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# Create a secret reference

POST https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/{namespaceId}/secret-references
Content-Type: application/json

Requires a mode-B access proxy configured for the organization (a proxy public key). Without it, encryption cannot be performed and the request returns `422`.

`name` is the only identifier: it must be unique per namespace (a deleted reference frees its name for reuse). `vaultKey` is the vault lookup key/path; it is encrypted and never returned.


Reference: https://docs.usepassport.ai/api-reference/secret-references/create-secret-reference

## Authentication

- `Authorization` header (bearer token, required) — WorkOS API key (Authorization: Bearer sk_...). Scope comes from the key's permissions: a key carrying `passport:admin` has admin scope (full catalog CRUD), any other key has member scope (reads + access requests). Organization-owned keys are admin by ownership and carry no associated user; keys minted for a user carry theirs, which is what access requests and `createdBy` are attributed to.

## Request

### Path parameters

- `namespaceId` (string, required)

### Headers

- `Idempotency-Key` (string, optional) — Optional idempotency key, retained 24h and bound to the request that first used it. Resending the same request replays the stored response (with `Idempotent-Replayed: true`); reusing the key with a different body or path returns 422; retrying while the original is still in flight returns 409 with `Retry-After`. A failed request releases its key.

### Body (application/json)

This endpoint expects a SecretReferenceCreate.

- `name` (string, required) — Unique per namespace.
- `vaultType` (string, required)
- `vaultKey` (string, required) — Vault lookup key/path. Encrypted server-side; never returned.
- `metadata` (map from string to any, optional, nullable) — Arbitrary JSON object, or null.

## Response

### 201

Created

- `data` (SecretReference, required) — The secret's `vaultKey` is encrypted server-side and never returned. `name` is the only identifier.

## Errors

### 400 Bad Request Error

The request body or query is invalid.

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 401 Unauthorized Error

Missing or invalid API key. Unlike every other response, this one carries no `RateLimit-*` headers: the request is rejected before a key is resolved, so there is no per-key window to report. Rejection happens at the gateway, which renders this same schema (and negotiates `application/problem+json` identically).

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 403 Forbidden Error

Authenticated but lacking required role (e.g. member key on a catalog mutation).

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 404 Not Found Error

Namespace not found (or not owned by the caller's organization).

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 409 Conflict Error

A secret reference with the same name already exists in this namespace.

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 422 Unprocessable Entity Error

No access proxy public key is configured for the organization, so the secret cannot be encrypted.

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 429 Too Many Requests Error

Rate limit exceeded.

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 500 Internal Server Error

Unexpected server error.

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

### 503 Service Unavailable Error

Temporary unavailability (auth dependency down, encryption-config resolution failure, or discovery document unloadable).

- `error` (ErrorError, required)

## Types

### SecretReference

The secret's `vaultKey` is encrypted server-side and never returned. `name` is the only identifier.

- `id` (string, optional)
- `namespaceId` (string, optional)
- `name` (string, optional)
- `vaultType` (string, optional)
- `metadata` (map from string to any, optional, nullable) — Arbitrary JSON object, or null.
- `createdAt` (datetime, optional)
- `updatedAt` (datetime, optional)

### ErrorError

- `code` (enum, required) — The machine-readable failure reason. Treat a value not listed here as a generic failure of the class implied by the HTTP status, and do not assume retry behaviour for it — new codes may be added.
  - Allowed values: `VALIDATION_ERROR`, `MALFORMED_JSON`, `UNAUTHORIZED`, `FORBIDDEN`, `NOT_FOUND`, `CONFLICT`, `UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY`, `PAYLOAD_TOO_LARGE`, `RATE_LIMITED`, `INTERNAL_ERROR`, `SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE`
- `message` (string, required)
- `details` (list of FieldError, optional)

### FieldError

- `field` (string, optional)
- `message` (string, optional)

## Examples

### created

**Response**

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "5c6d7e8f-9a0b-1c2d-3e4f-5a6b7c8d9e0f",
    "namespaceId": "3f7c2b6e-1c2d-4a5b-9e8f-0a1b2c3d4e5f",
    "name": "stripe-secret-key",
    "vaultType": "aws",
    "metadata": {
      "rotation": "90d"
    }
  }
}
```

**SDK Code**

```python created
import requests

url = "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references"

headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer <token>"}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers)

print(response.json())
```

```javascript created
const url = 'https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references';
const options = {method: 'POST', headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>'}};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}
```

```go created
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, nil)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}
```

```ruby created
require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body
```

```java created
import com.mashape.unirest.http.HttpResponse;
import com.mashape.unirest.http.Unirest;

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .asString();
```

```php created
<?php
require_once('vendor/autoload.php');

$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client();

