Secretive
SSH agent in Privacy & security
Recommended for keeping SSH keys in the Mac Secure Enclave with a prompt on each use. Critics say it skips CLI tokens like AWS and npm.
8 people recommended Secretive in Hacker News comments, 5 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 15 comments.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- mixed feelings
- 5
- warn against or regret it
- 2
The record
Recommended in 4 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 38% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 15 of the 16 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Keeps SSH keys in Secure Enclave
“An alternative is to use ssh keys stored in the Secure Enclave with tools like”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Building and Shipping Mac and iOS Apps Without Ever Opening Xcode” “so your ssh keys are stored in the secure enclave”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Building and Shipping Mac and iOS Apps Without Ever Opening Xcode” Notifies on every key use
“I like that Secretive allows you to create keys that don't require TouchID, yet still notifies you when they are used.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Native Secure Enclave backed SSH keys on macOS” “I know exactly when my SSH key is used for any operation, because I need to hit a button or do a fingerprint scan.”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Native Secure Enclave backed SSH keys on macOS”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Requires third-party installation
“Secretive required installation, which is both friction and security-sensitive tool written by a third party.”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Native Secure Enclave backed SSH keys on macOS” “I think this is worth doing without an additional third party, especially since it's only a few commands.”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Setting Up SSH Keys on macOS with Touch ID”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SecretiveThis page | 8 | 5 | 2 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
| ssh-tpm-agent | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
15 of the 16 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I think this is worth doing without an additional third party, especially since it's only a few commands.”
“Sounds complicated. Just install”
“Or you could just use Secretive.”
“they show up collapsed in the "Login items" panel, with no way to enable one and disable the other”
“so your ssh keys are stored in the secure enclave”
“An alternative is to use ssh keys stored in the Secure Enclave with tools like”
“It doesn't look like it handles cli auth though (aws, npm, etc. all leave tokens sitting in your home directory”
“If you're on a Mac, I can highly recommend you to check out Secretive”
“I like that Secretive allows you to create keys that don't require TouchID, yet still notifies you when they are used.”
“Never had much of an issue with not having access to my private key.”
“I also really like secretive”
“this native tool is a better option than Secretive”
“Secretive is a bit friendlier to set up but I'll probably switch to this anyway so I have one less app on my computer.”
“Secretive required installation, which is both friction and security-sensitive tool written by a third party.”
“I know exactly when my SSH key is used for any operation, because I need to hit a button or do a fingerprint scan.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.