Secure notes on Keychain

The Keychain Access User Guide for macOS 15 Sequoia specifically points to using Notes app for secure notes, where previous versions referenced the secure notes feature within Keychain Access app:

Store confidential information securely using Notes on Mac - Apple Support

Password app also uses a different and more secure storage, and which apparently doesn't include a generic text note feature.

Per Apple, the file-based keychains are fading away, with a migration to the data protection keychain underway. (Which can use biometrics and the secure enclave, where the file-based keychains cannot.)

And some of us are quite possibly also migrating our certificates, and those quite possibly into MDM profiles.

Related: TN3137: On Mac keychain APIs and implementations | Apple Developer Documentation

TN3137 contains the following statement: "The file-based keychain is on the road to deprecation. It’s not officially deprecated, but some of the APIs surrounding it are. For example, SecKeychainCreate was deprecated in the macOS 12 SDK. Moreover, new features, like iCloud Keychain, require the data protection keychain."

Keychain Access app is the path into the file-based keychains.

Password app is the path into the newer (and more secure) keychains.

Got comments or suggestions? Log your feedback with Apple either via Feedback Assistant for third-party developers, or for non-developers via Apple Product Feedback.

Yes, following the tenets and practices of Cupertinology, that there is no current-version doc for a feature can be another clue of impending feature doom.

I’ve re-formatted the text of my reply into a user tip as well, so I can keep it updated:

• Migrating Keychain Access secure notes to Notes app - Apple Community

Same here. The menu in File to create a new secure note is gone. I even tried the keyboard shortcut shift + command + N to no avail.

I guess this feature was removed from macOS Sequoia and that we now have to use password-protected notes in Notes.

"Yes, following the tenets and practices of Cupertinology, that there is no current-version doc for a feature can be another clue of impending feature doom." - Where would the fun in that be

Thanks, that's really useful. One slightly bizarre thing is that when I follow the link to the Apple Support page you added (and I'd been to it myself it turned out) there isn't a Sequoia choice on the drop down. I can't yet see the Support page but the other stuff you put on here is really helpful and Im starting to migrate all the Keychain notes to Notes

Do we know that Notes is the new pathway for replacing Secure Notes in Keychain? They might have mentioned it more clearly

No, this is just conjecture on my part. I haven't seen anything official from Apple.