https://github.com/cdown/jingui
A simple password manager designed to adhere to the Unix philosophy.
https://github.com/cdown/jingui
Last synced: over 1 year ago
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A simple password manager designed to adhere to the Unix philosophy.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/cdown/jingui
- Owner: cdown
- License: isc
- Created: 2015-01-04T13:09:31.000Z (over 11 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2016-11-04T03:54:51.000Z (over 9 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-02-06T07:30:58.080Z (over 1 year ago)
- Language: Python
- Size: 27.3 KB
- Stars: 1
- Watchers: 3
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 1
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE.md
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[jingui][] (from "金柜/金匱" ("strongbox"), or perhaps "[金龟/金龜][]" if it is
running particularly slowly on your machine ;-)), is a simple password manager
designed to adhere to the Unix philosophy. It uses [GPG][] for encryption and
signing, and [git][] for history.
## Work in progress
Be warned, jingui is very much a work in progress. Much of the stuff you will
read below has either not been implemented yet, or has only been partially
implemented. You should not expect any kind of security from this version of
jingui.
## Usage
First, make sure you have GPG and git set up as required. If you don't, take a
look at [GPG's getting started document][] and the [Git documentation][] to
learn more.
Now, we need to tell jingui which PGP key we should use. `-i` (or `--init`)
tells jingui that you want to initialise the password store and provide this
information. `jg` is the jingui binary.
# If you only have one PGP secret key, it will find it automatically
jg -i
# If you have multiple, you need to tell it which one
jg -i 0xDF8D21B616118070
Now that we've got the password store set up, we can start to add passwords and
other metadata. Make sure [`$EDITOR`][] or [`$VISUAL`][] are set appropriately
in your environment.
# Add a new password in your editor, or edit an existing one
jg -e example
# Add a username
jg -e example username
# You can also use slashes instead of separate arguments
jg -e example/username
These hierarchies are totally arbitrary, you can use whatever hierarchies make
sense to you.
Once you've edited the file, it will be encrypted with PGP by GPG and stored in
Git. You can now copy it to your clipboard, or show it in your terminal:
# Copy password for "example" to clipboard
jg example
# Show username for "example"
jg -s example username
As you've probably noticed, the first positional argument specifies the
service, and the second specifies the type of data to retrieve (the "field").
As mentioned above, these hierarchies are only a suggestion, you can use any
hierarchy structure that makes sense to you. Both of these arguments can
contain arbitrary data, which means that if you have two accounts on a service,
you can do something like this:
# Copy password for personal Google account
jg google personal
# Copy password for work Google account
jg google work
## Implementation details
Each piece of metadata in the hierarchy is stored in a separate file. The main
motivation for this is to avoid conflicts in Git when merging other changes.
The filenames of these files are pseudorandom UUIDs, they are not linked to the
content.
When editing the files, the temporary files are stored in memory if at all
possible. I suggest you also make sure that your editor doesn't leave its data
lying around on disk.
## Motivation for creation
For a few years now, I have used (and helped develop, although less in recent
times) [pass][], which uses [GPG][] and [git][] to manage passwords. However,
it has some limitations that I don't like:
- No concept of metadata, everything other than the password is stored as
freeform text and is not easily usable. This makes it difficult to easily use
metadata at a later point, instead relying on manual intervention;
- The original script has become quite convoluted, largely due to corner cases
and complexity compromises that are for edge-case systems;
- No automated tests of any kind;
- Commands like `generate` overwrite metadata, metadata is treated as a
second-class citizen;
- Filenames are not encrypted, they are stored raw.
jingui, like pass (which very much inspired it), uses GPG and git, but is
designed to be much more flexible without losing the simplicity (both in user
experience and use of existing tools) that makes pass great. Here are some ways
that jingui attemps to alleviate the problems mentioned above:
- jingui treats everything (usernames, passwords, etc) as metadata. There are
no special provisions for passwords. This ensures that metadata other than
passwords is not treated as a second-class citizen;
- jingui attempts to have test coverage for all situations that can occur when
using the program;
- jingui errs towards simplicity rather than functionality, and the internal
code is clean and clearly separates functionality into different objects;
- jingui does not have any connection between the filename a piece of metadata
gets and the name of the metadata. Instead, random UUIDs are generated for
each separate metadata file.
Each entry in jingui is a plain text file, encrypted and signed using your PGP
key. The default action is to copy a password to your clipboard, but you can
show it by using `-s`.
[jingui]: https://github.com/cdown/jingui
[pass]: http://www.passwordstore.org/
[GPG]: https://www.gnupg.org/
[git]: http://git-scm.com/
[GPG's getting started document]: https://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual/c14.html
[Git documentation]: http://git-scm.com/doc
[`$EDITOR`]: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_Unix/Environment_Variables#EDITOR
[`$VISUAL`]: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_Unix/Environment_Variables#VISUAL
[金龟/金龜]: http://baike.baidu.com/view/395421.htm