sops-encryption

# SOPS Encryption

Encrypt secrets in configuration files while keeping structure visible.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

- Encrypting secrets in Git

- Implementing GitOps with secrets

- Managing Kubernetes secrets as code

- Encrypting configuration files

Prerequisites

- SOPS installed

- KMS access (AWS, GCP, Azure) or PGP key

Installation

# macOS
brew install sops

# Linux
wget https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/download/v3.8.0/sops-v3.8.0.linux.amd64
chmod +x sops-v3.8.0.linux.amd64
mv sops-v3.8.0.linux.amd64 /usr/local/bin/sops

Basic Usage

# Encrypt with AWS KMS
sops --encrypt --kms arn:aws:kms:region:account:key/key-id secrets.yaml > secrets.enc.yaml

# Decrypt
sops --decrypt secrets.enc.yaml

# Edit encrypted file
sops secrets.enc.yaml

# Encrypt in place
sops --encrypt --in-place secrets.yaml

Configuration

# .sops.yaml
creation_rules:
  - path_regex: .*\.prod\.yaml$
    kms: arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:account:key/prod-key
  - path_regex: .*\.dev\.yaml$
    kms: arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:account:key/dev-key
  - path_regex: .*
    pgp: fingerprint

Kubernetes Integration

# encrypted secret
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: myapp-secrets
type: Opaque
stringData:
  password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:encrypted...]
sops:
  kms:
    - arn: arn:aws:kms:region:account:key/key-id

# With ArgoCD
# Install ksops plugin for ArgoCD to decrypt secrets

Best Practices

- Store .sops.yaml in repository

- Use different keys per environment

- Rotate encryption keys regularly

- Never commit unencrypted secrets

- Use key aliases for readability

Related Skills

- hashicorp-vault (`hashicorp-vault`) - Centralized secrets

- argocd-gitops (`argocd-gitops`) - GitOps integration

Limitations

- Apply guidance only within authorized scope; test destructive steps in non-production first.

- Docs-only import: upstream scripts and templates not bundled.

Example

# Read-only first: inventory before any active step.
which <tool> && <tool> --help | head -n 20

> Adapted from [BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills](https://github.com/BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills) (MIT); frontmatter, When to Use/Limitations, and safety boundaries added for upstream compliance. Docs-only import: helper scripts and templates not bundled.