lose the password, the file is gone, and that is what keeps your keys private, so keep the password somewhere you trust. The Vault protects against leaking and forgetting on your machine. It is not a shared team vault.

The Vault is free. What it feeds is not.

Start with the Vault at no cost and read the code first. Once your AI is using real tools, Ultra opens every studio, every System and every journal for US$47 a month, with WebLoom Pro included while the plan is active, and your keys stay in the vault, not in the chat.

Get the Vault free →

Ready for the tools? See Ultra. It can be cancelled any time; what you exported stays yours.

Questions

Is the Vault free?

Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT license, and you can read the code before you use it.

Does my AI see the key?

Yes. Your AI receives the key when it fetches it from the vault. What changes is that you never paste a key into a conversation, and the sweep finds the keys left behind in plain text, with the file and the line.

What if I forget the vault password?

The file is gone. That is what keeps the keys private, so store the password somewhere you trust.

Can a team share one vault?

No. It protects against leaking and forgetting on your machine. It is not a shared team vault.