path: root/wikipages/password-store.wiki

<!--
    author: erxeto
    title: password store
    description: command line, GnuPG base, password manager.
-->

<h2>pass, cli password manager</h2>

<p><code>pass</code> is a command line utility to manage your passwords.</p>
<p>
It creates a simple file/folder structure under your $PASSWORD_STORE_DIR (by default <code>~/.password-store</code>) where every file is encrypted with your gpg key.
</p>

<p>
You can organize that hierarchy as you see fit. For instance something like <code>sites/tilde.news/myusername</code> is a common way of doing it.
</p>

<p>
Those files are not limited to contain simply a password, they can contain anything. But is recommended that the password goes alone in the first line, so you can benefit from the <code>-c</code> option which copies that to the clipboard directly.
</p>

<p>
There is bash, zsh and fish command line completion available and all can be tracked using git. So it's really convenient.
</p>

<h2>setup</h2>
<p>This is simple, just one command (assuming you have your GnuPG key ready). GPG-ID is the hex id of your key.</p>
<div class="code">
$ pass init GPG-ID<br />
mkdir: created directory ‘/home/user/.password-store’<br />
Password store initialized for GPG-ID<br />
</div>


<h2>basic usage</h2>

<p>
list all passwords "tree" style
</p>
<div class="code"><pre>
$ pass
Password Store
├── sites
│   ├── tilde.zone
│   │   ├── myUserName
│   │   ├── secondAccount
...</pre>
</div>
<p>find a password</p>
<div class="code"><pre>
$ pass find tilde.zone
Search Terms: tilde.zone
└── sites
    └── tilde.zone
        └── myUserName@tilde.zone
</pre></div>
<p>See the content of a file</p>
<div class="code">
    $ pass email/tilde.institute/myAccount<br />
    supersecret<br />
</div>
<p>Copy the first line to the clipboard. Clear time can be configured with <code>$PASSWORD_STORE_CLIP_TIME</code></p>
<div class="code">
    $ pass -c email/tilde.institute/myAccount<br />
    Copied email/tilde.institute/myAccount to clipboard. Will clear in 45 seconds.<br />
</div>
<p>Insert a new password. It can be multiline with <code>-m</code>. Remember to put the password on the first line if you want to use the clipboard function</p>
<div class="code">
    $ pass insert sites/foo.com/blah<br />
    Enter password for sites/foo.com/blah:<br />
</div>
<p>Generate a 32 chars random password and store it. You can define the default length with <code>$PASSWORD_STORE_GENERATED_LENGTH</code>. With <code>-n</code> the password will not include symbols, but alphanumeric characters only. With <code>-c</code> it gets copied to the clipboard as usual.</p>
<div class="code">
    $ pass generate sites/foo.com/abcd 32<br />
    The generated password to sites/foo.com/abcd is:<br />
    $(-QF&Q=IN2nFBx)<br />
</div>

<p>take a look at the <code>--help</code> option or the complete documentation on their website.</p>

<p>
references:
<ul>
    <li><a href="https://www.passwordstore.org/" target="_blank">pass home page</a></li>
</ul>
</p>

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