Environment Secrets in Develop Mode

Use Environment Secrets when a coding task needs an API key or token for an external service. You choose the environment variable names your code expects, and Ileen supplies their values to the coding agent’s subprocess environment during Develop task execution.

Applies to: Develop Mode · project-level configuration

Add secrets to a project

Open your Develop Mode project and go to Project Overview.
Find the Environment Secrets card below the database configuration and click Manage.
In the modal, enter a Name (for example, STRIPE_API_KEY), its Value, and an optional Label to help identify it. Do not put sensitive information in names or labels.
Click Add another secret for additional variables.
Click Save to store the set for this project.

Names are converted to uppercase. Use uppercase letters, digits, and underscores; the first character must be a letter or underscore. Names must be unique within the project. Use the name your application or tooling actually expects, such as STRIPE_API_KEY or SERVICE_API_TOKEN.

Values are encrypted at rest in secure secret storage. Saved values are not returned to the interface: the project card shows names with a fixed mask, and reopening Manage leaves the value fields blank. The show/hide control only reveals a value you are currently entering, not a previously saved value.

Update or remove secrets

Open Manage again to edit the project set:

Action	What happens when you save
Keep an existing name and leave its value blank	The existing value for that same name is preserved
Enter a value for an existing name	The saved value is replaced
Add a new name or rename a secret	A value is required for the new name; the old value is not automatically transferred
Remove a row with its trash button	That secret is removed from the saved set
Change a label only	Keep the same name and leave the value blank to preserve the secret

Save replaces the whole set, not just the rows you edited. Removed rows are deleted only when you save. To clear the set, use Remove all and confirm with Yes, remove.

Changes apply when a subsequent coding task loads the project secrets. Do not rely on editing or removing a secret to revoke credentials already supplied to a running task; revoke or rotate the credential at its issuing service if necessary.

Use secrets in coding tasks

Refer to the variable name, not its value, in your request. For example:

“Use STRIPE_API_KEY from the environment to test the integration against the sandbox. Do not print the key or write it to files.”

Ileen retrieves the project’s secrets and injects them into the coding agent subprocess environment. The secret configuration flow does not insert values into task prompts or write them into your repositories. Tools and commands run by the coding agent can use those environment variables.

This is a Develop coding-task feature, not automatic configuration for every agent, your local shell, or your deployed application. Configure your deployment environment separately. Repository access tokens and the database connection remain managed through their dedicated configuration flows.

Reserved names

Platform-managed environment variable names are reserved and rejected when saving. These include repository credentials and database variables such as GIT_REPOSITORY_URL, GIT_ACCESS_TOKEN, GIT_PROVIDER, GH_TOKEN, DATABASE_CONNECTION_URI, and PROJECT_DATABASE_URL, as well as internal platform credential and configuration names.

If saving reports that a name is reserved, choose a different custom name and update your application or tooling to read it. Do not use Environment Secrets to override platform credentials.

Keep access limited

Use sandbox or test credentials where possible, with only the permissions the task needs.
Never paste secret values into chat, task prompts, project documents, or Lessons Learned, and never commit them to a repository or .env file.
Avoid tasks that print environment variables or copy credentials into files. Environment injection allows the coding agent’s tools to access the values; it is not a guarantee that arbitrary commands cannot expose them.
Rotate credentials at the issuing service when needed, then enter the replacement value in Manage and save.

For related setup, see Git credentials, Database connection, and Task Plans.