Valet lets you securely store data in the iOS, tvOS, or macOS Keychain without knowing a thing about how the Keychain works. It’s easy. We promise.
Valet lets you securely store data in the iOS, tvOS, watchOS, or macOS Keychain without knowing a thing about how the Keychain works. It’s easy. We promise.
Install with CocoaPods by adding the following to your
Podfile:
on iOS:
platform :ios, '9.0' use_frameworks! pod 'Valet'
on tvOS:
platform :tvos, '9.0' use_frameworks! pod 'Valet'
on watchOS:
platform :watchos, '2.0' use_frameworks! pod 'Valet'
on macOS:
platform :osx, '10.11' use_frameworks! pod 'Valet'
Install with Carthage by adding the following to your
Cartfile:
github "Square/Valet"
Run
carthageto build the framework and drag the built
Valet.frameworkinto your Xcode project.
Install with Swift Package Manager by adding the following to your
Package.swift:
dependencies: [ .package(url: "https://github.com/Square/Valet", from: "4.0.0"), ],
Or manually checkout the submodule with
git submodule add [email protected]:Square/Valet.git, drag Valet.xcodeproj to your project, and add Valet as a build dependency.
let myValet = Valet.valet(with: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked)
VALValet *const myValet = [VALValet valetWithIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked];
To begin storing data securely using Valet, you need to create a Valet instance with:
Identifierwrapper class to enforce the non-empty constraint.
This
myValetinstance can be used to store and retrieve data securely on this device, but only when the device is unlocked.
The identifier you choose for your Valet is used to create a sandbox for the data your Valet writes to the keychain. Two Valets of the same type created via the same initializer, accessibility value, and identifier will be able to read and write the same key:value pairs; Valets with different identifiers each have their own sandbox. Choose an identifier that describes the kind of data your Valet will protect. You do not need to include your application name or bundle identifier in your Valet’s identifier.
let myValet = Valet.valet(withExplicitlySet: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked)
VALValet *const myValet = [VALValet valetWithExplicitlySetIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked];
Mac apps signed with a developer ID may see their Valet’s identifier shown to their users. ⚠️⚠️ While it is possible to explicitly set a user-friendly identifier, note that doing so bypasses this project’s guarantee that one Valet type will not have access to one another type’s key:value pairs ⚠️⚠️. To maintain this guarantee, ensure that each Valet’s identifier is globally unique.
The Accessibility enum is used to determine when your secrets can be accessed. It’s a good idea to use the strictest accessibility possible that will allow your app to function. For example, if your app does not run in the background you will want to ensure the secrets can only be read when the phone is unlocked by using
.whenUnlockedor
.whenUnlockedThisDeviceOnly.
let myOldValet = Valet.valet(withExplicitlySet: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked) let myNewValet = Valet.valet(withExplicitlySet: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .afterFirstUnlock) try? myNewValet.migrateObjects(from: myOldValet, removeOnCompletion: true)
VALValet *const myOldValet = [VALValet valetWithExplicitlySetIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked]; VALValet *const myNewValet = [VALValet valetWithExplicitlySetIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityAfterFirstUnlock]; [myNewValet migrateObjectsFrom:myOldValet removeOnCompletion:true error:nil];
The Valet type, identifier, accessibility value, and initializer chosen to create a Valet are combined to create a sandbox within the keychain. This behavior ensures that different Valets can not read or write one another's key:value pairs. If you change a Valet's accessibility after persisting key:value pairs, you must migrate the key:value pairs from the Valet with the no-longer-desired accessibility to the Valet with the desired accessibility to avoid data loss.
let username = "Skroob" try? myValet.setString("12345", forKey: username) let myLuggageCombination = myValet.string(forKey: username)
NSString *const username = @"Skroob"; [myValet setString:@"12345" forKey:username error:nil]; NSString *const myLuggageCombination = [myValet stringForKey:username error:nil];
In addition to allowing the storage of strings, Valet allows the storage of
Dataobjects via
setObject(_ object: Data, forKey key: Key)and
object(forKey key: String). Valets created with a different class type, via a different initializer, or with a different accessibility attribute will not be able to read or modify values in
myValet.
let mySharedValet = Valet.sharedGroupValet(with: SharedGroupIdentifier(appIDPrefix: "AppID12345", nonEmptyGroup: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked)
VALValet *const mySharedValet = [VALValet sharedGroupValetWithAppIDPrefix:@"AppID12345" sharedGroupIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked];
This instance can be used to store and retrieve data securely across any app written by the same developer that has
AppID12345.Druidia(or
$(AppIdentifierPrefix)Druidia) set as a value for the
keychain-access-groupskey in the app’s
Entitlements, where
AppID12345is the application’s App ID prefix. This Valet is accessible when the device is unlocked. Note that
myValetand
mySharedValetcan not read or modify one another’s values because the two Valets were created with different initializers. All Valet types can share secrets across applications written by the same developer by using the
sharedGroupValetinitializer.
let mySharedValet = Valet.sharedGroupValet(with: SharedGroupIdentifier(groupPrefix: "group", nonEmptyGroup: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked)
VALValet *const mySharedValet = [VALValet sharedGroupValetWithGroupPrefix:@"group" sharedGroupIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked];
This instance can be used to store and retrieve data securely across any app written by the same developer that has
group.Druidiaset as a value for the
com.apple.security.application-groupskey in the app’s
Entitlements. This Valet is accessible when the device is unlocked. Note that
myValetand
mySharedValetcannot read or modify one another’s values because the two Valets were created with different initializers. All Valet types can share secrets across applications written by the same developer by using the
sharedGroupValetinitializer. Note that on macOS, the
groupPrefixmust be the App ID prefix.
let myCloudValet = Valet.iCloudValet(with: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessibility: .whenUnlocked)
VALValet *const myCloudValet = [VALValet iCloudValetWithIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessibility:VALAccessibilityWhenUnlocked];
This instance can be used to store and retrieve data that can be retrieved by this app on other devices logged into the same iCloud account with iCloud Keychain enabled. If iCloud Keychain is not enabled on this device, secrets can still be read and written, but will not sync to other devices. Note that
myCloudValetcan not read or modify values in either
myValetor
mySharedValetbecause
myCloudValetwas created a different initializer.
let mySecureEnclaveValet = SecureEnclaveValet.valet(with: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessControl: .userPresence)
VALSecureEnclaveValet *const mySecureEnclaveValet = [VALSecureEnclaveValet valetWithIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessControl:VALAccessControlUserPresence];
This instance can be used to store and retrieve data in the Secure Enclave. Each time data is retrieved from this Valet, the user will be prompted to confirm their presence via Face ID, Touch ID, or by entering their device passcode. If no passcode is set on the device, this instance will be unable to access or store data. Data is removed from the Secure Enclave when the user removes a passcode from the device. Storing data using
SecureEnclaveValetis the most secure way to store data on iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS.
let mySecureEnclaveValet = SinglePromptSecureEnclaveValet.valet(with: Identifier(nonEmpty: "Druidia")!, accessControl: .userPresence)
VALSinglePromptSecureEnclaveValet *const mySecureEnclaveValet = [VALSinglePromptSecureEnclaveValet valetWithIdentifier:@"Druidia" accessControl:VALAccessControlUserPresence];
This instance also stores and retrieves data in the Secure Enclave, but does not require the user to confirm their presence each time data is retrieved. Instead, the user will be prompted to confirm their presence only on the first data retrieval. A
SinglePromptSecureEnclaveValetinstance can be forced to prompt the user on the next data retrieval by calling the instance method
requirePromptOnNextAccess().
In order for your customers not to receive a prompt that your app does not yet support Face ID, you must set a value for the Privacy - Face ID Usage Description (NSFaceIDUsageDescription) key in your app’s Info.plist.
Valet is built to be thread safe: it is possible to use a Valet instance on any queue or thread. Valet instances ensure that code that talks to the Keychain is atomic – it is impossible to corrupt data in Valet by reading and writing on multiple queues simultaneously.
However, because the Keychain is effectively disk storage, there is no guarantee that reading and writing items is fast - accessing a Valet instance from the main queue can result in choppy animations or blocked UI. As a result, we recommend utilizing your Valet instance on a background queue; treat Valet like you treat other code that reads from and writes to disk.
Already using the Keychain and no longer want to maintain your own Keychain code? We feel you. That’s why we wrote
migrateObjects(matching query: [String : AnyHashable], removeOnCompletion: Bool). This method allows you to migrate all your existing Keychain entries to a Valet instance in one line. Just pass in a Dictionary with the
kSecClass,
kSecAttrService, and any other
kSecAttr*attributes you use – we’ll migrate the data for you. If you need more control over how your data is migrated, use
migrateObjects(matching query: [String : AnyHashable], compactMap: (MigratableKeyValuePair) throws -> MigratableKeyValuePair?)to filter or remap key:value pairs as part of your migration.
