Seal the four credential columns with AES-256-GCM (random nonce per value,
AAD "<table>.<column>"): llm_profiles.api_key and task_credentials.password
store "enc:v1:<base64(nonce||ciphertext)>"; mcp_servers.env and
notification_channels.config store {"__artex_enc":"enc:v1:..."} over the
canonical JSON. The db layer encrypts on write and decrypts on read, so agent
tools (LLM provider, MCP, notifier, test credentials) get plaintext
server-side. Decryption failure is an error, never a plaintext fallback.
Key: ARTEX_SECRET_KEY (32 bytes, base64 or hex) or keys/secret.key next to
jwt.key, generated with crypto/rand at first start (0600). Startup refuses
when encrypted values exist and no key is available, and when the key does
not decrypt them. An idempotent backfill under the schema advisory lock
encrypts legacy plaintext rows and logs only a count.
API: MCP env is masked on read and masked placeholders on write keep the
stored value; task credential passwords are masked server-side and a masked
password on write is refused. ARTEX_SECRET_KEY is scrubbed from the process
environment with the other startup secrets.
The scrub ran in main after server.New returned, but New resumes every
non-terminal task before returning, and those loops start workers that run
shells. Move the scrub into New, right after both environment readers, and
start MCP discovery after it as well: both paths spawn child processes.
New takes an option rather than scrubbing unconditionally. The test suite
builds several servers in one process and still needs ARTEX_PG_DSN on later
calls, so only the binary opts in.
BaaRai