.env exports to user env vars daily — MCPs read from system env

rule Fri Jul 03 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) rulesagentenvmcpsecretssops

.env → user env vars, refreshed daily

Rule

.env.enc (sops+age encrypted) → .env (gitignored) → user-scope Windows environment variables → MCP servers read at launch. Single source of truth: .env.

No secrets committed. No secrets in .mcp.json. No per-agent auth file duplication.

Mechanic

1. Age key — imported once per machine from Bitwarden (~/.age/keys.txt or SOPS_AGE_KEY env var).
2. .env.enc — committed to workspace, sops+age encrypted.
3. sync-env-to-system-env.ps1 — decrypts .env.enc → .env, reads every KEY=VALUE, calls [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(key, value, 'User').
4. Windows Scheduled Task Oriz-SyncEnv — runs the script at logon + daily 09:00. Registered by scripts/register-scheduled-tasks.ps1.
5. MCP servers — reference secrets via ${env:VAR_NAME} in their config (e.g. .mcp.json, ~/.config/opencode/opencode.jsonc).
6. Per-agent auth (Anthropic key, OpenAI key) — same pattern; agent reads from env.

Why user-scope, not machine-scope

• User-scope: no admin needed, per-user isolation.
• Machine-scope: needs admin, shared across users on same machine (unnecessary).
• Both survive reboots; both refresh on logon.

Why refresh daily

• Age key rotation → refresh picks up new decrypt.
• New MCP added to .env.enc → auto-propagates within 24h.
• Manual override: pwsh scripts/sync-env-to-system-env.ps1 for immediate effect.

Anti-patterns

• ❌ Committing .env (gitignored, but never bypass)
• ❌ Hardcoding secrets in .mcp.json — always ${env:VAR}
• ❌ Per-agent duplicated auth files (.opencode/auth.json, .kilocode/creds.json) — read from user env
• ❌ Age key committed anywhere — Bitwarden-only per machine

Cross-refs

• [[decisions/agent-tooling/fleet-cc-opencode-kilo-2026-07-03]] — MCP-per-agent + env pattern
• [[rules/security/no-hardcoded-secrets]]
• [[services/business/secrets/sops-plus-doppler-hybrid]]
• Script: scripts/sync-env-to-system-env.ps1
• Registration: scripts/register-scheduled-tasks.ps1