Pass for Linux

A native GTK4/libadwaita password manager for Linux. The fourth app in the family around sdr-for-linux, skimmer-for-linux and log-for-linux, sharing their technology and architecture: a headless, GLib-only engine under a GTK4/libadwaita front-end, plain C11, meson.

It is a front-end for the pass password store — the same directory of GPG-encrypted files, read and written in place. pass on the command line and this app can be used on one store interchangeably; neither needs to know about the other.

Status: M5 — feature-complete against the spec. TOTP codes are computed natively (libgcrypt HMAC in secure memory, RFC 6238-verified) and shown live with a countdown ring; HOTP generates like pass otp, counter bump and commit message included. Everything below M5 holds: the full operation set with selective re-encryption, git with pass-compatible messages, history with plaintext diffs, recipient view. Conformance-tested against pass 1.7.4 and pass-otp 1.2.0. Remaining: packaging (M6). Read docs/SPEC.md.

Why

pass is a 720-line bash script whose best property is that it has no format of its own: entries are *.gpg files in a directory tree, recipients live in .gpg-id, history is plain git. That survives its own tooling. What it lacks is a graphical client that is actually native — the existing ones are a Rust TUI, Qt, or web pages in an Electron wrapper.

Nothing here reimplements GnuPG. Crypto goes through GPGME, git through libgit2, passphrases through gpg-agent and its pinentry — all C libraries, all already packaged.

Design rules

1. Anything written here must be readable by pass 1.7.4 — including the git commit messages.
2. No subprocesses: never spawn pass, gpg or git.
3. Nothing decrypted ever reaches persistent storage.
4. No network except git remotes the user configured. No telemetry, no account.

Licence

GPL-3.0-or-later. Richard Fakenberg, OK1BR.