symvault

name	symvault
description	Use Symaira Vault as the credential manager for AI agents through native MCP tools. Prefer this when storing, retrieving, generating, or rotating passwords, tokens, API keys, and TOTP codes.

Symaira Vault

Symaira Vault is the credential store. Use native MCP tools when they are available. Do not use terminal commands for credential reads or writes unless the user explicitly asks for CLI debugging.

Preferred Tools

Canonical Symaira Vault MCP tool names:

• list_entries
• find_entries
• get_entry
• get_entry_metadata — Get entry metadata (created, updated, version) without sensitive data
• set_entry_field
• generate_password
• generate_totp
• delete_entry
• symaira_delete (deprecated alias for delete_entry)
• execute_with_secret — Run a shell command with a vault secret injected as an environment variable. The secret value never appears in the command string, argv, or chat transcript.
• execute_api_request — Make an authenticated HTTP request using a stored secret (API key, PAT, bearer token). The secret is attached by the server and never revealed to the agent.

Some MCP clients prepend a namespace (for example mcp_symaira_list_entries). If canonical names are unavailable, inspect the client's MCP tool list and map to these equivalents.

Safe API Request Example

To call the GitHub API with a stored PAT, use execute_api_request:

{
  "template": "github",
  "endpoint": "/repos/owner/repo/issues",
  "method": "GET"
}

Do NOT call get_entry_value followed by curl — this exposes the token in the chat transcript.

Anti-pattern: Manual secret exposure

Never pass a secret as an argv argument or echo it in a shell command. Use the secret-injecting tools so the value lives only in env vars of the spawned subprocess.

Cache Validation for Credential Sync

For agents that cache credentials locally, use get_entry_metadata to validate cache freshness before fetching full entries:

1. Cache the entry version when first retrieving a credential
2. Before using a cached credential, call get_entry_metadata to get the current version
3. If versions differ, the credential was updated — fetch fresh data with get_entry
4. This prevents using stale credentials that may cause HTTP 401 errors

Example workflow for API key management:

1. Get metadata: get_entry_metadata(path="api/kimi-key")
   → {version: 5, updated: "2026-04-21T09:45:00Z"}

2. Compare with cached version
   → If cached version < 5, fetch fresh: get_entry(path="api/kimi-key")

3. Use fresh credential for API call
   → If 401 error still occurs, credential is truly invalid (not just stale)

Usage Rules

• Search or list before reading if the exact path is unknown.
• Read only the entry needed for the task.
• Write credentials with set_entry_field; keep paths stable and descriptive.
• Generate passwords with generate_password instead of inventing them.
• Generate TOTP codes with generate_totp; do not expose the stored TOTP secret.
• Do not echo secrets, tokens, or passphrases in chat unless the user explicitly asks to reveal them.
• Prefer dedicated agent profiles such as hermes or openclaw over a shared human CLI profile.

Missing Credentials

If a task requires a credential that is not in the vault (e.g. find_entries or get_entry returns nothing for an expected path), do NOT ask the user to type the secret in chat. Call the request_credential MCP tool instead:

• path: where the credential should live (e.g. github/api-token)
• field: which field (token, password, api_key, …)
• reason: a one-sentence human-readable reason — this is shown verbatim in the dialog the user sees

Symaira Vault opens a native dialog (TTY box on terminal-attached runs, OS-native popup otherwise). The user types the value; you receive only a confirmation, never the value itself. Continue the task afterwards using execute_with_secret, copy_to_clipboard, or autotype — never re-derive or re-print the secret.

Expected Entry Shape

Entries are JSON-like objects. Common fields:

• username
• password
• url
• notes
• totp

For TOTP setup, totp is a JSON object containing the TOTP configuration. For one-time codes, call generate_totp instead of reading the TOTP secret.

Troubleshooting

• If tools are missing, ask the user to run hermes mcp test symvault or the equivalent MCP discovery command for their agent.
• If writes are denied, check the Symaira Vault agent profile: canWrite must be true and approvalMode should be none for non-interactive agents.
• If terminal commands are blocked by the agent security policy, keep using MCP; the terminal policy should not be loosened for normal credential work.