Secure Credentials in MATLAB

Handle API keys, tokens, passwords, and passphrases with the MATLAB Vault, an encrypted store built into MATLAB, instead of hardcoding them. This skill covers the credential — storing it, retrieving it, and passing it into a connection to any authenticated service.

When to Use

• Connecting to any authenticated service or connection from MATLAB — a REST API, database, cloud storage, SFTP/FTP server, message queue, or any other.
• Any code that handles an API key, bearer token, password, or SSH key passphrase.
• Writing CI / batch / scheduled MATLAB that needs credentials with no user present.
• Refactoring credential-handling code, or persisting a config that includes a secret.
• A request to "keep credentials out of code," "don't commit secrets," or "do this the secure way."

When NOT to Use

• Writing the connection/query/transfer logic itself when no credential is involved (e.g. a public API, a local file), or cleaning/transforming/aggregating data once it is in a table or timetable — use the relevant data-import skill (e.g. matlab-analyze-data, matlab-use-database).
• Integrating a third-party secret manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault) — out of scope.
• OS-level or non-MATLAB key management.

Decision Guide: Which Mechanism

Pick the mechanism by how the credential is supplied, not by habit.

The rule is don't hardcode secrets — not "never use environment variables." getenv is the right tool when the secret is already a process env var; the vault is the right default for credentials you store.

Workflow

1. Decide the mechanism using the Decision Guide above.
2. Store or populate the credential:
   • Single secret, interactively: setSecret("MyApiToken") (MATLAB prompts for the value — never pass it as an argument; it takes only the name).
   • A set of secrets at once: importSecrets("secrets.env") loads names+values into the vault with no prompt — handy both for interactive setup and for non-interactive/CI.
3. Retrieve at point of use with getSecret("MyApiToken"), or hand a secretID("MyApiToken") to APIs that accept one (they resolve it at call time, so the value never lives in a variable).
4. Wire it into the connection — see Patterns below.
5. Verify with isSecret("MyApiToken") before reading or removing, and confirm no secret value appears in the script, logs, or any saved file.

Key Functions

Patterns

Store once, retrieve at use

% One-time, at the MATLAB prompt (prompts for the value — do NOT type the secret in code):
setSecret("MyApiToken");

% In your script, read it only where needed:
token = getSecret("MyApiToken");

Optionally record metadata such as an expiry so callers can check freshness before use:

% Metadata values are stored in a dictionary; wrap each value in a cell:
setSecretMetadata("MyApiToken", dictionary("Expires", {datetime(2026,12,31)}));

md = getSecretMetadata("MyApiToken");
expiry = md{"Expires"};            % {} indexing returns the stored value
if expiry < datetime("today")
    error("MyApiToken expired on %s — rotate it with setSecret(...,Overwrite=true).", expiry);
end
token = getSecret("MyApiToken");

Rotate or update a secret

setSecret(...,Overwrite=true) replaces the value of an existing secret — the normal way to rotate a credential (replace it with a new value, e.g. periodically or after expiry). Without Overwrite, setSecret errors on a name that already exists.

setSecret("MyApiToken", Overwrite=true);   % prompts for the new value

REST call with a bearer token

Fetch the token from the vault and set it in the Authorization header.

token = getSecret("MyApiToken");
opts = weboptions( ...
    HeaderFields = ["Authorization", "Bearer " + token], ...
    ContentType  = "json");
data = webread("https://api.example.com/v1/data", opts);

For basic auth, hand weboptions a secretID so the value is resolved at request time and never sits in a variable:

username = getenv("API_USER");   % REPLACE: your service-account user name
opts = weboptions(Username=username, Password=secretID("MyApiPassword"));
data = webread("https://api.example.com/v1/data", opts);

For lower-level requests, matlab.net.http.Credentials also accepts a secretID:

cred = matlab.net.http.Credentials(Password=secretID("MyApiPassword"));