$response = $client->request('POST', 'https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references', [
  'headers' => [
    'Authorization' => 'Bearer <token>',
  ],
]);

echo $response->getBody();
```

```csharp created
using RestSharp;

var client = new RestClient("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references");
var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);
request.AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer <token>");
IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);
```

```swift created
import Foundation

let headers = ["Authorization": "Bearer <token>"]

let request = NSMutableURLRequest(url: NSURL(string: "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")! as URL,
                                        cachePolicy: .useProtocolCachePolicy,
                                    timeoutInterval: 10.0)
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.allHTTPHeaderFields = headers

let session = URLSession.shared
let dataTask = session.dataTask(with: request as URLRequest, completionHandler: { (data, response, error) -> Void in
  if (error != nil) {
    print(error as Any)
  } else {
    let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse
    print(httpResponse)
  }
})

dataTask.resume()
```

### default

**Request**

```json
{
  "name": "stripe-secret-key",
  "vaultType": "aws",
  "vaultKey": "op://payments/stripe/secret_key",
  "metadata": {
    "rotation": "90d"
  }
}
```

**Response**

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "5c6d7e8f-9a0b-1c2d-3e4f-5a6b7c8d9e0f",
    "namespaceId": "3f7c2b6e-1c2d-4a5b-9e8f-0a1b2c3d4e5f",
    "name": "stripe-secret-key",
    "vaultType": "aws",
    "metadata": {
      "rotation": "90d"
    }
  }
}
```

**SDK Code**

```python default
import requests

url = "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references"

payload = {
    "name": "stripe-secret-key",
    "vaultType": "aws",
    "vaultKey": "op://payments/stripe/secret_key",
    "metadata": { "rotation": "90d" }
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.json())
```

```javascript default
const url = 'https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references';
const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: '{"name":"stripe-secret-key","vaultType":"aws","vaultKey":"op://payments/stripe/secret_key","metadata":{"rotation":"90d"}}'
};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}
```

```go default
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"name\": \"stripe-secret-key\",\n  \"vaultType\": \"aws\",\n  \"vaultKey\": \"op://payments/stripe/secret_key\",\n  \"metadata\": {\n    \"rotation\": \"90d\"\n  }\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}
```

```ruby default
require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"name\": \"stripe-secret-key\",\n  \"vaultType\": \"aws\",\n  \"vaultKey\": \"op://payments/stripe/secret_key\",\n  \"metadata\": {\n    \"rotation\": \"90d\"\n  }\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body
```

```java default
import com.mashape.unirest.http.HttpResponse;
import com.mashape.unirest.http.Unirest;

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"name\": \"stripe-secret-key\",\n  \"vaultType\": \"aws\",\n  \"vaultKey\": \"op://payments/stripe/secret_key\",\n  \"metadata\": {\n    \"rotation\": \"90d\"\n  }\n}")
  .asString();
```

```php default
<?php
require_once('vendor/autoload.php');

$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client();

$response = $client->request('POST', 'https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references', [
  'body' => '{
  "name": "stripe-secret-key",
  "vaultType": "aws",
  "vaultKey": "op://payments/stripe/secret_key",
  "metadata": {
    "rotation": "90d"
  }
}',
  'headers' => [
    'Authorization' => 'Bearer <token>',
    'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
  ],
]);

echo $response->getBody();
```

```csharp default
using RestSharp;

var client = new RestClient("https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references");
var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);
request.AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer <token>");
request.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
request.AddParameter("application/json", "{\n  \"name\": \"stripe-secret-key\",\n  \"vaultType\": \"aws\",\n  \"vaultKey\": \"op://payments/stripe/secret_key\",\n  \"metadata\": {\n    \"rotation\": \"90d\"\n  }\n}", ParameterType.RequestBody);
IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);
```

```swift default
import Foundation

let headers = [
  "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
  "Content-Type": "application/json"
]
let parameters = [
  "name": "stripe-secret-key",
  "vaultType": "aws",
  "vaultKey": "op://payments/stripe/secret_key",
  "metadata": ["rotation": "90d"]
] as [String : Any]

let postData = JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: parameters, options: [])

let request = NSMutableURLRequest(url: NSURL(string: "https://api.usepassport.ai/public/v1/namespaces/namespaceId/secret-references")! as URL,
                                        cachePolicy: .useProtocolCachePolicy,
                                    timeoutInterval: 10.0)
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.allHTTPHeaderFields = headers
request.httpBody = postData as Data

let session = URLSession.shared
let dataTask = session.dataTask(with: request as URLRequest, completionHandler: { (data, response, error) -> Void in
  if (error != nil) {
    print(error as Any)
  } else {
    let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse
    print(httpResponse)
  }
})

dataTask.resume()
```