diff --git a/.sops.yaml b/.sops.yaml
index bbcbb68..7cd3f1e 100644
--- a/.sops.yaml
+++ b/.sops.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,27 @@
+# SOPS Configuration for secrets encryption
+# Public key is safe to commit; private key stays in cluster
+
 creation_rules:
-  - path_regex: k8s/configmap.yaml
+  # Encrypt secrets, configs, and sensitive files
+  # Public AGE key - safe to share and commit
+  # Files matching these patterns will be encrypted automatically with `sops -e`
+  - path_regex: k8s/(.*secret.*|.*config.*|.*deployment.*\.ya?ml)
     age: ***REMOVED***
-    encrypted_regex: '^data'
+    encrypted_regex: '^data|^stringData'  # Only encrypt data fields, keep structure readable
+
+  # Fallback rule for .enc.yaml files
+  - path_regex: '.*\.enc\.ya?ml'
+    age: ***REMOVED***
+    encrypted_regex: '^data|^stringData'
+
+# To encrypt a file locally:
+#   sops --encrypt k8s/configmap.yaml > k8s/configmap.yaml
+#
+# To decrypt and view:
+#   sops k8s/configmap.yaml
+#
+# To decrypt to stdout:
+#   sops --decrypt k8s/configmap.yaml
+#
+# The private age key is stored in the cluster at:
+#   kubectl -n argocd get secret sops-age -o jsonpath='{.data.key\.txt}' | base64 -d