Secret Handling

What it does

Example prompts

• “/secret-handling”

Requirements

• A credential in OPENAI_API_KEY
• A credential in GITHUB_TOKEN

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Ask the user directly — "What's the database connection string?"
2. 2Read .env.example — shows structure without exposing secrets
3. 3Read documentation — check README.md, docs/, config guides

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 774df00. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • git

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • OPENAI_API_KEY
  • GITHUB_TOKEN
  • DB_PASSWORD
  • API_KEY

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Secret Handling loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 20 tokens; SKILL.md has 549 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~20

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:3

  description: Never read .env files or write secrets to .squad/ committed files

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:11

  ess to the entire repository, including `.env` files containing live credentials. If an agent reads secrets and writes t

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:18

  - `.env` (production secrets)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:19

  - `.env.local` (local dev secrets)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:20

  - `.env.production` (production environment)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:21

  - `.env.development` (development environment)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:22

  - `.env.staging` (staging environment)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:23

  - `.env.test` (test environment with real credentials)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:24

  - Any file matching `.env.*` UNLESS explicitly allowed (see below)

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:36

  **NEVER assume you can "just peek at .env to understand the schema."** Use `.env.example` or ask.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from microsoft/waza at commit 774df00, republished under its MIT licence (© microsoft). 549 words, ~1,868 tokens.

name

secret-handling

description

Never read .env files or write secrets to .squad/ committed files

domain

security, file-operations, team-collaboration

confidence

high

source

earned (issue

Agent: "What environment variables does this app need?"
→ Reads `.env.example`:
    OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
    DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/db
    REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

→ Writes to .squad/decisions/inbox/river-env-setup.md:
    "App requires three environment variables:
    - OPENAI_API_KEY (OpenAI API key, format: sk-...)
    - DATABASE_URL (Postgres connection string)
    - REDIS_URL (Redis connection string)
    See .env.example for full schema."

Agent: (reads .env)
    DATABASE_URL=postgres://admin:super_secret_pw@prod.example.com:5432/appdb

→ Writes to .squad/decisions/inbox/river-db-schema.md:
    "Database connection: postgres://admin:super_secret_pw@prod.example.com:5432/appdb"
    
🚨 VIOLATION: Live credential written to committed file

Agent: (reads .env.example OR asks user)
User: "It's a Postgres database, schema is in migrations/"

→ Writes to .squad/decisions/inbox/river-db-schema.md:
    "Database: Postgres (connection configured in .env). Schema defined in db/migrations/."

# Stage files
git add .squad/

# Scan staged content for secrets
$stagedContent = git diff --cached
$secretPatterns = @(
    '[A-Z_]+(?:KEY|TOKEN|SECRET)=[^\s]+',
    '(?:PASSWORD|PASS|PWD)[:=]\s*["'']?[^\s"'']+',
    'eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\.eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]+'
)

$detected = $false
foreach ($pattern in $secretPatterns) {
    if ($stagedContent -match $pattern) {
        $detected = $true
        Write-Host "🚨 SECRET DETECTED: $($matches[0])"
        break
    }
}

if ($detected) {
    # Remove from staging, report, exit
    git reset HEAD .squad/
    Write-Error "Commit blocked — secret detected in staged files"
    exit 1
}

# Safe to commit
git commit -F $msgFile

© microsoft, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .copilot/skills/secret-handling of microsoft/waza.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 774df00

Used in 4 other repositories

We found 5 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 4 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in microsoft/waza, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

• FritzAndFriends/SharpSite.copilot/skills/secret-handling
• kubefleet-dev/kubefleet.github/skills/secret-handling
• bradygaster/squad.copilot/skills/secret-handling.squad-templates/skills/secret-handling
• olivomarco/github-copilot-token-optimization.copilot/skills/secret-handling