qala

Qalá

A discrete, multipurpose, secure environment variables and secrets guard.

Features

• 🔐 Encrypted storage of sensitive data
• 🔑 JWT-based authentication
• 🔒 ECC-based secure communication
• 🚀 Multiple operation modes (standalone, integrated, or env)
• 🐳 Docker-ready and easy to deploy

Installation

npm install qala

Usage

Qala can be used in three different modes:

1. ENV Mode (Simplest)

Access your secrets directly via process.env with zero configuration:

const Qala = require('qala');

// Initialize Qala in ENV mode
await Qala.init();

// Now use environment variables directly
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;

// Your application code
connectToDatabase(dbUrl);
authenticateWithApi(apiKey);

2. Standalone Mode (Server + Client)

Run a dedicated Qala server:

// server.js
const Qala = require('qala');
const fs = require('fs');

// Define your secrets
const secrets = {
  API_KEY: "your_api_key",
  DATABASE_URL: "your_database_url",
  // Add more secrets as needed
};

// Save to data file
fs.writeFileSync('./data.json', JSON.stringify(secrets, null, 2));

// Create and start server
const server = Qala.guard({
  mode: 'standalone',
  port: 3000,
  dataPath: './data.json',
  accessSecret: 'your_shared_access_secret'
});

server.init();

Then use a client to access secrets from any application:

// client.js
const Qala = require('qala');

// Create client
const client = Qala.engage({
  serverUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
  accessSecret: 'your_shared_access_secret'
});

async function main() {
  // Connect to server
  await client.connect();

  // Get secrets
  const apiKey = await client.get('API_KEY');
  const dbUrl = await client.get('DATABASE_URL');

  // Use the secrets in your application
  console.log(`Connected to database at ${dbUrl}`);
}

main();

3. Integrated Mode

Embed Qala directly into your Express, Koa or other similar application:

const express = require('express');
const Qala = require('qala');

// Create express app
const app = express();

// Add your routes
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Application is running!');
});

// Initialize Qala in integrated mode
const qala = Qala.guard({
  mode: 'integrated',
  dataPath: './data.json',
  accessSecret: 'your_shared_access_secret',
  server: app
});

// Initialize Qala and start the server
qala.init()
  .then(() => {
    app.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Application running with Qala integrated mode');
    });
  });

Docker Deployment

Qala includes Docker support for easy deployment:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Qala-Security/qala.js.git
cd qala

# Run the deployment script
./deploy.sh standalone  # or integrated, env, all

Security

Qala employs multiple layers of security:

• ECC-based key exchange (secp256k1 curve)
• AES-256-GCM for encryption of all data
• JWT authentication with token expiration
• IP verification to prevent token theft
• Secure storage with encrypted backup files

API Reference

Server (Qala.guard)

Option	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	'standalone'	Operation mode ('standalone' or 'integrated')
port	number	3000	Server port (standalone mode only)
securityLevel	string	'prod'	Security level ('dev' or 'prod')
dataPath	string	'./data.json'	Path to data file
accessSecret	string	-