Akeyless
Cloud-native SaaS platform for unified secrets management and machine identity security
SOPS
Encrypted file editor supporting multiple formats and key providers
SOPS encrypts YAML, JSON, ENV, INI, and binary files using AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault, age, and PGP, enabling secure secrets management with transparent editing.
Overview
Secure Secrets Management for Modern Infrastructure
SOPS (Secrets OPerationS) is an encrypted file editor designed for teams managing sensitive configuration data across cloud and on-premises environments. It supports YAML, JSON, ENV, INI, and binary formats, encrypting values while preserving file structure for version control and code review workflows.
Multi-Provider Encryption
SOPS integrates with AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault, age, and PGP, allowing organizations to leverage existing key management infrastructure. Multiple master keys can be configured simultaneously for redundancy and cross-region resilience. The tool transparently decrypts files for editing in your preferred editor, then re-encrypts on save.
Developer-Friendly Workflow
Encrypted files remain human-readable in structure, with only sensitive values encrypted. This approach enables meaningful Git diffs, pull request reviews, and audit trails. SOPS can be used as a standalone CLI tool or integrated as a Go library via the decrypt package. Credentials are managed through standard provider SDKs and environment variables, fitting naturally into CI/CD pipelines and local development environments.
Highlights
Encrypts values while preserving file structure for version control compatibility
Supports AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault, age, and PGP simultaneously
Transparent editing workflow with automatic encryption/decryption
Handles YAML, JSON, ENV, INI, and binary file formats
Pros
- Maintains readable file structure for code reviews and diffs
- Multi-provider and multi-key support for redundancy
- Integrates with existing cloud key management services
- Available as both CLI tool and Go library
Considerations
- Requires external key management infrastructure setup
- Editor must be configured to wait for window close (GUI editors)
- Learning curve for teams new to encrypted configuration workflows
- Go 1.19+ required for building from source
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider SOPS, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Teams storing secrets in Git repositories alongside application code
- Multi-cloud environments requiring unified secrets management
- Organizations with existing KMS or PGP infrastructure
- DevOps workflows requiring auditable configuration changes
Not ideal when
- Runtime secret injection without file-based configuration
- Teams requiring GUI-only secret management interfaces
- Environments without access to supported key providers
- Projects needing secret rotation without file commits
How teams use it
Kubernetes Secret Management
Encrypt Kubernetes manifests with sensitive data, commit to Git, and decrypt during deployment pipelines while maintaining full audit history.
Multi-Region Application Configuration
Use multiple AWS KMS keys across regions to ensure configuration files remain accessible even during regional outages.
Collaborative Secret Updates
Enable team members to propose secret changes via pull requests with encrypted values visible in diffs for review workflows.
Hybrid Cloud Deployments
Manage secrets across AWS, GCP, and Azure using their respective KMS services within a single encrypted configuration file.
Tech snapshot
Go91%
Rust8%
Makefile1%
Dockerfile1%
Frequently asked questions
Can I use multiple encryption providers simultaneously?
Yes, SOPS supports using PGP and multiple cloud KMS providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) together in the same file. Each provider stores an encrypted copy of the data key.
How does SOPS handle version control?
SOPS encrypts only values, leaving keys and structure intact. This produces meaningful diffs in Git, allowing code reviews of configuration changes while keeping secrets encrypted.
What file formats does SOPS support?
SOPS works with YAML, JSON, ENV, INI, and binary formats, automatically detecting the format and applying appropriate encryption to sensitive values.
Do I need to install cloud SDKs separately?
SOPS uses aws-sdk-go-v2 and equivalent SDKs internally. You only need to configure credentials via standard methods like ~/.aws/credentials or environment variables.
Can SOPS be integrated into applications programmatically?
Yes, SOPS provides a Go decrypt package that can be imported as a library for runtime decryption within applications.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 20,561
- Watchers
- 20,561
- Forks
- 1,005
LicenseMPL-2.0
Repo age10 years old
Last commit2 days ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languageGo
Last synced 2 hours ago