chamber
A CLI tool for managing secrets using AWS SSM Parameter Store and Secrets Manager as backends.
What is chamber?
Chamber is a CLI tool for managing application secrets, primarily using AWS SSM Parameter Store and AWS Secrets Manager as secure backends. It solves the problem of securely storing, versioning, and accessing sensitive configuration data like API keys and database credentials in a cloud-native environment. It provides commands to write, read, list, and export secrets, integrating seamlessly with AWS IAM for access control.
DevOps engineers, SREs, and developers working in AWS environments who need a secure and auditable way to manage secrets for their applications and services.
Developers choose Chamber for its tight integration with AWS services, providing a simple CLI interface to leverage AWS's built-in encryption, versioning, and IAM policies without managing custom secret storage infrastructure. Its focus on audit trails and environment variable injection streamlines both local development and deployment workflows.
Overview
CLI for managing secrets
Use Cases
Best For
- Managing secrets for AWS-based applications and microservices
- Injecting environment variables with secrets for local development or container execution
- Auditing secret changes and maintaining a version history for compliance
- Migrating secrets between environments or formats using import/export
- Organizing secrets by service or project within an AWS account
- Securely sharing secrets across teams with AWS IAM policies
Not Ideal For
- Teams operating exclusively in non-AWS cloud environments like GCP or Azure
- Projects needing a graphical user interface or web dashboard for secret management
- Organizations requiring a fully self-hosted, open-source secret server without AWS dependencies
- Simple applications where secrets can be managed with environment files or basic configs without audit trails
Pros & Cons
Pros
Leverages AWS SSM Parameter Store and Secrets Manager for encryption at rest with KMS, ensuring secrets are stored securely without custom infrastructure, as detailed in the KMS setup section.
Automatically versions secrets and provides a detailed history with timestamps and user info via the 'history' command, aiding compliance and change tracking.
The 'exec' command populates environment variables with secrets for local execution or processes, simplifying development and deployment workflows.
Supports importing and exporting secrets in multiple formats like JSON, YAML, and dotenv, facilitating migration and backup, as shown in the export/import commands.
Organizes secrets by service with tagging support, allowing for better access control and organization, evident in the 'list-services' and tagging features.
Cons
Tightly coupled to AWS services; migrating away requires significant effort, and non-AWS backends like S3 are experimental and not production-ready.
Major versions like v3.0 and v2.0 introduced breaking changes (e.g., path-based API requirement), forcing manual migrations and disrupting workflows.
Requires setting up specific KMS keys with aliases like 'parameter_store_key', adding complexity for initial setup compared to simpler secret managers.
CLI-only interface lacks a web dashboard, and the ecosystem is smaller than alternatives like HashiCorp Vault, limiting third-party integrations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
aws-vaultA vault for securely storing and accessing AWS credentials in development environments
blackboxSafely store secrets in Git/Mercurial/Subversion
credstashA little utility for managing credentials in the cloud
confidantConfidant: your secret keeper. https://lyft.github.io/confidant
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