Ross ROSS = Recommend OSS · open-source software intelligence for agents

StackExchange/blackbox

Safely store secrets in Git/Mercurial/Subversion observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/StackExchange/blackbox · Go · MIT (permissive) · archived observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

10/100

  • Activity 50
  • Release rhythm 8
  • Longevity 100

Flags: archived

How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 4532
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 301
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

6770 stars · 390 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

BlackBox is a CLI tool that uses GPG to encrypt specific files in a Git, Mercurial, Subversion, or Perforce repository so secrets are encrypted at rest in version control. It wraps gpg with simple commands for encrypting, decrypting, and managing which users and files are enrolled.

Use cases

  • store api keys safely in a git repo
  • encrypt secrets in version control with gpg
  • share encrypted credentials with my team
  • keep puppet or ansible secrets encrypted in a repo
  • decrypt secrets for production deployment
  • manage which teammates can decrypt repo secrets

When to choose

  • you need simple GPG-based encryption of a few small secret files in a VCS
  • your team already uses GPG and plain Git/Mercurial workflows

When to avoid

  • starting a new project - the maintainers state it is abandoned and recommend alternatives like git-crypt or secret managers
  • you need enterprise features or encryption of many/large files
  • you want a managed secrets service like AWS KMS, Vault, or Azure Key Vault

Facets

cli-tool · maturity abandoned

secrets-management cryptography version-control developer-tools security developer-tools version-control windows cli cross-platform gpg encrypted-secrets git mercurial subversion abandoned-project devops linux macos

1 source

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
StackExchange/blackboxmain10

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="StackExchange/blackbox")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem