dotfiles/pass/README.md

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pass

pass - command-line password manager

The pass module tries to make interacting with the basic necessities of pass painless and quick -- it is focused on accessing secrets, and quickly auto-filling forms or copying secrets to the clipboard.

The configuration of pass is relatively standard, it tries to follow XDG_specifications, putting the default pass store into ~/.local/share/pass.

The module is based on the original implementation for gopass which I decided to drop after repeated minor version bumps with breaking api changes. With the additional new direction away from pass compatibility by gopass I ultimately decided to fall back to the more stable api of pass, foregoing some of its more advanced quality of life features.

The general functionality of password management should not be affected. The last working rofi-gopass implementation before the switch can be found here.

rofi-pass

To make accessing secrets easy, it uses the rofi-pass script, which creates a small rofi menu displaying all your secrets (names only), and from which you have quick access to copy, fill, or open the individual entries. An example of the menu in action:

rofi-gopass demonstration

There are several keybindings available, to either fill or copy to clipboard the username, password, or open the full view to an individual entry. For every send to clipboard action, the clipboard will be automatically cleared after the time specified in your pass settings. For auto-filling to work correctly, the username field will (by default) have to be highlighted on the entry webpage or form.

keybinding function setting name
Return Auto-fill username & password KEY_AUTOFILL
Alt+Return Open individual entry KEY_OPEN_ENTRY
Alt+u Auto-fill username KEY_FILL_USER
Alt+p Auto-fill password KEY_FILL_PASS
Ctrl+Alt+u Send username to clipboard KEY_CLIP_USER
Ctrl+Alt+p Send password to clipboard KEY_CLIP_PASS
From opened entry:
Return Auto-fill selected field KEY_ENTRYMENU_FILL
Alt+Return Send selected field to clipboard KEY_ENTRYMENU_CLIP
Alt+s Reveal contents of the password field KEY_ENTRYMENU_SHOWFIELD
Alt+BackSpace Close individual entry, return to overview KEY_ENTRYMENU_QUIT

These keys, as well as the additional configuration can be changed by setting the corresponding environment variable, through a configuration file, or at the top of the script file itself. The script tries to follow xdg-specification, meaning it looks for a configuration file in the following directories (in descending order):

  • XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rofi-pass/rofi-pass.conf
  • ~/.config/rofi-pass/rofi-pass.conf
  • ~/.rofi-pass.conf
  • /etc/rofi-pass.conf

or, alternatively, a custom directory if the RP_CONFIGURATION_FILE variable points to a configuration file.

To use environment variables to configure any of these options or keys, prefix them with RP_, so that e.g. KEY_AUTOFILL becomes RP_KEY_AUTOFILL. Environment variables take precedence over configuration file settings.

Additional configuration options:

  • AUTOFILL_BACKEND :sets the auto-filling tool used, only tested with xdotool currently.

  • AUTOFILL_CHAIN :sets the chain of keys that should be sent to auto-fill an entry. Can use the following special fields: :tab, :space, :return, username, password.

    The default chain is username :tab password, which will enter the username, simulate the tab-key to switch from the username to the password field, and enter the password. This can be changed to suit your needs. To, for example, log in fully automatically at the end of the sequence, change it to username :tab password :return, and there will be no further user input for the login required.

  • AUTOFILL_DELAY :sets the time for xdotool to wait in-between simulated actions, if some letters appear missing or the fields are not switched between quickly enough, it can usually be fixed by increasing this delay (though typing will also take longer)

  • PASS_USERNAME_FIELD :sets the name of the field in pass secrets which contain the username. Usually, the default setting should be fine (it will look for user, then username, then login) but custom field names can be supplied. If multiple field names are given, it will use the first supplied field name a secret contains.