SOPS + age Setup Wizard Skill

SOPS + age Setup Wizard

Interactive setup for SOPS + age encryption. Detects current state and guides through configuration.

Important: This skill uses YAML format for encrypted files (not dotenv) because SOPS has a known bug (#1435) where the dotenv store corrupts backslash and \n sequences on decrypt. A helper script handles dotenv↔YAML conversion transparently.

Pre-flight

Run the detection script to understand current state:

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/detect_sops.py <project-root>

Two-Phase Workflow

Phase 1: Detect

Run the detector on the project root:

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/detect_sops.py <project-root>

Summarize findings — show a status table:

| Component | Status | Detail | |-----------|--------|--------| | sops binary | installed/missing | version, path | | age binary | installed/missing | version, path | | age key | exists/missing | public key (truncated) | | .sops.yaml | exists/missing | # of authorized keys | | .env files | N found | list of filenames | | encrypted files | N found | list of *.enc.yaml files | | .gitignore | ok/needs update | env ignored, enc.yaml not ignored |

Phase 2: Configure

Walk through each missing component. Skip steps where detection shows everything is already configured.

Install tools (if tools.sops.installed or tools.age.installed is false):
- Show install commands based on os field:
  - macOS: brew install sops age
  - Linux: Show download URLs for latest binaries from GitHub releases
- After user confirms installation, re-run detector to verify
Generate age key (if age_key.exists is false):
- Create directory: mkdir -p ~/.config/sops/age
- Generate key: age-keygen -o ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt
- Set permissions: chmod 600 ~/.config/sops/age/keys.txt
- Display the public key and tell user to save it somewhere safe (password manager, secure note)
Generate backup key (recommended):
- Use AskUserQuestion — offer to create an offline backup key for disaster recovery
- If yes:
```
age-keygen 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr | grep "public key:" | awk '{print $NF}'
```
  Display BOTH the public key AND the full output (which includes the private key). Tell user: Copy the entire output (including the private key line starting with AGE-SECRET-KEY-) to a password manager or secure offline storage. This is your recovery key.
- The backup public key will be added to .sops.yaml alongside the machine key
Create .sops.yaml (if project.sops_yaml.exists is false):
- Write .sops.yaml with machine key + backup key (if generated):
```
creation_rules:
  - path_regex: (^|/)\.env\.[^/]+\.enc\.yaml$
    age: >-
      <machine-public-key>,
      <backup-public-key>
```
- If .sops.yaml already exists but is missing this machine's key, offer to add it
Set up .gitattributes for diff-friendly encrypted files:
- Add to .gitattributes:
```
*.enc.yaml diff=sopsdiffer
```
- Configure git:
```
git config diff.sopsdiffer.textconv "sops decrypt"
```
- This makes git diff show decrypted content for encrypted files
Update .gitignore (if needed):
- Ensure .env* patterns are ignored (secrets must not be committed in plaintext)
- Ensure *.enc.yaml is NOT ignored (encrypted files should be committed)
- Show proposed changes and confirm with user before writing
Encrypt files (if project.env_files is non-empty):
- Use AskUserQuestion (multiSelect: true) — show detected .env* files
- For each selected file, convert dotenv→YAML then encrypt:
```
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/dotenv_yaml.py to-yaml <file> > <file>.enc.yaml.tmp
sops --encrypt <file>.enc.yaml.tmp > <file>.enc.yaml
rm <file>.enc.yaml.tmp
```
  Example: .env.local → .env.local.enc.yaml
- Verify each encrypted file was created successfully

Confirmation summary — show table of all actions taken:

| Step | Action | Result |
|------|--------|--------|
| Tools | sops 3.9.4, age 1.2.0 | installed |
| Key | Machine key generated | age1abc...def |
| Key | Backup key generated | age1xyz...uvw (save offline!) |
| Permissions | chmod 600 keys.txt | done |
| Config | .sops.yaml created | 2 keys authorized |
| Git | .gitattributes updated | sopsdiffer configured |
| Git | .gitignore updated | .env* ignored |
| Encrypt | .env.local → .env.local.enc.yaml | done |

## Next Steps
- Commit .sops.yaml, .gitattributes, and *.enc.yaml files to git
- On another machine: clone, install sops+age, place age key, run /devtools:sops-decrypt
- To add another machine: /devtools:sops-add-key
- To encrypt after editing .env: /devtools:sops-encrypt
- To decrypt after pulling: /devtools:sops-decrypt

Key Rules

Never overwrite existing files without asking. Always offer merge/replace/skip.
Detect first — skip steps that are already configured.
Use AskUserQuestion for every decision. Do not assume user preferences.
YAML format only — never use --input-type dotenv. Use the dotenv_yaml.py helper for conversion.
chmod 600 on age key files immediately after creation.
Display public keys after generation — user needs them for multi-machine setup.
Verify after each step — re-run relevant checks to confirm success.

References

Workflow: See WORKFLOW.md for detailed per-step flows
Examples: See EXAMPLES.md for example setup sessions
Troubleshooting: See TROUBLESHOOTING.md for common issues
Detection Script: See scripts/detect_sops.py for detection logic
Converter: See scripts/dotenv_yaml.py for dotenv↔YAML conversion
Best Practices: See references/sops-best-practices.md for research

Agent Skills: SOPS + age Setup Wizard

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