Secrets Cache

Cache secrets from AWS Secrets Manager and other stores in-memory — ideal for AWS Lambda and ephemeral environments. With the [local] extra, you also get optional file-based caching (TOML) for local development.

Tip

💡 See secrets-cache-cdk-example for a ready-to-deploy AWS Lambda + CDK project showcasing secrets-cache with Secrets Manager and SSM Parameters, including caching timings.

📖 Docs / README website – mirrors this README exactly, with navigation and search

⭐ Star the project on GitHub if you find it useful!

Installation

Install the minimal, Lambda-friendly package on PyPI:

pip install secrets-cache[lambda]

For local development or testing (file-based cache + AWS SDK):

pip install secrets-cache[local]

Optional CLI tools:

pip install secrets-cache[cli]

Usage

Fetch a secret from AWS Secrets Manager

from secrets_cache import get_secret

# Returns JSON-decoded dict if possible
db_creds = get_secret("prod/AppBeta/MySQL")

# Returns raw string
raw_value = get_secret("prod/AppBeta/MySQL", raw=True)

# Force refresh from AWS, ignoring cache
fresh_value = get_secret("prod/AppBeta/MySQL", force_refresh=True)

Fetch a parameter from AWS SSM Parameter Store

from secrets_cache import get_param

api_url = get_param("prod/AppBeta/API_URL")

Notes:

• Secrets and parameters are cached in-memory and optionally in a local TOML file (~/.secrets_cache.toml) for repeated calls.
• Default cache TTL is 1 week (configurable via SECRETS_CACHE_TTL environment variable).
• AWS region defaults to AWS_REGION environment variable or us-east-1.
• Module-level caches persist across warm AWS Lambda invocations, so repeated calls in the same container are very fast.

Features

• Fetch secrets and parameters from AWS Secrets Manager / SSM.
• Module-level caching for in-process efficiency.
• Optional TOML caching for development.
• Lambda-friendly usage without extra dependencies.
• Easy to extend to other secret stores in the future.

Getting Started: AWS Lambda

When running in AWS Lambda, you usually don’t want file-based caching. Use the lambda extra:

pip install secrets-cache[lambda]

Example Lambda handler

import json
from secrets_cache import get_secret, get_param

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    # Get a secret from AWS Secrets Manager
    db_password = get_secret("my-db-password", region="us-east-1")

    # Get a parameter from AWS SSM Parameter Store
    api_key = get_param("/my/api/key", region="us-east-1")

    # Do something with your secrets
    return {
        "statusCode": 200,
        "body": json.dumps({
            "db_password_length": len(db_password),
            "api_key_length": len(api_key)
        })
    }

Notes for Lambda

• Module-level caching ensures repeated calls in the same container are very fast.
• No TOML or local file access is required — perfect for ephemeral Lambda environments.
• Secrets are cached in memory only, and each new container start fetches them from AWS.
• If you want local development caching, install the local extra:

pip install secrets-cache[local]

This enables optional ~/.secrets_cache.toml caching for local testing.

AWS CDK Example

I've created a small AWS CDK Python project that demonstrates how to use secrets-cache in an AWS Lambda function.

Repository: secrets-cache-cdk-example

This example shows:

• How to deploy a Lambda function using CDK that automatically installs secrets-cache.
• How to fetch Secrets Manager secrets and SSM parameters from Lambda.
• How module-level caching in secrets-cache speeds up repeated fetches in warm Lambda containers.
• How to log fetch times in milliseconds to observe caching in action.

Quickstart

1. Sign up for an AWS account (free tier is sufficient).
2. Install the AWS CLI and run:

aws configure

1. Install Docker Desktop (needed for CDK bundling).
2. Clone the example repo:

git clone https://github.com/rnag/secrets-cache-cdk-example
cd secrets-cache-cdk-example

1. Install dependencies and activate the virtual environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

1. If this is your first CDK deployment in the account, bootstrap it:

cdk bootstrap

1. Deploy the stack:

cdk deploy

1. Invoke the Lambda and see timings for secret/parameter fetches in real time:

aws lambda invoke \
  --function-name CdkExampleStack-TestLambda \
  --log-type Tail \
  --query 'LogResult' \
  --output text |  base64 --decode

Logs will show how fast the secret and parameter are fetched, demonstrating caching between warm starts.

Credits

Created with Cookiecutter and the rnag/cookiecutter-pypackage template.