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About this tool
Classify which Ansible variables belong in Vault and generate the vars/vault split plus the exact ansible-vault command workflow.
This planner classifies each of your Ansible variables as encrypt, review or plain using credential-keyword rules, then generates the vars/vault indirection layout and the exact ansible-vault command workflow to match. It implements the pattern from Ansible's own best-practice docs: keep a plaintext vars.yml where each secret points at a vault_-prefixed twin stored in an encrypted vault.yml, so variable names stay greppable while values stay encrypted.
Open Ansible Vault Usage Planner on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Paste your code or data sample into the workspace.
Pick the format, conversion, or analysis you need.
Copy the polished result straight back into your project.
Password, secret, token, key, cert and connection-string patterns are flagged for encryption automatically.
Generates the documented vault_ prefix indirection so grep still finds every variable name.
ansible-vault create, edit and encrypt_string commands come pre-filled for your chosen layout.
Anything whose value grants access: passwords, API keys, tokens, private keys and certificates, connection strings and webhook URLs. Structural values like ports, regions and package lists can stay in plain vars; usernames are usually fine in plaintext but should sit next to a vaulted password.
It is Ansible's documented best practice for keeping vaulted variables visible: vars.yml holds db_password: "{{ vault_db_password }}" in plaintext while the encrypted vault.yml holds vault_db_password with the real value. Grep and ansible-doc searches still find db_password, but the secret itself is encrypted.
Use one vault file and password for small single-team projects, and a vault per environment with --vault-id labels (for example dev@prompt and prod@prompt) once production secrets must be restricted to fewer people. Separate vault IDs let CI decrypt dev without ever holding the prod password.
ansible-vault encrypt seals a whole file, while encrypt_string encrypts a single value that you paste inline as a !vault block inside a normal vars file. Whole-file vaults are easier to manage at scale; encrypt_string avoids a separate file when you have only one or two secrets.