Environment Files & Secrets

Use Settings > Env Files & Secrets to manage project configuration.

This page has three areas:

Environment Files for uploading and editing encrypted .env files
Managed Vercel Staging Export for downloading staging environment variables from managed Vercel projects
Secrets for adding API keys to managed Vercel projects and the development environment

Environment Files

Upload .env files when you want Cofounder to store project configuration as editable variables.

After upload, open the file to view and edit individual variables.

Managed Vercel Staging Export

When a managed app or marketing Vercel project exists, Cofounder can download that project's staging environment variables as a .env file.

If no managed project is available yet, the project selector and download action stay disabled.

Secrets

Use Add Secret for API keys that should be pushed directly to a managed Vercel project.

Choose the secret name, value, target environments, and project. The Staging environment is sent to Vercel Preview behind the scenes. Secret values are sent to Vercel and are not stored in our systems.

Turn on Development environment when code running in the agent's sandbox needs to use the secret through an environment variable. This is useful for local verification against a third-party API, payment provider, or internal service.

Secrets marked this way show a Development badge. You can change development environment access later from the pencil icon and save with Save Development Access.

Only enable a secret for the development environment when the task needs it. Do not paste secret values into task messages or chat.

How Agent Secret Access Stays Safe

Agent access does not mean the raw credential is written into the conversation or stored in the workspace.

When a sandbox starts, the agent can use the same environment variable name, such as STRIPE_SECRET_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY. The value inside the sandbox is a placeholder, not the raw secret.

When sandbox code makes a brokered network request with that placeholder, Cofounder's trusted backend swaps in the real credential for the outbound request. This lets the code call the service without exposing the secret value to the agent's files, chat messages, or normal command output.

If a task no longer needs the credential, turn off Development environment for that secret.