> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.jacobpevans.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Security > How secrets move through the JacobPEvans ecosystem — one tool per job, clear boundaries between AI-readable and human-only. > Seven secrets tools, one job each. The boundary between AI-readable and human-only is structural, not policy. This site is the single public source of truth for the secrets-management story. Each repo's `README.md` keeps only the literal commands its workflow needs; the narrative lives here. ## The four-tier model Every secret lives in exactly one of four tiers, and the tier — not the tool — decides who can read it and how. This is the organizing frame for everything below; the [tools comparison](/security/comparison) has the full matrix and the bootstrap, read-path, and DR flows. | Tier | Role | Tool | Who reads it | | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **T1 — Repo-local** | Encrypted-at-rest config that travels with the code | SOPS + age | AI and machines, via a path-gated local age key | | **T2 — Runtime manager** | Self-hosted source of truth for live machine credentials; the **primary AI/machine interface** and the global flow-lease authority | OpenBao | AI and machines, via AppRole / signed SSH cert — no human in the loop | | **T3 — Strict cloud** | Cloud keys-to-the-kingdom; holds *secret-zero* that bootstraps T2 | Doppler | Machines for a narrow set; AI only under explicit, per-use human approval | | **T4 — Never-AI human** | Break-glass and crown jewels | Bitwarden | Humans only, at a keyboard, with a second factor | The default automation path is T2: an always-on agent authenticates as itself and gets scoped, expiring credentials with zero interactive prompts. `aws-vault` and automated `macOS Keychain` reads are interactive-convenience paths whose machine side folds into T2. ## The boundary that matters | AI-readable (CI + dev) | Human-only | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | OpenBao (T2, primary), Doppler (T3, human-approved), `automation` keychain, AWS Vault session, SOPS in-repo, BWS via bridge | Bitwarden vault (T4), `elevate-access` keychain | ## Which tool for which secret | Tool | Use it for | Deep dive | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | | **Doppler** | AI provider keys (`AI_TOKEN`, Copilot, HuggingFace, provider-specific fallbacks); GitHub Actions secrets distributed via `secrets-sync`; dryvist org-level Doppler integration | [doppler](/security/tools/doppler) | | **macOS Keychain** | Tiered GitHub PATs (`RESTRICTED`, `PRIVATE`, `ADMIN`); BWS access token; Claude Code OAuth credential | [macos-keychain](/security/tools/macos-keychain) | | **AWS Vault** | AWS credentials per OpenTofu root (one profile per root) | [aws-vault](/security/tools/aws-vault) | | **Mozilla SOPS** | Encrypted OpenTofu / Ansible vars committed to git; initial-bootstrap passwords; internal topology | [sops](/security/tools/sops) | | **Bitwarden vault** | SSH keys, recovery codes, age-key escrow, account passwords — AI tools never reach this | [bitwarden](/security/tools/bitwarden) | | **BWS** | Programmatic AI tokens that cannot use the shared `AI_TOKEN` convention, fetched via the Python bridge | [bws](/security/tools/bws) | | **OpenBao** | The T2 runtime manager (live, 2-node): the primary AI/machine credential interface, SSH CA for automation, and the global flow-lease authority | [openbao](/security/tools/openbao) | ## What this section covers The four-tier model in full — the tool matrix and the bootstrap, read-path, and DR flows. The fifteen non-negotiables. Every other page is just an implementation of one of these. Multi-diagram tour of every secret flow — CI, local dev, AI sessions. How Tier 1 secrets reach 20+ GitHub repos through one workflow. Why AI tools structurally cannot view protected token values. Canonical placeholders for IPs, domains, usernames, and tokens in every committed file. For dryvist-internal specifics (workspace names, account IDs, internal topology), see [`docs.dryvist.com`](https://docs.dryvist.com).