Governed Credential Resolution Architecture

Overview

MultiModel Dev OS v4.3 introduces an explicit, provider-bound environment credential resolver (src/gateway/credentials/) designed to safely manage model provider API keys.

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Key Guarantees

1. Explicit Call Boundary: Credentials are resolved only when resolveEnvironmentCredential() is invoked. There are zero import-time environment reads.
2. Provider Metadata Authorization: The environment variable name (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY) is strictly authorized by provider_adapter.credential_env. An arbitrary or caller-supplied environment key is rejected before reading.
3. No Environment Enumeration: The resolver reads exact property keys (environment[approvedEnvName]). It never calls Object.keys(process.env), Object.entries(), JSON.stringify(), or spreads the environment object.
4. Opaque Credential Container: Resolved secrets are held inside an ephemeral ResolvedCredential instance using JavaScript private class fields (#secret).
   • No public value, secret, token, or raw getter.
   • JSON.stringify(), String(), util.inspect(), and object spread { ...credential } reveal metadata only, with the secret reported as [REDACTED].
   • Controlled synchronous access is granted strictly through credential.withSecret((raw) => { ... }).
5. No Transport or Header Construction: The credential subsystem performs no network operations, makes no HTTP calls, and constructs no Authorization or Bearer headers.
6. Memory Note: JavaScript engines (V8) do not guarantee physical heap memory zeroization; however, calling credential.destroy() clears the internal reference and marks the container non-reusable.

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Resolver API

import { resolveEnvironmentCredential } from './src/gateway/index.js';

const result = resolveEnvironmentCredential({
  credential_ref: {
    contract_version: '2026-07-15.sprint-a',
    source: 'environment',
    env_var: 'OPENAI_API_KEY',
    required: true,
  },
  provider_id: 'openai',
  provider_adapter: openAIAdapter,
  environment: process.env, // Optional override for testing
});

if (result.success && result.credential) {
  result.credential.withSecret((secret) => {
    // Secret is accessible only inside callback
  });
}

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Secret-Aware Redaction

The redactSensitiveValue(target, knownSecrets) function recursively sanitizes strings, objects, arrays, and error structures:

• Replaces occurrences of resolved credential secrets with [REDACTED]
• Replaces absolute filesystem paths with [REDACTED_PATH]
• Handles circular references and throwing getters safely
• Strips stack traces, raw bodies, and sensitive header fields