vastai-security-basics

name	vastai-security-basics
description	Apply Vast.ai security best practices for secrets and access control. Use when securing API keys, implementing least privilege access, or auditing Vast.ai security configuration. Trigger with phrases like "vastai security", "vastai secrets", "secure vastai", "vastai API key security".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Grep
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>

Vast.ai Security Basics

Overview

Security best practices for Vast.ai API keys, tokens, and access control.

Prerequisites

• Vast.ai SDK installed
• Understanding of environment variables
• Access to Vast.ai dashboard

Instructions

Step 1: Configure Environment Variables

# .env (NEVER commit to git)
VASTAI_API_KEY=sk_live_***
VASTAI_SECRET=***

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Step 2: Implement Secret Rotation

# 1. Generate new key in Vast.ai dashboard
# 2. Update environment variable
export VASTAI_API_KEY="new_key_here"

# 3. Verify new key works
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VASTAI_API_KEY}" \
  https://api.vastai.com/health

# 4. Revoke old key in dashboard

Step 3: Apply Least Privilege

Environment	Recommended Scopes
Development	read:*
Staging	read:*, write:limited
Production	Only required scopes

Output

• Secure API key storage
• Environment-specific access controls
• Audit logging enabled

Error Handling

Security Issue	Detection	Mitigation
Exposed API key	Git scanning	Rotate immediately
Excessive scopes	Audit logs	Reduce permissions
Missing rotation	Key age check	Schedule rotation

Examples

Service Account Pattern

const clients = {
  reader: new Vast.aiClient({
    apiKey: process.env.VASTAI_READ_KEY,
  }),
  writer: new Vast.aiClient({
    apiKey: process.env.VASTAI_WRITE_KEY,
  }),
};

Webhook Signature Verification

import crypto from 'crypto';

function verifyWebhookSignature(
  payload: string, signature: string, secret: string
): boolean {
  const expected = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret).update(payload).digest('hex');
  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(signature), Buffer.from(expected));
}

Security Checklist

• API keys in environment variables
• .env files in .gitignore
• Different keys for dev/staging/prod
• Minimal scopes per environment
• Webhook signatures validated
• Audit logging enabled

Audit Logging

interface AuditEntry {
  timestamp: Date;
  action: string;
  userId: string;
  resource: string;
  result: 'success' | 'failure';
  metadata?: Record<string, any>;
}

async function auditLog(entry: Omit<AuditEntry, 'timestamp'>): Promise<void> {
  const log: AuditEntry = { ...entry, timestamp: new Date() };

  // Log to Vast.ai analytics
  await vastaiClient.track('audit', log);

  // Also log locally for compliance
  console.log('[AUDIT]', JSON.stringify(log));
}

// Usage
await auditLog({
  action: 'vastai.api.call',
  userId: currentUser.id,
  resource: '/v1/resource',
  result: ,
});

Resources

• Vast.ai Security Guide
• Vast.ai API Scopes

Next Steps

For production deployment, see vastai-prod-checklist.