Protect API keys in every AI coding tool provides information about you're vibe coding. your api keys are everywhere.. You're shipping apps with Cursor, Bolt, Replit, and Claude. ShieldKey protects every API key you use — without slowing you down.

For the AI-assisted development era

You're vibe coding. Your API keys are everywhere.

You're shipping apps in hours with Cursor, Bolt, Replit, Lovable, and Claude. You're moving faster than any developer in history. But every time your AI assistant writes OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-... into a file, that key is one leaked repo, one bad deploy, one screenshot away from draining your account.

Protect your keys → See the risk
Cursor
Bolt
Replit
Claude
Lovable
ChatGPT
v0
Windsurf
The vibe coding risk

Speed creates exposure

23.8 million API secrets were leaked on public GitHub in 2024. Most were never revoked. Vibe coding is incredible -- you're building real products faster than ever. But the workflow has a security gap that nobody's talking about.

high risk

Keys in prompts

You paste API keys into chat contexts so your AI can write integration code. That key now exists in a conversation history you don't control.

high risk

Keys in generated code

The AI writes your key directly into source files. You commit. Push. Now it's in git history forever -- even if you delete it from the file later.

high risk

.env in cloud IDEs

Replit, Bolt, and similar tools store your .env in their infrastructure. Their breach = your keys. You're trusting every platform you prototype on.

high risk

Rapid prototyping sprawl

You spin up 5 projects in a weekend. Each has your real OpenAI key. Three of those projects get abandoned with the key still in them.

high risk

Sharing + screenshots

You screenshot your working app to share on Twitter. The terminal behind it shows your API key. Or you share a Replit link with the .env visible.

high risk

No rotation hygiene

You use the same OpenAI key across 12 projects, 3 cloud IDEs, and 2 deploy platforms. Rotating it means updating it in all 17 places.

The $10,000 weekend

This happens more than you think. A developer pushes a repo with their OpenAI key. Bots that scan GitHub for API key patterns find it within minutes. By Monday morning, someone has racked up thousands in charges through their account. OpenAI's rate limits are generous -- an attacker can burn through significant credits before you even notice.

The same applies to Stripe keys (financial), AWS keys (infrastructure), and any other service where the key has real spending power. The average US data breach costs $10.2M. 1.6 billion records were exposed through API vulnerabilities in 2024. This isn't theoretical -- it's the most common attack vector in production right now.

The fix

Use shield tokens everywhere. Real keys stay in one place.

Register your real API key with ShieldKey once. Get a shield token. Use that token in every project, every cloud IDE, every AI conversation. If it leaks, kill it in one click and get a new one. Your real key never moves.

01 Register your OpenAI key with ShieldKey. This is the only time your real key leaves your hands.
02 Get a shield token: sk_shield_7f3a9b2c... and a proxy URL. Set a spend limit of $50/day.
03 Use the shield token in Cursor, Bolt, Replit, your .env files -- everywhere. It doesn't matter who sees it.
04 Token gets leaked in a GitHub push? Open ShieldKey, click revoke, generate a new one. Takes 10 seconds. Real OpenAI key is untouched.
05 Abandoned project sitting on Replit with your key? It's a shield token with a rate limit and an expiry date. It'll die on its own.
.env -- every project, every IDE
# X What you're doing now -- real key in every project OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-abc123realkey789 OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.openai.com/v1 # With ShieldKey -- shield token + proxy URL OPENAI_API_KEY=sk_shield_7f3a9b2c1d8e5f6a OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://proxy.shieldkey.io/v1/openai # Same two env vars. Every SDK, framework, and AI tool # that reads OPENAI_API_KEY works without changes. # Leaked? Revoke + regenerate in 10 seconds.
Works with every AI coding tool

Any tool that lets you set an API key and a base URL works with ShieldKey. Cursor reads from .env. Bolt reads from .env. Replit Secrets, Vercel Environment Variables, Netlify env -- they all work. You change two values and you're protected. No SDK changes, no code modifications, no plugins to install.

