Question 1

What is Vanisec?

Accepted Answer

Vanisec (also known as OTS or One-Time Secret) is a free, secure one-time secret sharing platform. You can share sensitive information like passwords, API keys, credentials, or confidential data through encrypted links that can only be viewed once and are automatically deleted.

Question 2

Is Vanisec free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Vanisec is completely free to use. There is no sign-up required, no credit card needed, and no hidden fees.

Question 3

How secure is Vanisec?

Accepted Answer

Vanisec uses encryption to protect your secrets. Secrets are stored in Redis with automatic expiration, can only be viewed once, and are permanently deleted after viewing or expiration. You can also add password protection for an extra layer of security.

Question 4

Do I need to create an account?

Accepted Answer

No, Vanisec does not require any sign-up or account creation. You can start sharing secrets immediately.

Question 5

What happens to my secret after it is viewed?

Accepted Answer

Once a secret is viewed, it is immediately and permanently deleted from our servers. It cannot be accessed again, even with the same link.

Question 6

What if my secret expires before it's viewed?

Accepted Answer

If the secret expires before anyone opens it, it is automatically and permanently deleted. The link stops working and the secret cannot be recovered.

Question 7

Can a secret be viewed more than once?

Accepted Answer

No. Each secret can only be viewed exactly one time. This is by design — it is what makes Vanisec useful for sharing sensitive information without risk of long-term exposure.

Question 8

What expiration options are available?

Accepted Answer

You can set secrets to expire after 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, or 7 days. Secrets are deleted automatically when the timer runs out, regardless of whether they were viewed.

Question 9

Is the password required?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for one-time secret links. Every secret is protected by a password, and it never leaves your browser: it derives the encryption key, and separately a one-way value that gates retrieval. Send it to the recipient through a different channel than the link, because either one alone is useless and the pair together is the secret. The clipboard is the exception: it uses a short code instead, and is convenience rather than privacy.

Question 10

Do you store my secrets?

Accepted Answer

Secrets are temporarily held in Redis until they are viewed or expire. We never write them to application logs, databases, or any persistent storage. Once deleted, they are gone permanently.

Question 11

Can I use Vanisec to move text between my own devices?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that is what the clipboard is for. Paste text or attach a file at /clipboard, click Save, and you get a four digit code. Open the same page on your other device and enter it, or scan the QR code shown next to it and type nothing at all. It expires after five minutes and opens exactly once.

Question 12

What is the difference between a one-time link and the clipboard?

Accepted Answer

A one-time link is private: it has a password that never leaves your browser, so Vanisec cannot read the secret. Use it for anything sensitive. The clipboard is fast: a four digit code, no password, five minutes. Vanisec can read a clip while it exists, and a four digit code is guessable, so use it for moving ordinary text between your own devices, not for credentials.

Question 13

Is the clipboard less secure without a password?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and deliberately so. A four digit code is only ten thousand possibilities, which is far too few to be an encryption key, so the key is held on our server instead. That means Vanisec can read a clip while it exists, and someone guessing codes could find one. What limits it is time: a clip lives five minutes and opens once, so a code that has been used is already dead. Use the clipboard for moving ordinary text between your own devices. For a password, an API key or anything else sensitive, use a one-time link, where the password never leaves your browser and we genuinely cannot read it.

Question 14

Can I share a file through the clipboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes, up to 5MB. The file is encrypted in your browser alongside any text, and whoever enters the code gets a download link. Same rules apply: five minutes, opens once, and not the place for a sensitive file.

Question 15

Can I use Vanisec commercially?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Vanisec is free for both personal and commercial use with no restrictions.

Question 16

Is Vanisec open source?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The full source code is available on GitHub. You can read it, contribute to it, or deploy your own instance if you prefer to self-host.

Clipboard