Create a vault

Vaults are normally created automatically by vaultMiddleware. For non-Express workflows or custom orchestration, you can also create vaults manually via the API.

Automatic creation via vaultMiddleware

The recommended approach — add vaultMiddleware() after payMiddleware in your Express chain:

import { walletMiddleware, payMiddleware, vaultMiddleware } from '@prudra/express';

app.post(
  '/generate',
  walletMiddleware({ walletId: 'mwt_clx1abc123' }),
  payMiddleware({ price: '0.05', description: 'Generate report' }),
  vaultMiddleware(),
  async (req, res) => {
    // req.vault is ready — created for this payment
    const vault = req.vault!;
    console.log(vault.id);  // 'vlt_clx1abc123'

    await vault.addDocument({ report: 'data...' }, 'Report');
    await vault.seal('Report generated');

    res.json({ vaultId: vault.id });
  }
);

vaultMiddleware creates the vault, attaches it to req.vault, and handles cleanup if your handler throws.

Manual vault creation

For queue workers, Lambda functions, or other non-Express workflows:

SDK
cURL

import { initialise } from '@prudra/core';
import { createVault } from '@prudra/vault';

initialise({ apiKey: process.env.PRUDRA_API_KEY! });

const vault = await createVault({
  label:      'Report generation job',
  ttlHours:   24,
  paymentId:  'pay_clx1abc123',  // optional — link to payment
});

console.log(vault.id);        // 'vlt_clx1abc123'
console.log(vault.status);    // 'active'
console.log(vault.expiresAt); // ISO timestamp

curl -X POST https://api.prudra.dev/vaults \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer prv_test_sk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "label":    "Report generation job",
    "ttlHours": 24
  }'

Response:

{
  "id":        "vlt_clx1abc123",
  "status":    "active",
  "label":     "Report generation job",
  "ttlHours":  24,
  "expiresAt": "2026-05-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "createdAt": "2026-04-30T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`label`	string	No	Human-readable description of the vault’s purpose
`ttlHours`	number	No	Time-to-live in hours (default: plan default; max: plan limit)
`paymentId`	string	No	Link to a payment record for traceability

Plan TTL defaults

Plan	Default TTL	Maximum TTL
Hobby	24 hours	24 hours
Pro	7 days (168 hours)	7 days
Enterprise	30 days	Unlimited

Error handling

Error	Status	Cause	Resolution
`vault-quota-exceeded`	429	Active vault limit reached	Seal or delete unused vaults
`ttl-exceeds-plan`	422	TTL greater than plan maximum	Use a lower TTL or upgrade plan

Vaults overview — vault concepts and lifecycle
Seal a vault — close a vault for writes
Vault quota — check your active vault count

​Create a vault

​Automatic creation via vaultMiddleware

​Manual vault creation

​Parameters

​Plan TTL defaults

​Error handling

​Related