1Open My Secrets
Navigate to /secrets-notes
From any page in EmpowerNow, click Administration in the top navigation bar, then choose Secrets → My Secrets. Alternatively, navigate directly to /secrets-notes.
My Secrets is available to any authenticated user — you do not need admin privileges. Every user has their own private secret store that only they can access.
First-time visit — Welcome Experience
If you have never created a secret note before, a Welcome Experience animation plays on the right panel. It explains what My Secrets is for: a personal encrypted note pad for sensitive values like API keys, tokens, passwords, and connection strings that you need to reference regularly.
The animation has a single call-to-action: + Create your first secret. Clicking it opens the Create Secret Note modal. Once you have at least one note, the Welcome Experience is replaced by the note detail panel.
2Reading the secrets list
Master-detail: sidebar list + right panel
My Secrets uses a master-detail layout. The left sidebar shows all your secrets as a list. Clicking any item opens its detail in the right panel. The URL updates to reflect the selected note.
What each list item shows
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| 📝 Icon (note) | A personal secret note you created. You can view, edit, and delete it. |
| 🔒 Icon (vault) | A vault-backed secret from Secrets Hub that has been surfaced here for convenience. It appears read-only — you cannot edit it from this view. |
| Title | The name you gave the secret when creating it. Favorites show in amber text at the top of the list. |
| Last-modified date | When the note was last saved. Shows relative time for recent notes (e.g., "2h ago") and full date for older ones. |
| ⭐ Favorite star | Click the star to toggle a note as a favorite. Favorites are pinned to the top of the list above all non-favorited notes, regardless of sort order. |
Sort modes and search filtering
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Recent (default) | Most recently modified notes appear first, after favorites. |
| Alphabetical | Sorted A–Z by title. Favorites remain pinned at top. |
| By type | Groups notes (📝) together, then vault secrets (🔒) together. |
The search box at the top of the sidebar filters the list by title in real time. Vault secrets that appear read-only are included in search results but cannot be edited.
Vault-backed secrets from Secrets Hub may appear in your My Secrets list if they have been shared with you or are included in your personal view. They are shown with a 🔒 icon and are always read-only here. To create or edit vault secrets, use the Secrets Hub guide.
3Create a secret note
Click "+ New Secret Note"
Click the + New button at the top of the sidebar, or the + New Secret Note button that appears in the main area when no note is selected. The Create Secret Note modal opens.
Field reference
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Title | ✱ | A human-readable name for this secret. Maximum 120 characters. Must be unique within your personal secret store. |
| Secret Value | ✱ | The actual secret content. Masked by default (dots). Click the eye icon to toggle visibility. Supports multi-line values — useful for private keys or .env files (see Task 5). |
| Tags | No | Comma-separated tags to categorise the secret (e.g. aws, infra). Used for filtering in the list and for .env split categorisation (Task 5). |
Success celebration animation
When you click 📝 Create, a short success celebration animation plays (confetti or sparkle depending on the tenant theme). The modal closes, the new note appears selected in the sidebar list, and its detail is shown in the right panel. If you created the very first note, the Welcome Experience is replaced by this detail view.
My Secrets values are encrypted using your tenant's secrets encryption key. Neither EmpowerNow support staff nor other users can read your secret values. Only you (and anyone you explicitly share with) can reveal the value.
4View & edit a note
Click any note in the list
Click a note row in the sidebar to open it in the right detail panel. The detail panel shows:
| Panel element | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The note name displayed as a large heading at the top. |
| Masked value | The secret value displayed as ••••••••. Click the 👁 Reveal button to show the plain text. The value re-masks after 30 seconds of inactivity, or when you navigate away. |
| 📋 Copy button | Copies the secret value to the clipboard. A "Copied!" badge appears for 2 seconds, then disappears. The value is copied even while masked — you do not need to reveal it first. |
| Last-modified date | Shown below the title as metadata. Updates every time you save changes. |
| Tags | Displayed as small badges below the title. Clicking a tag filters the list to show only notes with that tag. |
Click ✏️ Edit to modify a note
Click the ✏️ Edit button in the action row below the secret value field. The detail panel switches to edit mode — the title and value fields become editable inline. No modal opens.
Click 💾 Save to commit the changes. The last-modified date updates immediately. Click Cancel to discard any edits and return to read mode.
If you click a different note in the sidebar while in edit mode, EmpowerNow shows a "Discard changes?" prompt. Click Discard to switch notes, or Stay & Save to commit first.
5.env format detection
Paste a .env file — EmpowerNow detects it
When you open the Create Secret Note modal and paste content into the Secret Value field, EmpowerNow inspects the pasted text. If it looks like a .env file — lines in KEY=value format — a detection banner appears automatically above the field.
2 config values (excluded): APP_PORT, BASE_URL
How EmpowerNow categorises variables
EmpowerNow automatically classifies each detected variable based on its key name pattern. Secret variables contain sensitive data and are included in the split. Config values are operational settings and are excluded.
| Category | Key name patterns | Included in split? |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Secret | Contains: KEY, TOKEN, PASSWORD, PASS, SECRET, CREDENTIAL, AUTH, PRIVATE | Yes — each becomes an individual secret note |
| ⚪ Config | Contains: URL, HOST, PORT, PATH, ENV, NAME, MODE | No — excluded from the split to avoid cluttering your secret store with non-sensitive config |
Click "Split into X secrets"
Clicking the ⚡ Split into 4 secrets button closes the modal and creates one individual secret note per detected secret variable. The title of each note is set to the variable name (e.g., API_KEY), and the value is set to the variable's value. Each note is created immediately with a quick success animation per note.
The config values (e.g., APP_PORT, BASE_URL) are silently dropped — they are not stored anywhere. If you need to keep them, choose Keep as one note to store the entire .env content as a single note.
Splitting allows you to copy, rotate, or share individual secrets without exposing all your other secrets at the same time. For example, you can share only the STRIPE_SECRET with a teammate without revealing your database password.