> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.phidata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add Secrets

Secret management is a critical part of your application security and should be taken seriously.

Local secrets are defined in the `worspace/secrets` directory which is excluded from version control (see `.gitignore`). Its contents should be handled with the same security as passwords.

Production secrets are managed by [AWS Secrets Manager](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/secretsmanager/latest/userguide/intro.html).

<Note>
  Incase you're missing the secrets dir, copy `workspace/example_secrets`
</Note>

## Development Secrets

Apps running locally can read secrets using a `yaml` file, for example:

```python dev_resources.py theme={null}
dev_fastapi = FastApi(
    ...
    # Read secrets from secrets/dev_app_secrets.yml
    secrets_file=ws_settings.ws_root.joinpath("workspace/secrets/dev_app_secrets.yml"),
)
```

## Production Secrets

`AWS Secrets` are used to manage production secrets, which are read by the production apps.

```python prd_resources.py theme={null}
# -*- Secrets for production application
prd_secret = SecretsManager(
    ...
    # Create secret from workspace/secrets/prd_app_secrets.yml
    secret_files=[
        ws_settings.ws_root.joinpath("workspace/secrets/prd_app_secrets.yml")
    ],
)

# -*- Secrets for production database
prd_db_secret = SecretsManager(
    ...
    # Create secret from workspace/secrets/prd_db_secrets.yml
    secret_files=[ws_settings.ws_root.joinpath("workspace/secrets/prd_db_secrets.yml")],
)
```

Read the secret in production apps using:

<CodeGroup>
  ```python FastApi theme={null}
  prd_fastapi = FastApi(
      ...
      aws_secrets=[prd_secret],
      ...
  )
  ```

  ```python RDS theme={null}
  prd_db = DbInstance(
      ...
      aws_secret=prd_db_secret,
      ...
  )
  ```
</CodeGroup>

Production resources can also read secrets using yaml files but we highly recommend using [AWS Secrets](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/secretsmanager/latest/userguide/intro.html).