The idea in one sentence
The code vault stores a sealed photo of your key box's code inside the software, so the sub can't see it until opening is permitted or the lock period is over.
This solves an old problem in self-managed dynamics: where do I put the key when no keyholder is physically present?
How it works
Many couples use a key box: a small container with a numeric code that holds the actual key. Whoever knows the code gets the key.
The code vault moves exactly that code into the software. The sub photographs the key box's code and deposits the image in the safe. From that moment, the photo is locked for the sub. He can no longer view it as long as the lock holds.
It is released under two conditions:
- The keyholder permits opening, or
- the agreed lock period has expired.
Only then can the sub call up the photo again and reach the code.
The keyholder always sees
An important asymmetry: the lock applies only to the sub. The keyholder has access to the deposited photo at any time. That's the whole point. He has to be able to see the code, for instance to deliberately release an opening or to step in during an emergency.
This creates a clear distribution of roles: the sub gives up control over the code, the keyholder keeps it. Exactly what a physical key handover would achieve, just without the physical key.
Optional and off by default
The code vault is a feature you have to switch on deliberately. By default it is off. Anyone who doesn't need it or doesn't want it never has to deal with it.
That's intentional. Key custody is a matter of trust, and trust can't be preconfigured. A couple should actively choose it, not drift into it.
Distinction from the Heimdall hardware box
The code vault is a pure software solution. It does not replace the security of a physical box that only opens at a set time, as pursued by the Heimdall hardware project, for example.
The difference is fundamental: a hardware box physically holds the key. The code vault only withholds the view of the code. Anyone who knows the code by other means, or gains access, isn't stopped by steel, only by the agreement. The code vault is a tool for dynamics built on honesty, not on physical inevitability. If you're after the latter, you're better off looking at a hardware solution like Heimdall.
The privacy angle
The code vault holds a photo showing the code to a key. That's sensitive. Where that image is stored is therefore not a side matter.
If you run the Chastity Tracker yourself as a Docker container, you keep full control: the photo sits on your own infrastructure, and no one else has access. If you use the free portal, you entrust the image to trublue's server, a friendship service with no guarantees and without you holding control over the data.
With the code vault in particular, this choice is worth making consciously. If maximum data control matters to you, self-hosting is the better fit. Both routes remain permanently free; the difference isn't in the price but in who holds the data.