User Secrets
User Secrets is a development-time configuration feature that stores sensitive application settings outside project files and source-control repositories.
ASP.NET Core in Action, 3e
The User Secrets manager is an ASP.NET Core development tool and configuration provider for storing sensitive settings outside a project directory.
- How it is used
- Keeps local development secrets outside the project while production deployments commonly use environment variables.
- How deep it goes
- Explains setup commands, provider loading, storage location, and plaintext limitations, but defers detailed secret-store integration.
- Examples
- Uses UserSecretsId setup, dotnet user-secrets commands, Manage User Secrets, and development-only AddUserSecrets<Program>().
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure User Secrets for local ASP.NET Core values without committing them to the project repository.
.NET in Action, Second Edition
User secrets are development-time configuration values stored outside a project to keep sensitive data out of source control.
- How it is used
- Keeps local connection strings and authentication settings out of source control while supplying them through application configuration.
- How deep it goes
- Walks through CLI initialization, setting values, local file locations, and configuration consumption; treats production secret delivery separately.
- Examples
- Uses SQLite and Cosmos DB connection settings, plus developer-specific Azure AD client and tenant IDs.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it with `dotnet user-secrets` and read local values through application configuration.
Read how .NET in Action, Second Edition explains User Secrets →
Related concepts
- configurationuses · A specification of settings, parameters, or component relationships that determines how a system, application, model, or process is structured or operates.
- user-jwtsused by · user-jwts is a .NET CLI tool that generates JSON Web Tokens for local testing, including tokens with chosen claims and signatures based on tool-generated key material.
- appsettings.jsonalternative to · appsettings.json is a conventional JSON configuration file used by .NET applications to store application settings.
- secret managementuses · Secret management is the practice of securely handling sensitive values throughout their lifecycle, including their storage, access, distribution, retrieval, and rotation.
- Azure Key Vaultalternative to · Azure Key Vault is a Microsoft Azure managed service for securely storing and controlling access to secrets, cryptographic keys, and certificates.
- project fileconfigured by · A project file is a configuration file that defines a software project’s metadata, source files, dependencies, and build settings.
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