It was the keys. It was always the keys.

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 19:20:00 -0500

Last week I spent four days sorting out how we store client passwords and API keys. Four days. On password management — the single least glamorous thing on the board, the kind of task you’d hand to whoever joined most recently.

Best time I’ve spent this year, and it isn’t close.

Here’s why, and I’m going to spell it out because it took me an embarrassing number of years to see it.

github on jwogrady

It was the keys. It was always the keys.