@nodatachat/protect

Encrypt your .env secrets. Run your app safely. A stolen .env file alone is useless ciphertext.

Default since 1.3.0 (Apr 20 2026). Older v1 .env files keep working — upgrade them in place with nodata encrypt --upgrade. The --legacy flag forces the old key-bundled-in-file behavior if you need it for a specific environment.

Quick Start

# Setup (creates free API key — no signup, no credit card)
npx @nodatachat/protect init

# Encrypt all secrets in .env
npx @nodatachat/protect encrypt

# Run your app with decrypted env vars (in memory only)
npx @nodatachat/protect run -- npm run dev

Stuck on any step? Run nodata doctor. It performs 9 checks (config, API key, network, server heartbeat, device binding, .env state…) and prints the exact command to fix anything that's off — plus a privacy note showing exactly what it touched.

How It Works

Before:  OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-Ax7Q...                   (plaintext — matches scraper regex)
After:   OPENAI_API_KEY=aes256gcm:v2:x8Kd:cipher:wrapId   (encrypted — key wrapped server-side¹)

Runtime: npx @nodatachat/protect run -- npm start
         → calls NoData server with API key + device_id → server unwraps DEK → returns plaintext
         → CLI injects into subprocess RAM → secrets never written to disk

Commands

| Command | What it does | |---------|-------------| | npx @nodatachat/protect init | Create API key, save to ~/.nodata/config.json | | npx @nodatachat/protect encrypt | Encrypt secrets in .env file (v2 by default) | | npx @nodatachat/protect encrypt --legacy | Encrypt as v1 (key bundled in file) — emergency fallback | | npx @nodatachat/protect encrypt --upgrade | Re-encrypt existing v1 entries as v2 (in-place, with backup) | | npx @nodatachat/protect decrypt | Decrypt .env back to plaintext | | npx @nodatachat/protect run -- <cmd> | Run command with decrypted env vars (memory only) | | npx @nodatachat/protect status | Show config + encrypted count | | npx @nodatachat/protect doctor | Full self-diagnostic (9 checks + suggested next steps + privacy note) | | npx @nodatachat/protect doctor --verbose | Same, plus the full command catalog | | npx @nodatachat/protect sign <file> | Sign a single file → writes <file>.nodatasig sidecar | | npx @nodatachat/protect sign --dir <path> | Sign a whole folder (Merkle tree) → one .nodata-tree.sig at root | | npx @nodatachat/protect sign <file> --region <id> | Sign a marked region (between @nodata-sign-begin/-end <id>) | | npx @nodatachat/protect verify <file> | Verify a signed file | | npx @nodatachat/protect verify --dir <path> | Verify the tree manifest — surfaces every added/removed/modified file | | npx @nodatachat/protect verify <file> --region <id\|all> | Verify region(s) — flags any silent edits |

What Gets Encrypted?

Auto-detects secrets by key name:

• *_API_KEY, *_SECRET, *_TOKEN, *_PASSWORD
• DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, MONGO_*
• AWS_*, STRIPE_*, OPENAI_*, ANTHROPIC_*
• And 20+ more patterns...

Non-secret values (PORT, NODE_ENV, etc.) are left as-is.

Security Model

| State | Without NoData | With NoData (v2, default) | |-------|---------------|-------------------------------| | On disk (.env) | Plaintext | aes256gcm:v2:iv:cipher:wrapId (key not in file) | | In Git (accident) | Bots scrape in seconds | Bots skip; targeted attacker also stuck — needs API key + matching device_id | | In CI/CD logs | sk-proj-... leaks | aes256gcm:v2:... leaks (just an opaque ID — useless without server) | | In memory (runtime) | Plaintext | Plaintext (same) | | Automated scraper bot | Full access | Skipped — 95% of real leaks | | Targeted technical attacker | Full access | Cannot decode without an authenticated server call from the owning device | | Server (NoData) | N/A | Never persists plaintext; audit metadata only; server-held KEK wraps every per-encrypt DEK |

Legacy v1 (aes256gcm:v1:iv:cipher:KEY) bundled the AES key inside the file, so a motivated attacker with the file alone could decrypt it. v1 is still supported for decrypt and via --legacy for emergency encrypt; upgrade existing v1 files with nodata encrypt --upgrade.

