Closes the open "does the api get a TypeScript port at all" decision by
porting the subset that is not built on unported subsystems: entries (list,
search, read, create, modify, archive, links, document import/export), an
explicit secret route, config, profiles, TOTP, vault lock/unlock/export/import,
change-password, relays, nostr pubkey, stats, notifications, derivation check,
and shutdown.
Built on node:http with no framework. The CLI ships as a single audited bundle
with an empty production dependency list, and adding a web framework to a
process that holds unlocked parent seeds would be the largest supply-chain
change in the project.
This surface binds a TCP port while holding an unlocked seed, which is
strictly more exposed than the agent's 0600 unix socket, so it is shaped by
what it refuses:
- Loopback only. A non-loopback bind requires --allow-remote; an accidental
--host 0.0.0.0 on a seed-holding process is not a mistake that should be
recoverable after the fact.
- Bearer token on every route, printed once, never written to disk,
compared in constant time.
- Routes that produce plaintext additionally require the master password in
a header, so a token lifted from a script or a process list cannot read
the vault on its own.
- Path parameters resolve inside the profile directory or 400.
- Body size capped while the request is still arriving.
- Failed unlocks get their own much tighter budget, and exhausting it
returns 429 even for the correct password, so the port is not a password
oracle and lockout is not distinguishable from a wrong guess.
- No CORS headers unless the origin was explicitly allowlisted.
- password_hash / pin_hash are never returned and cannot be set.
Every handler goes through the CLI's own vault plumbing rather than
reimplementing it. That is the point: an API deriving secrets its own way
would be a second implementation to keep in parity, and the first place the
two would drift is which secret a given entry produces. Verified end to end
against a real running server: Python, the TS CLI and the TS API all derive
g'xH9E?3n3VS8EOmX8 for the same entry.
Routes belonging to deliberately unported subsystems (high-risk partitions,
agent job profiles, agent recovery split, semantic index) answer 501 naming
the feature rather than 404 — a 404 reads as a typo and would send an
integrator hunting for a spelling mistake that is not there.
One bug the tests caught before it shipped: the 2FA export returned
materializeSecret's value for deterministic TOTP entries, which is the current
six-digit CODE, not the base32 secret. An authenticator cannot be seeded from
a code, so the export would have looked correct and been useless. It now
re-derives the secret the way the TUI's export does, and returns the otpauth
URI alongside it.
28 API tests, most of them about what is refused rather than what works.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Vtx94nXDmNgXEeThUZP4QN
seedpass-js
The SeedPass command-line interface, TypeScript port.
It reads and writes the same ~/.seedpass profiles as the Python
implementation — same derivations, same vault format, same Nostr sync — and
adds a session agent plus a scoped-token surface designed for AI agents and
automation.
Install
Requires Node.js 22 or newer.
# from a checkout
cd js && pnpm install && pnpm --filter @seedpass/cli build
node packages/cli/dist/seedpass-js.mjs --version
The build produces one self-contained file (dist/seedpass-js.mjs) plus a
.sha256 next to it. Copy it anywhere on your PATH; it has no runtime
dependencies beyond Node itself.
Quick start
export SEEDPASS_APP_DIR=~/.seedpass # omit to use the default
# Create a profile (mnemonic and password come from the environment,
# never from the command line)
export SEEDPASS_MNEMONIC="your twelve or twenty-four words"
export SEEDPASS_PASSWORD="your master password"
seedpass-js fingerprint add --name main
unset SEEDPASS_MNEMONIC # not needed again
# Unlock once per session through the agent
seedpass-js agent start &
seedpass-js vault unlock --ttl 900
seedpass-js entry add password github.com --length 20 --username you
seedpass-js entry reveal github.com
seedpass-js entry totp-codes
seedpass-js use github.com --clipboard
seedpass-js vault lock
Design: reference-first output
Default output never contains secret values. Entries are addressed by
reference (sp://entry/<id>), and secret-bearing fields are reported as
has_* flags:
$ seedpass-js entry get api-token
{ "id": "5", "ref": "sp://entry/5", "label": "api-token",
"kind": "key_value", "has_value": true, ... }
Plaintext leaves the vault only through commands that say so
(entry reveal, entry totp-codes, entry export-document,
util generate-password), or through a sink, which delivers a secret to its
destination without routing it through this process's output:
seedpass-js use api-token --exec ./deploy.sh # SEEDPASS_SECRET in the child env
seedpass-js use api-token --stdin-to "wc -c" # quote specs that contain flags
seedpass-js use api-token --clipboard
Scoped tokens for agents
An agent can be given a token that grants exactly what it needs and nothing else. Secrets are materialized inside the session agent, so the token holder never receives the seed and can never escalate to owner operations.
# As the owner:
seedpass-js agent token-issue --scope read use \
--kind key_value --label-regex '^api-' --uses 2 --ttl 600
# In the agent's process — no mnemonic, no password:
export SEEDPASS_TOKEN=<token>
seedpass-js entry list # metadata only
seedpass-js use api-token --exec ./deploy.sh # permitted
seedpass-js entry reveal api-token # denied: scope 'reveal' not granted
# Back as the owner — every grant, delivery and denial is recorded:
seedpass-js agent audit-verify
seedpass-js agent audit-tail -n 20
Environment
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
SEEDPASS_APP_DIR |
Profile directory (default ~/.seedpass) |
SEEDPASS_MNEMONIC |
Parent seed; needed for profile creation, otherwise use the agent |
SEEDPASS_PASSWORD |
Master password, for fingerprint add and vault unlock |
SEEDPASS_TOKEN |
Scoped token; puts the CLI in token mode |
SEEDPASS_AGENT_SOCK |
Override the agent socket path |
SEEDPASS_SECRET |
Set by use --exec in the child process only |
Compatibility
Interoperability with the Python implementation is verified on every change
by scripts/cross_impl_check.py: each side opens the other's profiles,
backups round-trip, edits are mutually visible, conflict merges agree, and a
snapshot published by Python restores here with secrets intact. See
docs/typescript_port_compatibility_matrix.md.
Not yet ported: PGP RSA keys (not byte-reproducible; ed25519 is at parity),
and the semantic and api command groups.