---
layout: "api"
page_title: "Generic Secret Backend - HTTP API"
sidebar_current: "docs-http-secret-generic"
description: |-
  This is the API documentation for the Vault Generic secret backend.
---

# Generic Secret Backend HTTP API

This is the API documentation for the Vault Generic secret backend. For general
information about the usage and operation of the Generic backend, please see
the [Vault Generic backend documentation](/docs/secrets/generic/index.html).

This documentation assumes the Generic backend is mounted at the `/secret`
path in Vault. Since it is possible to mount secret backends at any location,
please update your API calls accordingly.

## Read Secret

This endpoint retrieves the secret at the specified location.

| Method   | Path                         | Produces               |
| :------- | :--------------------------- | :--------------------- |
| `GET`    | `/secret/:path`              | `200 application/json` |

### Parameters

- `path` `(string: <required>)` – Specifies the path of the secret to read.
  This is specified as part of the URL.

### Sample Request

```
$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    https://vault.rocks/v1/secret/my-secret
```

### Sample Response

```json
{
  "auth": null,
  "data": {
    "foo": "bar"
  },
  "lease_duration": 2764800,
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false
}
```

_Note_: the `lease_duration` field (which on the CLI shows as
`refresh_interval`) is advisory. No lease is created. This is a way for writers
to indicate how often a given value shold be re-read by the client. See the
[Vault Generic backend documentation](/docs/secrets/generic/index.html) for
more details.

## List Secrets

This endpoint returns a list of key names at the specified location. Folders are
suffixed with `/`. The input must be a folder; list on a file will not return a
value. Note that no policy-based filtering is performed on keys; do not encode
sensitive information in key names. The values themselves are not accessible via
this command.

| Method   | Path                         | Produces               |
| :------- | :--------------------------- | :--------------------- |
| `LIST`   | `/secret/:path`              | `200 application/json` |
| `GET`    | `/secret/:path?list=true`    | `200 application/json` |

### Parameters

- `path` `(string: <required>)` – Specifies the path of the secrets to list.
  This is specified as part of the URL.

### Sample Request

```
$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    https://vault.rocks/v1/secret/my-secret
```

### Sample Response

The example below shows output for a query path of `secret/` when there are
secrets at `secret/foo` and `secret/foo/bar`; note the difference in the two
entries.

```json
{
  "auth": null,
  "data": {
    "keys": ["foo", "foo/"]
  },
  "lease_duration": 2764800,
  "lease_id": "",
  "renewable": false
}
```

## Create/Update Secret

This endpoint stores a secret at the specified location. If the value does not
yet exist, the calling token must have an ACL policy granting the `create`
capability. If the value already exists, the calling token must have an ACL
policy granting the `update` capability.

| Method   | Path                         | Produces               |
| :------- | :--------------------------- | :--------------------- |
| `POST`   | `/secret/:path`              | `204 (empty body)`     |
| `PUT`    | `/secret/:path`              | `204 (empty body)`     |

### Parameters

- `path` `(string: <required>)` – Specifies the path of the secrets to
  create/update. This is specified as part of the URL.

- `:key` `(string: "")` – Specifies a key, paired with an associated value, to
  be held at the given location. Multiple key/value pairs can be specified, and
  all will be returned on a read operation. A key called `ttl` will trigger
  some special behavior; see the [Vault Generic backend
  documentation](/docs/secrets/generic/index.html) for details.

### Sample Payload

```json
{
  "foo": "bar",
  "zip": "zap"
}
```

### Sample Request

```
$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data @payload.json \
    https://vault.rocks/v1/secret/my-secret
```

## Delete Secret

This endpoint deletes the secret at the specified location.

| Method   | Path                         | Produces               |
| :------- | :--------------------------- | :--------------------- |
| `DELETE` | `/secret/:path`              | `204 (empty body)`     |

### Parameters

- `path` `(string: <required>)` – Specifies the path of the secret to delete.
  This is specified as part of the URL.

### Sample Request

```
$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    https://vault.rocks/v1/secret/my-secret
```