SFTP with a passphrase-protected key

keyFile = fullfile(userpath, "id_rsa");   % REPLACE: path to your private key
s = sftp("sftp.example.com", "reportuser", ...
    PrivateKeyFile       = keyFile, ...
    PrivateKeyPassphrase = getSecret("SftpKeyPassphrase"));
c = onCleanup(@() close(s));
localPaths  = mget(s, "/reports/nightly.csv", tempdir);
reportTable = readtable(localPaths{1});

Password auth instead of a key:

s = sftp("sftp.example.com", "reportuser", Password=getSecret("SftpPassword"));

Database connection

Store the password in the vault and read it at connect time. Keep host/port/database in code; keep the credential out.

conn = postgresql("svc-account", getSecret("PgPassword"), ...
    Server       = "db-prod-01", ...
    PortNumber   = 5432, ...
    DatabaseName = "analytics");
c = onCleanup(@() close(conn));
tables = sqlfind(conn, "");

For a reusable, shareable setup, save a data source once (via the Database Explorer app or databaseConnectionOptions + saveAsDataSource) and connect by name, supplying the password from the vault:

conn = postgresql("analyticsDataSource", "svc-account", getSecret("PgPassword"));

Cloud storage (S3 / Azure Blob / GCS)

MATLAB's file I/O (readtable, datastore, etc.) reads cloud URIs directly and picks up credentials from the SDK's environment variables. When you hold explicit keys, source them from the vault and set the env vars the SDK expects; when running on cloud infrastructure, prefer an attached IAM role and set nothing.

% Explicit keys held in the vault -> set the SDK env vars from getSecret:
setenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID",     getSecret("AwsAccessKeyId"));
setenv("AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY", getSecret("AwsSecretAccessKey"));
setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION",    "us-east-1");   % REPLACE: bucket region
T = readtable("s3://acme-data/prices/latest.csv");

If the code runs on an EC2 instance / role-enabled environment, skip the keys entirely — the IAM role supplies credentials and no secret needs to live anywhere.

Passing a credential into a function

When a function accepts credentials from its caller, carry a secretID (a reference), never the value. It resolves to the secret only where getSecret is called.

Build the config — it carries a reference, not the token:

config = struct( ...
    "BaseUrl", "https://api.example.com/v1", ...
    "Token",   secretID("MyApiToken"));

Use the config inside the function — resolve the secret only at the point of use:

function report = fetchReport(config)
    arguments
        config (1,1) struct
    end
    token = getSecret(config.Token.Name);
    opts  = weboptions(HeaderFields = ["Authorization", "Bearer " + token]);
    report = webread(config.BaseUrl + "/report", opts);
end

Load a set of secrets at once (setup or CI)

importSecrets loads names+values from a secrets file into the vault with no prompt — useful both for one-shot interactive setup and for headless jobs (where setSecret cannot be used, since it is interactive-only).

% secrets.env — a dotenv file (e.g. from CI secret storage), never committed — with lines like:
%   MyApiToken=abc123
%   PgPassword=hunter2
importSecrets("secrets.env");     % FileType="auto" (default) detects the dotenv format
token = getSecret("MyApiToken");

If the runner injects a credential directly as a process environment variable rather than a file, getenv("MY_TOKEN") is the correct read — no vault needed.

Conventions

• Always: reach for the vault (setSecret/getSecret) as the default for credentials you store; guard removeSecret with isSecret.
• Always: to load several secrets at once, or in any headless/CI context, use importSecrets, not setSecret.
• Never: hardcode a secret in a .m file, or write a secret value into a struct or a log — pass a secretID reference instead.
• Prefer: passing secretID(...) to weboptions/Credentials over materializing the value with getSecret when the API accepts a reference.
• Env vars are fine when the credential is genuinely a process env var (CI secret, cloud SDK convention) — don't over-correct into the vault where it adds nothing.

Common Mistakes

Errors and What They Mean

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