dotnet-secrets-management

What problem does it solve?

This Skill addresses the critical need to securely manage sensitive configuration data like API keys, database connection strings, and passwords within .NET applications, preventing accidental exposure and ensuring compliance.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Secure Local Development: Utilizes dotnet user-secrets for safe local secret storage outside the repository.
• Production Secrets: Leverages environment variables for secure injection in staging and production environments.
• Configuration Binding: Integrates with .NET's IConfiguration and Options pattern for strongly-typed access and validation.
• Secret Rotation: Provides patterns for zero-downtime secret rotation.
• Managed Identity: Recommends managed identity as a best practice for cloud-hosted applications to eliminate secrets entirely.
• Anti-Patterns: Clearly outlines what NOT to do, such as hardcoding secrets or storing them in appsettings.json.

Quick Start

Use the dotnet-secrets-management skill to securely set a new database connection string for local development.