export

Export vault secrets to a .env file.

Usage

cred export <path> [OPTIONS]

Arguments

Argument	Description
`<path>`	Path to write the exported file

Options

Option	Description
`--force`	Overwrite the output file if it exists
`-e, --env <name>`	Export only this environment (exports full vault if omitted)
`--plain`	Plain `.env` format (no metadata, requires `--env`)

Export Formats

Full Vault Export (Default)

By default, cred export creates a rich export file containing all environments with metadata:

cred export vault.env

Output format:

# cred-export v1
# exported: 2025-01-07T10:30:00Z
#
# To import: cred import <this-file>

# [environment: default]

# [API_KEY]
# description: Development API key
# created: 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
API_KEY=sk-dev-xxx

# [DATABASE_URL]
DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost/dev

# [environment: prod]

# [API_KEY]
# description: Production API key
# created: 2025-01-05T00:00:00Z
API_KEY=sk-prod-xxx

This format:

Preserves all environments
Includes secret metadata (descriptions, timestamps)
Can be imported by cred import to recreate the full vault

Single Environment Export

Export just one environment with metadata:

cred export prod.env --env prod

Output format:

# cred-export v1
# environment: prod
# exported: 2025-01-07T10:30:00Z
#
# To import: cred import <this-file>

# [API_KEY]
# description: Production API key
API_KEY=sk-prod-xxx

Plain Export

Export as a standard .env file without metadata:

cred export .env --env default --plain

Output format:

API_KEY=sk-dev-xxx
DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost/dev

Use this when you need a standard .env file for tools that don’t understand cred comments.

Examples

# Export full vault with metadata
cred export vault.env

# Export only production environment
cred export prod.env --env prod

# Export as plain .env (no metadata)
cred export .env --env default --plain

# Overwrite existing file
cred export vault.env --force

# Preview what would be exported
cred export vault.env --dry-run

Output

✓ Exported 10 secrets (3 environment(s)) to vault.env.

For single environment:

✓ Exported 5 secrets (env 'prod') to prod.env.

Use Cases

Export your vault and share the file securely:

cred export team-vault.env
# Transfer file securely (encrypted email, secure share, etc.)

Teammate imports:

cred import team-vault.env

Backup

Create a backup of your entire vault:

cred export backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).env

Integration with Other Tools

When you need a standard .env for other tools:

cred export .env --env default --plain

Keyboard shortcuts

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