--- name: credential-manager description: MANDATORY security foundation for OpenClaw. Consolidate scattered API keys and credentials into a secure .env file with proper permissions. Use when setting up OpenClaw, migrating credentials, auditing security, or enforcing the .env standard. This is not optional — centralized credential management is a core requirement for secure OpenClaw deployments. Scans for credential files across common locations, backs up existing files, creates a unified .env with mode 600, validates security, and enforces best practices. ---

Credential Manager

STATUS: MANDATORY SECURITY FOUNDATION

Consolidate scattered API keys and credentials into a secure, centralized .env file.

⚠️ This Is Not Optional

Centralized .env credential management is a core requirement for OpenClaw security. If your credentials are scattered across multiple files, stop and consolidate them now.

THE RULE: All credentials MUST be in ~/.openclaw/.env ONLY. No workspace, no skills, no scripts directories.

See:

• CORE-PRINCIPLE.md - Why this is non-negotiable
• CONSOLIDATION-RULE.md - The single source principle

The Foundation

Every OpenClaw deployment MUST have:

~/.openclaw/.env (mode 600)

This is your single source of truth for all credentials. No exceptions.

Why?

• Single location = easier to secure
• File mode 600 = only you can read
• Git-ignored = won't accidentally commit
• Validated format = catches errors
• Audit trail = know what changed

Scattered credentials = scattered attack surface. This skill fixes that.

What This Skill Does

1. Scans for credentials in common locations
2. Backs up existing credential files (timestamped)
3. Consolidates into ~/.openclaw/.env
4. Secures with proper permissions (600)
5. Validates security and format
6. Enforces best practices
7. Cleans up old files after migration

Detection Parameters

The skill automatically detects credentials by scanning for:

File Patterns:

• credentials.json files in config directories
• .env files
• Memory files with -creds or credentials in the name

Sensitive Key Patterns:

• API keys, access tokens, bearer tokens
• Secrets, passwords, passphrases
• OAuth consumer keys
• Private keys, signing keys, wallet keys
• Mnemonics and seed phrases

Security Checks:

• File permissions (must be 600)
• Git-ignore protection
• Format validation

Quick Start

Full Migration (Recommended)

# Scan for credentials
./scripts/scan.py

# Review and consolidate
./scripts/consolidate.py

# Validate security
./scripts/validate.py

Individual Operations

# Scan only
./scripts/scan.py

# Consolidate specific service
./scripts/consolidate.py --service x

# Backup without removing
./scripts/consolidate.py --backup-only

# Clean up old files
./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm

Common Credential Locations

The skill scans these locations:

~/.config/*/credentials.json
~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*-creds.json
~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*credentials*.json
~/.env (if exists, merges)

Security Features

✅ File permissions: Sets .env to mode 600 (owner only) ✅ Git protection: Creates/updates .gitignore ✅ Backups: Timestamped backups before changes ✅ Validation: Checks format, permissions, and duplicates ✅ Template: Creates .env.example (safe to share)

Output Structure

After migration:

~/.openclaw/
├── .env                     # All credentials (secure)
├── .env.example             # Template (safe)
├── .gitignore               # Protects .env
├── CREDENTIALS.md           # Documentation
└── backups/
    └── credentials-old-YYYYMMDD/  # Backup of old files

Supported Services

Common services auto-detected:

• X (Twitter): OAuth 1.0a credentials
• Molten: Agent intent matching
• Moltbook: Agent social network
• Botchan/4claw: Net Protocol
• OpenAI, Anthropic, Google: AI providers
• GitHub, GitLab: Code hosting
• Generic: API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET patterns

See references/supported-services.md for full list.

Security Best Practices

See references/security.md for detailed security guidelines.

Quick checklist:

• ✅ .env has 600 permissions
• ✅ .env is git-ignored
• ✅ No credentials in code or logs
• ✅ Rotate keys periodically
• ✅ Use separate keys per environment

Scripts

All scripts support --help for detailed usage.

scan.py

# Scan and report
./scripts/scan.py

# Include custom paths
./scripts/scan.py --paths ~/.myapp/config ~/.local/share/creds

# JSON output
./scripts/scan.py --format json

consolidate.py

# Interactive mode (prompts before changes)
./scripts/consolidate.py

# Auto-confirm (no prompts)
./scripts/consolidate.py --yes

# Backup only
./scripts/consolidate.py --backup-only

# Specific service
./scripts/consolidate.py --service molten

validate.py

# Full validation
./scripts/validate.py

# Check permissions only
./scripts/validate.py --check permissions

# Fix issues automatically
./scripts/validate.py --fix

cleanup.py

# Dry run (shows what would be deleted)
./scripts/cleanup.py

# Actually delete old files
./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm

# Keep backups
./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm --keep-backups

Migration Workflow

Step 1: Discovery

./scripts/scan.py

Review output to see what will be migrated.

Step 2: Backup & Consolidate

./scripts/consolidate.py

Creates backups, builds .env, sets permissions.

Step 3: Validation

./scripts/validate.py

Ensures everything is secure and correct.

Step 4: Test Test your applications/skills with the new .env file.

Step 5: Cleanup

./scripts/cleanup.py --confirm

Removes old credential files (backups remain).

For Skill Developers: Enforce This Standard

Other OpenClaw skills MUST validate credentials are secure before using them:

Python Skills

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys
from pathlib import Path

# Add credential-manager scripts to path
sys.path.insert(0, str(Path.home() / '.openclaw/skills/credential-manager/scripts'))

# Enforce secure .env (exits if not compliant)
from enforce import require_secure_env, get_credential

require_secure_env()

# Now safe to load credentials
api_key = get_credential('SERVICE_API_KEY')

Bash Skills

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# Validate .env exists and is secure
if ! python3 ~/.openclaw/skills/credential-manager/scripts/enforce.py; then
    exit 1
fi

# Now safe to load
source ~/.openclaw/.env

This creates a fail-fast system: If credentials aren't properly secured, skills refuse to run. Users are forced to fix it.

Loading Credentials

After migration, load from .env:

Python

import os
from pathlib import Path

# Load .env
env_file = Path.home() / '.openclaw' / '.env'
with open(env_file) as f:
    for line in f:
        if '=' in line and not line.strip().startswith('#'):
            key, val = line.strip().split('=', 1)
            os.environ[key] = val

# Use credentials
api_key = os.getenv('SERVICE_API_KEY')

Bash

# Load .env
set -a
source ~/.openclaw/.env
set +a

# Use credentials
echo "$SERVICE_API_KEY"

Using Existing Loaders

If you migrated using OpenClaw scripts:

from load_credentials import get_credentials
creds = get_credentials('x')

Adding New Credentials

Edit ~/.openclaw/.env:

# Add new service
NEW_SERVICE_API_KEY=your_key_here
NEW_SERVICE_SECRET=your_secret_here

Update template too:

# Edit .env.example
NEW_SERVICE_API_KEY=your_key_here
NEW_SERVICE_SECRET=your_secret_here

Rollback

If something goes wrong:

# Find your backup
ls -la ~/.openclaw/backups/

...