> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cerebrium.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Using Secrets

> Access third-party platforms using secure credentials encrypted on Cerebrium

Secrets store API keys, passwords, and other sensitive information outside of code. Secrets are encrypted at rest (256-bit AES) and decrypted only at runtime.

Secrets can be managed at both project and app levels. Project-level secrets are shared across all apps in your project, while app-level secrets are specific to an individual app. App secrets take precedence over project-wide secrets.

Each secret is exposed to the app as an environment variable.

Secrets are loaded on container startup. If you update a secret, you must restart your app container for the changes to take effect.

```python theme={null}
def predict(run_id):
    print(f"Run ID: {run_id}")

    hf_token = os.environ.get("HF_TOKEN")
    logger.info(f"HF_TOKEN: {hf_token}")

    return {"result": f"Your HF_TOKEN is {hf_token}"}
```

<Note>
  Secrets are stored as strings. If your secret is a JSON payload or similar,
  remember to convert it to the correct format using
  `json.loads(os.environ.get("MY_JSON_SECRET"))`.
</Note>

### Managing Secrets

Secrets are created, updated, and deleted in your dashboard.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/cerebrium/xdjdEiE5WYesLzId/images/secrets_dashboard.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=xdjdEiE5WYesLzId&q=85&s=ac0d0c897aaf7393e7ddfe0cfa01f592" alt="Secrets" width="2824" height="1018" data-path="images/secrets_dashboard.png" />

<Note>
  Secrets are loaded on model start. You will need to wait for your app
  container to restart or deploy your app before the new secret is available.
</Note>

### Automatic Environment Variables

Cerebrium automatically sets the following environment variables for your app:

* APP\_NAME: The name of your application
* HF\_HOME: Set to '/persistent-storage/.cache/huggingface' for caching HuggingFace models
* PROJECT\_ID: The ID of your Cerebrium project
* BUILD\_ID: The unique identifier for the current build

<Note>The app\_id is a composite of PROJECT\_ID + '\_' + APP\_NAME.</Note>

### Local Development

For local development, use an `.env` file. Add the same secrets to the dashboard before deploying.

```python theme={null}
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

hf_token = os.environ.get("HF_TOKEN")
```