Shared keys

The player’s AI service keys (Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenAI, ElevenLabs and others), typed once and read by every EDGE tool on the PC: REDnode’s packages, EDGEmat in VS Code and as an MCP server, EDGEwave, REDagent. Asked for in #23.

The files are the shared contract. REDnode’s Keys view (K2) is the in-game way to set them; outside the game, each tool reads and writes the same files itself, with REDnode closed.

The store

A key can be set with no tool at all, from PowerShell:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$env:APPDATA\Edgemodders\keys" | Out-Null
Read-Host 'Gemini key' -AsSecureString | ConvertFrom-SecureString | Set-Content "$env:APPDATA\Edgemodders\keys\gemini.txt"

A file that cannot be decrypted (made by another Windows user, or copied from another PC) counts as unset, so the tool asks for the key again.

The Keys view

In the game: F10, the gear (Settings), then Open on the Keys line. Keys slides out beside Settings, as tall as it; Open again or its ✕ closes it, and closing Settings closes both.

Set and Replace open a box that shows dots: paste the key and press Enter. A key that does not look right for its service is refused (an Anthropic key starts with sk-ant-, an OpenAI one with sk-). Remove asks once more, since it removes the key for every tool. Other service id adds a line for any service by its id.

The page never holds a key after Enter: it goes to the host, which saves it with the library’s non-blocking functions and answers only what keyInfo gives. Only the launcher and the Mod Manager may make the call (rednode:host:keys). The host logs Keys: <service> set or removed, never a key.

Keys for packages

A REDnode package reads a shared key only when its manifest lists it and the player allows it, as mcp, bridge and archives work:

"permissions": ["keys:anthropic"]

The Key request window names the package and the service, shows reason, and:

Allow grants the package its keys:<service> permission, which the Mod Manager shows and can withdraw. The page never holds a key after Allow, and the host logs only which package asked for which service and the answer. A package never writes the store: only the player does, in the Keys view or the Key request window. Only REDnode’s own window can answer a request (rednode:keyask:answer).

The library

tools/keys/keys.mjs: one ES module, MIT, no dependencies, Node 18 or later. Each repo copies it, as the Nexus tool is copied; keep the copies the same. node tools/keys/check.mjs checks it against a scratch folder with made-up keys (30 checks), never the real store.

import { getKey, setKey, hasKey, removeKey, keyInfo } from './keys.mjs';

const key = getKey('gemini', { tool: 'EDGEmat' }); // a string, or undefined when not set
if (!key) {
  const typed = await askThePlayer('Your Google Gemini key'); // the tool's own prompt
  setKey('gemini', typed); // every other tool now finds it
}

How a key is kept safe in the library:

• Encryption and decryption run in Windows PowerShell 5.1 (ConvertTo-SecureString, ConvertFrom-SecureString), started by its full path with its window hidden. The key and the encrypted text go only through PowerShell’s standard input and output: never on a command line, never in an environment variable.
• PowerShell gets a short environment of its own (the Windows folders and the user’s profile), not the calling process’s, so other keys in that environment do not reach it.
• Nothing prints a key. keyInfo gives only the last 4 characters.
• A decrypted key is kept in the process’s memory until its file changes, so a second read starts no PowerShell. A key replaced by another tool is read again.

A PowerShell start takes about 1 s on the dev PC, so the first read or write of each key in a process blocks that long with the sync functions. A host that must stay responsive, such as REDnode’s, uses promises.

On other systems than Windows the library reads environment variables only; setKey fails.

Who uses it