httr2 provides a handful of functions designed for working with confidential data. These are useful because testing packages that use httr2 often requires some confidential data that needs to be available for testing, but should not be available to package users.
secret_encrypt()andsecret_decrypt()work with individual stringssecret_encrypt_file()encrypts a file in place andsecret_decrypt_file()decrypts a file in a temporary location.secret_write_rds()andsecret_read_rds()work with.rdsfilessecret_make_key()generates a random string to use as a key.secret_has_key()returnsTRUEif the key is available; you can use it in examples and vignettes that you want to evaluate on your CI, but not for CRAN/package users.
These all look for the key in an environment variable. When used inside of
testthat, they will automatically testthat::skip() the test if the env var
isn't found. (Outside of testthat, they'll error if the env var isn't
found.)
Usage
secret_make_key()
secret_encrypt(x, key)
secret_decrypt(encrypted, key)
secret_write_rds(x, path, key)
secret_read_rds(path, key)
secret_decrypt_file(path, key, envir = parent.frame())
secret_encrypt_file(path, key)
secret_has_key(key)Arguments
- x
Object to encrypt. Must be a string for
secret_encrypt().- key
Encryption key; this is the password that allows you to "lock" and "unlock" the secret. The easiest way to specify this is as the name of an environment variable. Alternatively, if you already have a base64url encoded string, you can wrap it in
I(), or you can pass the raw vector in directly.- encrypted
String to decrypt
- path
Path to file to encrypted file to read or write. For
secret_write_rds()andsecret_read_rds()this should be an.rdsfile.- envir
The decrypted file will be automatically deleted when this environment exits. You should only need to set this argument if you want to pass the unencrypted file to another function.
Value
secret_decrypt()andsecret_encrypt()return strings.secret_decrypt_file()returns a path to a temporary file;secret_encrypt_file()encrypts the file in place.secret_write_rds()returnsxinvisibly;secret_read_rds()returns the saved object.secret_make_key()returns a string with classAsIs.secret_has_key()returnsTRUEorFALSE.
Basic workflow
Use
secret_make_key()to generate a password. Make this available as an env var (e.g.{MYPACKAGE}_KEY) by adding a line to your.Renviron.Encrypt strings with
secret_encrypt(), files withsecret_encrypt_file(), and other data withsecret_write_rds(), settingkey = "{MYPACKAGE}_KEY".In your tests, decrypt the data with
secret_decrypt(),secret_decrypt_file(), orsecret_read_rds()to match how you encrypt it.If you push this code to your CI server, it will already "work" because all functions automatically skip tests when your
{MYPACKAGE}_KEYenv var isn't set. To make the tests actually run, you'll need to set the env var using whatever tool your CI system provides for setting env vars. Make sure to carefully inspect the test output to check that the skips have actually gone away.
Examples
key <- secret_make_key()
path <- tempfile()
secret_write_rds(mtcars, path, key = key)
secret_read_rds(path, key)
#> mpg cyl disp hp drat wt qsec vs am gear carb
#> Mazda RX4 21.0 6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46 0 1 4 4
#> Mazda RX4 Wag 21.0 6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02 0 1 4 4
#> Datsun 710 22.8 4 108.0 93 3.85 2.320 18.61 1 1 4 1
#> Hornet 4 Drive 21.4 6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44 1 0 3 1
#> Hornet Sportabout 18.7 8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02 0 0 3 2
#> Valiant 18.1 6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22 1 0 3 1
#> Duster 360 14.3 8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84 0 0 3 4
#> Merc 240D 24.4 4 146.7 62 3.69 3.190 20.00 1 0 4 2
#> Merc 230 22.8 4 140.8 95 3.92 3.150 22.90 1 0 4 2
#> Merc 280 19.2 6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30 1 0 4 4
#> Merc 280C 17.8 6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90 1 0 4 4
#> Merc 450SE 16.4 8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40 0 0 3 3
#> Merc 450SL 17.3 8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60 0 0 3 3
#> Merc 450SLC 15.2 8 275.8 180 3.07 3.780 18.00 0 0 3 3
#> Cadillac Fleetwood 10.4 8 472.0 205 2.93 5.250 17.98 0 0 3 4
#> Lincoln Continental 10.4 8 460.0 215 3.00 5.424 17.82 0 0 3 4
#> Chrysler Imperial 14.7 8 440.0 230 3.23 5.345 17.42 0 0 3 4
#> Fiat 128 32.4 4 78.7 66 4.08 2.200 19.47 1 1 4 1
#> Honda Civic 30.4 4 75.7 52 4.93 1.615 18.52 1 1 4 2
#> Toyota Corolla 33.9 4 71.1 65 4.22 1.835 19.90 1 1 4 1
#> Toyota Corona 21.5 4 120.1 97 3.70 2.465 20.01 1 0 3 1
#> Dodge Challenger 15.5 8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87 0 0 3 2
#> AMC Javelin 15.2 8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30 0 0 3 2
#> Camaro Z28 13.3 8 350.0 245 3.73 3.840 15.41 0 0 3 4
#> Pontiac Firebird 19.2 8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05 0 0 3 2
#> Fiat X1-9 27.3 4 79.0 66 4.08 1.935 18.90 1 1 4 1
#> Porsche 914-2 26.0 4 120.3 91 4.43 2.140 16.70 0 1 5 2
#> Lotus Europa 30.4 4 95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90 1 1 5 2
#> Ford Pantera L 15.8 8 351.0 264 4.22 3.170 14.50 0 1 5 4
#> Ferrari Dino 19.7 6 145.0 175 3.62 2.770 15.50 0 1 5 6
#> Maserati Bora 15.0 8 301.0 335 3.54 3.570 14.60 0 1 5 8
#> Volvo 142E 21.4 4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60 1 1 4 2
# While you can manage the key explicitly in a variable, it's much
# easier to store in an environment variable. In real life, you should
# NEVER use `Sys.setenv()` to create this env var because you will
# also store the secret in your `.Rhistory`. Instead add it to your
# .Renviron using `usethis::edit_r_environ()` or similar.
Sys.setenv("MY_KEY" = key)
x <- secret_encrypt("This is a secret", "MY_KEY")
x
#> [1] "LzQ1VoKM5skcoJaF8qSlxa7r17fGsmjhEqzJfKJ94cY"
secret_decrypt(x, "MY_KEY")
#> [1] "This is a secret"