Secrets Manager Installation

Before you begin

You'll need:

A ByteHide account and project token
Node.js 12+ or a modern JavaScript environment
npm or yarn package manager

Key Features

Easy initialization with environment variables or programmatic setup
Environment-aware secrets for dev, staging, and production
Synchronous and asynchronous APIs for flexible usage
Automatic caching with configurable TTL
Memory encryption options for additional security
Support for Node.js backend and browser environments

Installation Options

Add the ByteHide Secrets SDK to your project using one of these methods:

npm

npm install @bytehide/secrets

yarn

yarn add @bytehide/secrets

Environment Setup

Required Environment Variables

The SDK requires these environment variables:

BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_TOKEN - Your ByteHide project token
BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_ENVIRONMENT - The environment name (defaults to "production" if not set)

Node.js Projects

Create a .env file in your project root:

BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_TOKEN=your-project-token
BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_ENVIRONMENT=development

Browser Projects

For browser-based projects, you'll need to inject environment variables at build time:

Webpack

// webpack.config.js
const webpack = require('webpack');

module.exports = {
  // ...
  plugins: [
    new webpack.DefinePlugin({
      'window.env': JSON.stringify({
        BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_ENVIRONMENT: 'production',
        BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_TOKEN: 'your-project-token'
      })
    })
  ]
};

Vite

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';

export default defineConfig({
  define: {
    'window.env': {
      BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_ENVIRONMENT: 'production',
      BYTEHIDE_SECRETS_TOKEN: 'your-project-token'
    }
  }
});

Initialize the SDK

The SDK can be initialized automatically or manually.

Automatic Initialization

If you've set up environment variables, the SDK will auto-initialize:

import { SecretsManager } from "@bytehide/secrets";

// No explicit initialization needed if environment variables are set
async function main() {
  const apiKey = await SecretsManager.get("API_KEY");
  console.log("API key:", apiKey);
}

Manual Initialization

For testing or special scenarios, you can initialize manually:

import { SecretsManager } from "@bytehide/secrets";

// Not recommended for production - use environment variables instead
SecretsManager.unsecureInitialize("your-project-token", "development");

const secret = SecretsManager.getSync("TEST_SECRET");

Security Notice

The unsecureInitialize method is not recommended for production as it may expose your token. Always use environment variables in production environments.

Verify Installation

After initializing the SDK, verify it's working by accessing a test secret:

import { SecretsManager } from "@bytehide/secrets";

// Async verification
async function verifySetup() {
  try {
    const secret = await SecretsManager.get("TEST_SECRET");
    console.log("Secret retrieved successfully!");
    return true;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error accessing secret:", error);
    return false;
  }
}

// Or synchronous verification
try {
  const secret = SecretsManager.getSync("TEST_SECRET");
  console.log("Secret retrieved successfully!");
} catch (error) {
  console.error("Error accessing secret:", error);
}

Configuring Caching

By default, the SDK caches secrets in memory with a 5-minute TTL (time-to-live). You can customize this:

// Disable caching
SecretsManager.configureCache(false);

// Or set a custom TTL (in milliseconds)
SecretsManager.configureCache(true, 10 * 60 * 1000); // 10 minutes

// Clear the cache manually
SecretsManager.clearCache();

Production Deployment

In production, set environment variables through your hosting platform:

Vercel/Netlify: Environment variables section
AWS Lambda/EC2: Environment configuration
Heroku: Config vars
Docker: ENV directives or environment flags
Kubernetes: ConfigMaps or Secrets