Frequently asked questions

A desktop app for Windows that stores your passwords and environment variables (API keys, database URLs, S3 credentials…) in an encrypted vault on your computer. It also acts as an MCP server so Claude Code and Claude Desktop can use those secrets in your projects without ever seeing their values.

Developers, freelancers and teams who work with Claude and handle many secrets: one vault per project, prod and dev environments, and a precise control over what an AI assistant can use.

A .env file is plain text: it gets copied, synced, sometimes committed. Secret Local keeps values encrypted, lets you choose which ones Claude can use and in which folders, asks for your approval when you want, and keeps a history of every use.

It can: it stores passwords with URL, username and 2FA codes, checks their health and imports CSV and Bitwarden exports. But it was designed first for developer secrets and their use by Claude.

Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit). The app uses Windows Credential Manager and Windows Hello.

English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese (Brazil), in the app as on this website.

Claude only receives the names of the entries you allowed. When it runs a command, Secret Local injects the values as environment variables of that command and masks them in its output, including when they appear encoded in base64, hex or URL form.

Yes, only for variables you explicitly mark as “readable”, such as a region or a non-sensitive port. Everything else stays masked.

Each time Claude wants to use that entry, the app shows the command and the entry concerned and waits for your approval, for up to 2 minutes. Without an answer, the request is denied.

No. An entry restricted to a folder is only available to commands that run in that folder. Paths are resolved and checked by the app, and attempts to go around them are refused.

Open the Claude page of the app and click Install for Claude Code or Claude Desktop. Secret Local writes the MCP configuration for you; you can remove it the same way.

Yes, for the entries you allowed: the MCP server has its own encrypted store. Your PIN locks only protect the app interface. Every use appears in the Claude activity.

Only on your computer, in your Windows profile, encrypted. We never receive your secrets: there is no cloud sync and no account needed to use the vault.

With XChaCha20-Poly1305. The key is derived from your PIN with Argon2id and combined with a device key kept in Windows Credential Manager, so a copy of the files alone is useless.

Use one of the recovery codes generated when you created your PIN. Keep them somewhere safe: without PIN or codes, nobody can open the vault, not even us.

Only for two optional features: checking your passwords against known breaches (only the first 5 characters of a SHA-1 hash are sent, following the k-anonymity model) and checking for updates.

No account and no tracking. Downloads and update checks send no identifier: the app only tells the site its platform and installed version.

Each version is signed. The app checks the signature before installing anything, so a modified file is refused.

Yes. You can download it, use every feature and receive every update without paying anything.

No. The app works without any account, and your vault never leaves your computer.

No. The app only goes online for two optional features: checking passwords against known breaches and looking for updates.

As many as you like. Each installation has its own vault; use an encrypted backup to move your data.

Download the installer from the Download page, run it, create your PIN and save your recovery codes. Then connect Claude from the Claude page.

The app checks this site for new versions and offers to install them. Every version is signed, and the app verifies the signature before installing.

Yes: export an encrypted .slvault backup with its own passphrase, then import it on the other computer.

Yes: CSV, Bitwarden exports and .env files. The built-in tools also convert between .env, JSON and YAML.

Six tools: list the allowed entries and their tags, read the usage notes, run a command with their variables, check a .env.example file and read the values marked readable. None of them returns a masked value.