open-vault/website/source/docs/secrets/cubbyhole/index.html.md

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Cubbyhole - Secrets Engines"
sidebar_title: "Cubbyhole"
sidebar_current: "docs-secrets-cubbyhole"
description: |-
  The cubbyhole secrets engine can store arbitrary secrets scoped to a single token.
---

# Cubbyhole Secrets Engine

The `cubbyhole` secrets engine is used to store arbitrary secrets within the
configured physical storage for Vault namespaced to a token. In `cubbyhole`,
paths are scoped per token. No token can access another token's cubbyhole. When
the token expires, its cubbyhole is destroyed.

Also unlike the `kv` secrets engine, because the cubbyhole's lifetime is
linked to that of an authentication token, there is no concept of a TTL or
refresh interval for values contained in the token's cubbyhole.

Writing to a key in the `cubbyhole` secrets engine will completely replace the
old value.

## Setup

Most secrets engines must be configured in advance before they can perform their
functions. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration
management tool.

The `cubbyhole` secrets engine is enabled by default. It cannot be disabled,
moved, or enabled multiple times.

## Usage

After the secrets engine is configured and a user/machine has a Vault token with
the proper permission, it can generate credentials. The `cubbyhole` secrets
engine allows for writing keys with arbitrary values.

1. Write arbitrary data:

    ```text
    $ vault write cubbyhole/my-secret my-value=s3cr3t
    Success! Data written to: cubbyhole/my-secret
    ```

1. Read arbitrary data:

    ```text
    $ vault read cubbyhole/my-secret
    Key         Value
    ---         -----
    my-value    s3cr3t
    ```

## API

The Cubbyhole secrets engine has a full HTTP API. Please see the
[Cubbyhole secrets engine API](/api/secret/cubbyhole/index.html) for more
details.