====== Always Add SSH Keys via Coolify UI, Never Directly to Database ======

**Affects:** [[folkzone:services:coolify|Coolify]]

===== Fact =====

Coolify stores private keys encrypted using Laravel's encryption (''APP_KEY''). Inserting a raw private key directly into the ''private_keys'' table will result in:

  * "The payload is invalid" errors
  * "Call to a member function getPublicKey() on null" errors

Always use **Settings → Private Keys → Add Private Key** in the Coolify web UI.

===== Also: corrupted key files =====

Coolify caches keys as files in ''/var/www/html/storage/app/ssh/keys/''. If these contain only ''b:0;'' (a corrupted serialized PHP value), delete them and let Coolify regenerate from the database:

<code bash>
docker exec coolify ls /var/www/html/storage/app/ssh/keys/
docker exec coolify rm /var/www/html/storage/app/ssh/keys/id_coolify
</code>

===== See Also =====
  * [[folkzone:troubleshooting:start|Homelab Troubleshooting Index]]

  * [[folkzone:troubleshooting:coolify_ssh_setup|Coolify SSH Key Setup]]
  * [[folkzone:services:coolify|Coolify]]
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]