Secrets Management

Secrets Management Skill

Purpose

Ensure secure handling of API keys, tokens, and credentials in MCP server development. Zero tolerance for hardcoded secrets.

When to Use

• ✅ Adding external API integrations
• ✅ Configuring CI/CD pipelines with secrets
• ✅ Setting up MCP server authentication
• ✅ Managing GitHub tokens for MCP servers
• ✅ Reviewing code for credential exposure

Golden Rules

Rule 1: Never Commit Secrets

// ❌ NEVER: Hardcoded credentials
const API_KEY = "sk_live_abc123def456";

// ✅ CORRECT: Environment variables
const API_KEY = process.env['EP_API_KEY'] ?? '';

Rule 2: Use Environment Variables

// MCP server configuration
const config = {
  timeout: Number.parseInt(process.env['EP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS'] ?? '10000'),
  baseUrl: process.env['EP_BASE_URL'] ?? 'https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2',
};

Rule 3: GitHub Secrets for CI/CD

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
env:
  EP_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.EP_API_KEY }}
  NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Rule 4: MCP Server Token Security

MCP server tokens are injected at runtime by the GitHub Copilot environment via .github/copilot-mcp.json. Secrets are never stored in configuration files — GitHub resolves ${{ secrets.* }} references during workflow execution:

# .github/copilot-mcp.json uses secret references (resolved by GitHub at runtime)
# The MCP client receives actual token values — never template strings
# See .github/copilot-mcp.json for the canonical configuration

Environment variables for local development:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_your_token_here"  # Set in shell, never in code

Detection and Prevention

.gitignore Must Include

.env
.env.local
.env.production
*.key
*.pem
secrets/
credentials/

Pre-commit Scanning

# GitHub enables secret scanning automatically
# Additional: npm audit, CodeQL analysis

Incident Response

If a secret is committed:

1. ✅ Rotate the compromised secret immediately
2. ✅ Revoke old secret from all systems
3. ✅ Review access logs for unauthorized access
4. ✅ Clean git history if possible
5. ✅ Document incident

ISMS Policy References

Core policies:

• Cryptography Policy — Primary policy: Key lifecycle, approved algorithms, key rotation, secure storage
• Access Control Policy — Secrets access: least privilege, separation of duties, just-in-time
• Secure Development Policy — Never commit secrets, pre-commit scanning, CI secret scanning
• Information Security Policy — Confidentiality is a core security property

Supporting policies:

• Incident Response Plan — Secret-leak incident handling (rotate → revoke → review logs → disclose)
• Segregation of Duties Policy — Separate secret-producer from consumer roles
• Change Management — Rotation as a controlled change
• Open Source Policy — Public-repo hygiene, no secrets in SBOM / artefacts