Real scenarios

95% of companies have had API security problems in production. These are the ones that happen to vibe coders.

You accidentally push .env to GitHub
✕ Without ShieldKey: Bots find your key within minutes. They start burning through your OpenAI credits. Even after you delete the file, it's in git history. You need to rotate the key at OpenAI and update it in every project that uses it.
✓ With ShieldKey: Bots find a shield token. They try it at api.openai.com -- rejected. They try it at your proxy -- blocked by IP allowlist. You get an alert, revoke the token, and generate a new one. 30 seconds total.
You share a Replit link publicly
✕ Without ShieldKey: Anyone with the link can see your Secrets if you're on a free plan or misconfigured the project. Your Stripe key, your OpenAI key -- exposed.
✓ With ShieldKey: They see shield tokens. The tokens only work through your proxy, are rate-limited to 100 req/hour, and are set to expire next week when the hackathon ends.
You prototype 5 apps in a weekend, abandon 3
✕ Without ShieldKey: Your real OpenAI key is sitting in 3 abandoned projects across Bolt, Replit, and a local folder. You'll forget about them. The key is exposed indefinitely.
✓ With ShieldKey: Each project got a separate shield token with a 72-hour expiry. The abandoned projects' tokens auto-expire. You don't even have to think about it.
You paste your key into an AI chat for debugging
✕ Without ShieldKey: Your real key is now in a conversation that may be logged, used for training, or stored in ways you can't verify. You should rotate it. You probably won't.
✓ With ShieldKey: It's a shield token. Even if it leaks from the AI provider's logs, it's IP-restricted, rate-limited, and you can revoke it without touching your real key.
Built for how you work

Features that match the vibe coding workflow

✓ Per-project tokens. Generate a separate shield token for each project. Revoke one without affecting the others. No more one-key-rules-all.
✓ Auto-expiring tokens. Set a 24-hour, 72-hour, or 7-day expiry for hackathon projects and prototypes. They die automatically so you don't have to remember.
✓ Spend caps. Set a daily or monthly dollar limit per token. If someone burns through your shield token, they hit the ceiling fast. No more $10K surprises.
✓ Works with OPENAI_BASE_URL. Every major AI SDK reads a base URL env var. Set it to your ShieldKey proxy URL and the SDK works without code changes.
✓ 10-second revoke + regenerate. Token leaked? Dashboard → Revoke → New Token. Paste the new one. Back to building. Total interruption: 10 seconds.
✓ One real key, unlimited tokens. Register your OpenAI key once. Generate as many shield tokens as you want -- one per project, one per IDE, one per deployment environment. All map to the same real key.
✓ Free tier is actually useful. 3 shield tokens and 10K requests/month for free. That's enough for most solo vibe coders and their active projects.
The math

68% of API breaches cost over $1M. Here's what yours looks like.

OpenAI GPT-4 abuse scenario Attacker finds your key. Runs GPT-4 at max throughput for 6 hours before you notice. Input: ~500K tokens/min x 360 min = 180M input tokens Output: ~125K tokens/min x 360 min = 45M output tokens Cost: 180M x $2.50/1M = $450 input 45M x $10.00/1M = $450 output --------- $900 in 6 hours And that's one model. Scale across GPT-4o, DALL-E, Whisper, and embeddings: easily $5,000+ in a weekend. With ShieldKey (spend cap: $50/day) Attacker finds your shield token. Tries from their IP → blocked (IP allowlist) Even if they bypass IP → $50 cap hit, token auto-paused Max exposure: $50 Time to revoke: 10 seconds

The average breach takes 258 days to even detect. ShieldKey detects in minutes. Pro is $19/month. One leaked key incident without it can cost hundreds or thousands. The free tier covers most solo developers.

Keep vibing

Ship fast. Ship safe. Both.

ShieldKey doesn't slow you down. Two env vars, and every project you build is protected. Get early access and keep building.

Request early access →