---
title: "system.secrets.readSecretValue"
description: "Reads the plaintext value of a secret."
---

# system.secrets.readSecretValue

> Reads the plaintext value of a secret.

This function is used in **Python Scripting**.

## Description

Reads the plaintext value of a secret given the name of the Secret Provider and the name of the secret. The PyPlaintext class contains a secret and performs much the same as the Java class Plaintext. To manage the lifecycle of the secret, returned as a PyPlaintext, either call the `clear()` method when finished or use a `with...as` statement to automatically clear the PyPlaintext.

Note that the `system.secret.readSecretValue` system function and PyPlaintext are not threadsafe.

## Syntax
`system.secrets.readSecretValue(providerName, secretName)`

### Parameters
|Type | Parameter | Description |
|------- | ------- | ------|
|String| `providerName` | The name of the Secret Provider to read the secret from.|
|List| `secretName` | The name of the secret to read.|

### Returns
A PyPlaintext instance that contains the secret. 

### Scope
Gateway, Vision Client, Perspective Session

## PyPlaintext Class

It is important to remember to clear the PyPlaintext instance after you are done accessing the secret. The preferred way to do so is use the Python `with...as` statement, as it is an efficient way to manage resource teardown. If the `with...as` statement is not appropriate for your use-case, you must clear the PyPlaintext instance manually using the `clear()` method. 

* When using the `getSecretAsString()` methods, the returned string representing the secret is not cleaned up until garbage collection reclaims the memory. 

* When using the `getSecretAsBytes()` method, the byte array returned is a direct reference to the bytes stored in the PyPlaintext instance. Therefore the array returned is cleared when the PyPlaintext is cleared. Refer to the **Decode Returned Java Compatible Bytes** code example below for options on what to do when the pyPlaintext instance is returned with `getSecretAsBytes`.

## Code Examples

```python title="Code Snippet using a with...as Statement"
with system.secrets.readSecretValue("InternalProvider1", "secret01") as plaintext:
   useSecret(plaintext.getSecretAsString())
```

```python title="Code Snippet using the clear() Method"
pyPlaintext = system.secrets.readSecretValue(provName, secretName)

# The original secret is returned by calling methods on the returned PyPlaintext object. 
byteArray = pyPlaintext.getSecretAsBytes()
asString = pyPlaintext.getSecretAsString()

# When done using PyPlaintext, call the clear() method.
pyPlaintext.clear()
```

```python title="Decode Returned Java Compatible Bytes"
# The following two examples show how to decode the Java compatible bytes 
# Returned from getSecretAsBytes().
byteArray = pyPlaintext.getSecretAsBytes()

# Option 1: Use Java String to decode to a string.
from java.lang import String
stringDecoded = str(String(byteArray, "UTF-8"))

# Options 2: Convert to python byteArray and decode to a string.
pyByte = bytearray(byteArraySecret)
stringDecoded = pyByte.decode("UTF-8")
```