Changelog

• 1.3.0 (Apr 20 2026) — v2 server-held KEK is the default. New --upgrade migrates v1 → v2 in place. New --legacy flag forces v1 if needed.
• 1.2.0 — Recognized v2 ciphertext on decrypt; encrypt still defaulted to v1.
• 1.1.0 — Initial public release.

Cryptographic Proof

Every encryption and decryption is logged with HMAC-SHA256 proof:

• Proof of encryption — you know when each secret was encrypted
• Proof of access — every decryption leaves a signed receipt
• Proof of control — your data is yours, even after it leaves your machine

Claude Code Integration

Add the NoData security skill to Claude Code so it automatically protects your projects:

# Create the skill directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/nodata-protect

# Download the skill
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/daviderez4/nodatachat-core/main/skill/nodata-protect/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/nodata-protect/SKILL.md

Once installed, Claude Code will:

• Detect unprotected .env files in your projects
• Suggest encrypting secrets automatically
• Add dev:safe scripts to your package.json
• Verify .gitignore covers sensitive files

Environment Variables

Override config with environment variables:

• NODATA_API_KEY — API key (overrides ~/.nodata/config.json)
• NODATA_SERVER — Server URL (default: https://www.nodatacapsule.com)

Free Tier

Unlimited encrypt + decrypt on a single device, with signed receipts on every operation. No credit card, no signup form. Just run npx @nodatachat/protect init.

Internal business use is free too — including small businesses, agencies, contractors working on client projects, CI pipelines. The only thing the license forbids is repackaging Protect itself as a competing service. See LICENSE.md.

Burst protection: 120 calls / minute (per IP). Daily volume: see your tier in nodata doctor.

License

Functional Source License (FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0). Source-available. You can read every line on GitHub, audit it, fork it, contribute via PR. Personal and internal-business use is free forever. The one thing forbidden during the active window is offering Protect as a competing hosted service.

The license auto-converts to Apache 2.0 on 2028-04-25 — every version published before that date becomes fully open source. We're not closing the door, we're delaying it by two years.

Same model used by Sentry, Keygen, Outline.

Signing code (folders, files, regions)

Beyond .env encryption, Protect can also sign source code so any edit is provable:

# Sign a single file
nodata sign main.ts

# Sign a whole folder — Merkle tree, single sidecar at root
nodata sign --dir src/

# Sign a marked region inside a file
# (in main.ts, wrap the code with markers)
#   // @nodata-sign-begin payment-flow
#   ... your code ...
#   // @nodata-sign-end payment-flow
nodata sign main.ts --region payment-flow

# Verify nothing has been silently edited
nodata verify --dir src/                       # whole tree
nodata verify main.ts --region payment-flow    # single region
nodata verify main.ts --region all             # every region in the file

Marker comment styles supported: // (JS/TS/C/Go/Rust/Java), # (Python/shell/Ruby/YAML), -- (SQL/Lua), /* ... */ (CSS), <!-- ... --> (HTML).

The bundled Claude Code Skill (skill/SKILL.md) tells AI assistants to refuse modifying signed regions without first running verify and asking the human — so an over-eager AI rewrite cannot silently break your chain of custody.

Troubleshooting

If a command fails, the first thing to run is:

npx @nodatachat/protect doctor

It runs 9 checks (config dir, device id, API key from 5 sources, nickname, network, heartbeat, tier + features, device binding, .env detection) and prints the exact command to fix each failing step. The bottom of every run includes a privacy note explaining what doctor read and what (if anything) it transmitted.