Quickstart

Four commands

Install the CLI

npm install -g @elding/cli

elding login

Your browser opens for authorization. The token is then stored locally with chmod 600.

Create a set and add your keys

In the dashboard, create a set such as dev and add your keys. Then link your project:

elding init

Run your application behind the proxy

Prefix your usual command with elding proxy --:

elding proxy -- node app.js

Your API keys are loaded inside the proxy, never into your application’s memory.

Add it to `npm run dev`

To make protection automatic, add elding proxy -- to the dev script in package.json:

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "elding proxy -- next dev"
  }
}

Now start your application as usual. The key is protected transparently:

npm run dev

This works with any command: next dev, vite, node server.js, nodemon, and more. Your workflow stays the same; Elding runs on top of it.

The key moment

Your code only needs one line. configure() handles everything:

app.js

import OpenAI from "openai";
import { configure } from "@elding/sdk";

const openai = new OpenAI(
  await configure("OPENAI_API_KEY", "https://api.openai.com")
);
// the real key never enters your application

Now try logging the key:

console.log(process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY); // → undefined or {{OPENAI_API_KEY}}

The OpenAI request still works: the proxy injects the real key at the last moment and locks it to api.openai.com. Your application, AI agent, and dependencies only see a placeholder. The real key does not exist anywhere in your process.

Deploy to production

Development works. Now ship it. Run once, locally:

elding deploy

The CLI asks for a key name, creates it, and prints two variables:

  ELDING_REFRESH_TOKEN=eld_rt_...
  ELDING_SET_ID=...

Add them to your host (Vercel → Settings → Environment Variables, Railway, Render, etc.). Your code stays identical — the SDK switches automatically from the local proxy to the vault.

Copy the token immediately. It is shown only once. Do not run elding deploy in a CI pipeline with public logs.

Getting started

Concepts

The Vault

Security

Four commands

Add it to `npm run dev`

The key moment

Deploy to production

All deployment options

What’s next?

Understand the proxy

​Four commands

​Add it to npm run dev

​The key moment

​Deploy to production

All deployment options

​What’s next?

Understand the proxy

Four commands

Add it to `npm run dev`

The key moment

Deploy to production

What’s next?