SecretRef credential surface

This page defines the canonical SecretRef credential surface: which credential fields accept a SecretRef (env/file/exec-backed reference) instead of a raw secret value.

Scope:

• In scope: strictly user-supplied credentials that OpenClaw does not mint or rotate.
• Out of scope: runtime-minted or rotating credentials, OAuth refresh material, and session-like artifacts.

The lists below are generated from the source target registry and checked against docs/reference/secretref-user-supplied-credentials-matrix.json in CI; do not hand-edit entries.

Supported credentials

openclaw.json targets (secrets configure + secrets apply + secrets audit)

• models.providers.*.apiKey
• models.providers.*.headers.*
• models.providers.*.request.auth.token
• models.providers.*.request.auth.value
• models.providers.*.request.headers.*
• models.providers.*.request.proxy.tls.ca
• models.providers.*.request.proxy.tls.cert
• models.providers.*.request.proxy.tls.key
• models.providers.*.request.proxy.tls.passphrase
• models.providers.*.request.tls.ca
• models.providers.*.request.tls.cert
• models.providers.*.request.tls.key
• models.providers.*.request.tls.passphrase
• skills.entries.*.apiKey
• agents.defaults.memorySearch.remote.apiKey
• agents.list[].tts.providers.*.apiKey
• agents.list[].memorySearch.remote.apiKey
• talk.providers.*.apiKey
• talk.realtime.providers.*.apiKey
• messages.tts.providers.*.apiKey
• tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.apiKey
• plugins.entries.acpx.config.mcpServers.*.env.*
• plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.codex.config.appServer.authToken
• plugins.entries.codex.config.appServer.headers.*
• plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.google-meet.config.realtime.providers.*.apiKey
• plugins.entries.google.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.moonshot.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.minimax.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.tavily.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.parallel.config.webSearch.apiKey
• plugins.entries.voice-call.config.realtime.providers.*.apiKey
• plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.providers.*.apiKey
• plugins.entries.voice-call.config.tts.providers.*.apiKey
• plugins.entries.voice-call.config.twilio.authToken
• tools.web.search.*.apiKey
• tools.web.search.apiKey
• gateway.auth.password
• gateway.auth.token
• gateway.remote.token
• gateway.remote.password
• cron.webhookToken
• channels.telegram.botToken
• channels.telegram.webhookSecret
• channels.telegram.accounts.*.botToken
• channels.telegram.accounts.*.webhookSecret
• channels.slack.botToken
• channels.slack.appToken
• channels.slack.relay.authToken
• channels.slack.userToken
• channels.slack.signingSecret
• channels.slack.accounts.*.botToken
• channels.slack.accounts.*.appToken
• channels.slack.accounts.*.relay.authToken
• channels.slack.accounts.*.userToken
• channels.slack.accounts.*.signingSecret
• channels.sms.authToken
• channels.sms.accounts.*.authToken
• channels.clickclack.token
• channels.clickclack.accounts.*.token
• channels.discord.token
• channels.discord.pluralkit.token
• channels.discord.voice.tts.providers.*.apiKey
• channels.discord.accounts.*.token
• channels.discord.accounts.*.pluralkit.token
• channels.discord.accounts.*.voice.tts.providers.*.apiKey
• channels.irc.password
• channels.irc.nickserv.password
• channels.irc.accounts.*.password
• channels.irc.accounts.*.nickserv.password
• channels.feishu.appSecret
• channels.feishu.encryptKey
• channels.feishu.verificationToken
• channels.feishu.accounts.*.appSecret
• channels.feishu.accounts.*.encryptKey
• channels.feishu.accounts.*.verificationToken
• channels.qqbot.clientSecret
• channels.qqbot.accounts.*.clientSecret
• channels.msteams.appPassword
• channels.mattermost.botToken
• channels.mattermost.accounts.*.botToken
• channels.matrix.accessToken
• channels.matrix.password
• channels.matrix.accounts.*.accessToken
• channels.matrix.accounts.*.password
• channels.nextcloud-talk.botSecret
• channels.nextcloud-talk.apiPassword
• channels.nextcloud-talk.accounts.*.botSecret
• channels.nextcloud-talk.accounts.*.apiPassword
• channels.zalo.botToken
• channels.zalo.webhookSecret
• channels.zalo.accounts.*.botToken
• channels.zalo.accounts.*.webhookSecret
• channels.googlechat.serviceAccount via sibling serviceAccountRef (compatibility exception)
• channels.googlechat.accounts.*.serviceAccount via sibling serviceAccountRef (compatibility exception)

auth-profiles.json targets (secrets configure + secrets apply + secrets audit)

• profiles.*.keyRef (type: "api_key"; unsupported when auth.profiles.<id>.mode = "oauth")
• profiles.*.tokenRef (type: "token"; unsupported when auth.profiles.<id>.mode = "oauth")

Notes:

• Auth-profile plan targets require agentId; plan entries target profiles.*.key / profiles.*.token and write sibling refs (keyRef / tokenRef). Auth-profile refs are included in runtime resolution and audit coverage.
• In openclaw.json, SecretRefs must use structured objects such as {"source":"env","provider":"default","id":"DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN"}. Legacy secretref-env:<ENV_VAR> marker strings are rejected on SecretRef credential paths; run openclaw doctor --fix to migrate valid markers.
• OAuth policy guard: auth.profiles.<id>.mode = "oauth" cannot be combined with SecretRef inputs for that profile. Startup/reload and auth-profile resolution fail fast when this policy is violated.
• For SecretRef-managed model providers, generated agents/*/agent/models.json entries persist non-secret markers (not resolved secret values) for apiKey/header surfaces. Marker persistence is source-authoritative: OpenClaw writes markers from the active source config snapshot (pre-resolution), not from resolved runtime secret values.
• Cold Gateway startup can isolate resolution failures for mapped owners. The initial mapped owners are models.providers.* and the built-in TTS capability (messages.tts.providers.*, agents.list[].tts.providers.*, and channel voice TTS provider keys). Startup keeps each failed owner's explicit refs in the runtime snapshot, reports the owner through status and doctor, and rejects requests for that owner without trying environment or profile credentials. Gateway ingress auth remains required. Structurally invalid refs or values and currently unmapped owners fail startup. Reload and config-write preflight remain strict and retain the last-known-good snapshot.
• For web search: in explicit provider mode (tools.web.search.provider set), only the selected provider key is active. In auto mode (tools.web.search.provider unset), only the first provider key that resolves by precedence is active, and non-selected provider refs are treated as inactive until selected. Legacy tools.web.search.* provider paths still resolve during the compatibility window, but the canonical SecretRef surface is plugins.entries.<plugin>.config.webSearch.*.

Unsupported credentials

These credentials are minted, rotated, session-bearing, or OAuth-durable classes that do not fit read-only external SecretRef resolution:

• commands.ownerDisplaySecret
• hooks.token
• hooks.gmail.pushToken
• hooks.mappings[].sessionKey
• auth-profiles.oauth.*
• channels.discord.threadBindings.webhookToken
• channels.discord.accounts.*.threadBindings.webhookToken
• channels.whatsapp.creds.json
• channels.whatsapp.accounts.*.creds.json

Related

• Secrets management
• Auth credential semantics