Your macOS application must have the Keychain Sharing entitlement in order to use Valet, even if your application does not intend to share keychain data between applications. For instructions on how to add a Keychain Sharing entitlement to your application, read Apple's documentation on the subject. For more information on why this requirement exists, see issue #213.
If your macOS application supports macOS 10.14 or prior, you must run
myValet.migrateObjectsFromPreCatalina()before reading values from a Valet. macOS Catalina introduced a breaking change to the macOS keychain, requiring that macOS keychain items that utilize
kSecAttrAccessibleor
kSecAttrAccessGroupset
kSecUseDataProtectionKeychainto
truewhen writing or accessing these items. Valet’s
migrateObjectsFromPreCatalina()upgrades items entered into the keychain on older macOS devices or other operating systems to include the key:value pair
kSecUseDataProtectionKeychain:true. Note that Valets that share keychain items between devices with iCloud are exempt from this requirement. Similarly,
SecureEnclaveValetand
SinglePromptSecureEnclaveValetare exempt from this requirement.
Valet guarantees that reading and writing operations will succeed as long as written data is valid and
canAccessKeychain()returns
true. There are only a few cases that can lead to the keychain being inaccessible:
Accessibilityfor your use case. Examples of improper use include using
.whenPasscodeSetThisDeviceOnlywhen there is no passcode set on the device, or using
.whenUnlockedwhen running in the background.
SecureEnclaveValeton an iOS device that doesn’t have a Secure Enclave. The Secure Enclave was introduced with the A7 chip, which first appeared in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and iPad Mini 2.
The good news: most Valet configurations do not have to migrate keychain data when upgrading from an older version of Valet. All Valet objects are backwards compatible with their counterparts from prior versions. We have exhaustive unit tests to prove it (search for
test_backwardsCompatibility). Valets that have had their configurations deprecated by Apple will need to migrate stored data.
The bad news: there are multiple source-breaking API changes from prior versions.
Both guides below explain the changes required to upgrade to Valet 4.
VALSynchronizableValet(which allowed keychains to be synced to iCloud) has been replaced by a
Valet.iCloudValet(with:accessibility:)(or
+[VALValet iCloudValetWithIdentifier:accessibility:]in Objective-C). See examples above.
VALAccessControlhas been renamed to
SecureEnclaveAccessControl(
VALSecureEnclaveAccessControlin Objective-C). This enum no longer references
TouchID; instead it refers to unlocking with
biometricdue to the introduction of Face ID.
Valet,
SecureEnclaveValet, and
SinglePromptSecureEnclaveValetare no longer in the same inheritance tree. All three now inherit directly from
NSObjectand use composition to share code. If you were relying on the subclass hierarchy before, 1) that might be a code smell 2) consider declaring a protocol for the shared behavior you were expecting to make your migration to Valet 3 easier.
You'll also need to continue reading through the migration from Valet 3 section below.
alwaysand
alwaysThisDeviceOnlyhave been removed from Valet, because Apple has deprecated their counterparts (see the documentation for kSecAttrAccessibleAlways and kSecAttrAccessibleAlwaysThisDeviceOnly). To migrate values stored with
alwaysaccessibility, use the method
migrateObjectsFromAlwaysAccessibleValet(removeOnCompletion:)on a Valet with your new preferred accessibility. To migrate values stored with
alwaysThisDeviceOnlyaccessibility, use the method
migrateObjectsFromAlwaysAccessibleThisDeviceOnlyValet(removeOnCompletion:)on a Valet with your new preferred accessibility.
Boolvalues have been migrated to returning a nonoptional and throwing if an error is encountered. Ignoring the error that can be thrown by each API will keep your code flow behaving the same as it did before. Walking through one example: in Swift,
let secret: String? = myValet.string(forKey: myKey)becomes
let secret: String? = try? myValet.string(forKey: myKey). In Objective-C,
NSString *const secret = [myValet stringForKey:myKey];becomes
NSString *const secret = [myValet stringForKey:myKey error:nil];. If you're interested in the reason data wasn't returned, use a do-catch statement in Swift, or pass in an
NSErrorto each API call and inspect the output in Objective-C. Each method clearly documents the
Errortype it can
throw. See examples above.
SharedGroupIdentifier(appIDPrefix:nonEmptyGroup:). See examples above.
We’re glad you’re interested in Valet, and we’d love to see where you take it. Please read our contributing guidelines prior to submitting a Pull Request.
Thanks, and please do take it for a joyride!