One path from client to secret
Credals mirrors the structure freelancers already live in. Instead of a flat list of passwords, everything hangs off the client it belongs to, so you always retrieve a secret from the place you'd expect to find it.
01 · Create the client
Start where the relationship starts. The client is the top-level context for everything that follows: every project, platform and credential lives underneath it. When a client engagement ends, everything related to it is in one place, ready to hand off or archive.
02 · Add projects
A rebuild, a retainer, a launch. Each project sits under its client. No naming conventions to invent, no prefixing credentials with the client name to keep them straight. The hierarchy does that work for you, so two clients can both have a "staging" environment without collision.
03 · Attach platforms and credentials
Under each project, add the platforms you actually use (GitHub, Vercel, Stripe, a CMS, a mail provider) and store the logins, tokens and API keys against them. Every value is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it reaches the database.
Retrieval without friction
Because the structure matches your mental model, finding a secret is a short, predictable path: client, project, platform, done. You retrieve exactly the one value you need (one login, one key) without opening a folder, searching, or scrolling through an undifferentiated vault.
Why the hierarchy matters
Generic password managers optimize for a single person's personal logins. Freelancers work across many clients at once, and the same secret (say, a database URL) means something completely different depending on which client it belongs to. Credals is intentionally narrower: it's built around the Client → Project → Platform → Credential pattern that freelance and agency work repeats every day.