The API Key Problem Every Developer Faces
A new developer joins your team and needs the production Stripe API key. What happens?
Most teams do one of these: - Paste it in Slack DM - Send it via email - Put it in a shared Google Doc
Every single one of these leaves a permanent, searchable record of your production credentials. According to GitGuardian, over 12 million secrets were detected in public GitHub commits in a single year.
The Right Way: Self-Destructing Encrypted Links
VaultSends was built for this exact use case.
For a new contractor: 1. Go to vaultsends.com 2. Paste your API key 3. Set expiry: 7 days, max views: 1 (burn after read) 4. Add a passphrase and share it verbally or via Signal 5. Enable email notification so you know when it is accessed 6. Share the VaultSends link via any channel
The contractor opens the link, reads the API key once, and the link permanently destroys itself. No trail. No backup. Nothing to compromise later.
For employee onboarding: - Set a 24-hour expiry so they can refer back during initial setup - After they save it to their secrets manager, the link self-destructs - You get an email confirmation when they accessed it
Best Practices for API Key Sharing
Always: - Use VaultSends for key sharing — never plaintext - Add a passphrase for production credentials - Share passphrase via a different channel (phone call, Signal) - Enable notifications to audit access - Rotate shared keys after 30 days
Never: - Share production keys via public Slack channels - Send API keys in email threads with multiple recipients - Leave shared links active longer than necessary
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
A leaked AWS key can rack up thousands of dollars in minutes from crypto miners. A leaked Stripe key can result in fraudulent charges. The 60 seconds it takes to use VaultSends is nothing compared to a credential breach.
Start at vaultsends.com — free forever, no account required.