thePR0M3TH3ANandClaude Opus 5
4b01ac62e0
Two findings from the 2026-08-18 audit, entangled in the same files.
L-4 — the additional backup location was inert. The TUI accepted a path and
answered "Additional backups will be written to X"; nothing ever wrote one.
That is worse than an absent setting: it is false assurance in the feature a
user leans on precisely when everything else has gone wrong. The cause was
larger than the setting — Python's BackupManager is not ported at all, so
`backup_interval` was dead for the same reason.
New backups.ts ports the write side: after every committed mutation, the
encrypted index is copied to <profile>/backups/entries_db_backup_<ts>.json.enc
at 0600, and mirrored to `additional_backup_path` as <fingerprint>_<name>.
Filenames match Python's byte for byte so the two implementations share one
backup directory. Hooked after the save in both mutation funnels, matching
Python's create_backup()-after-_save_index() order, so a snapshot is the
post-mutation state.
Two deliberate deviations, both documented in the source:
- Throttling reads the newest snapshot on disk rather than Python's
in-memory _last_backup_time. Every CLI command is its own process, so an
in-memory counter would make backup_interval inert for CLI use — the same
bug in a new place.
- A failed mirror is reported rather than swallowed. Best-effort must not
fail a committed vault write, but silence would restore the false
assurance this change exists to remove.
Quick Unlock stays in the menu for item-order parity but now says it is not
implemented instead of storing a preference nothing reads. In Python the flag
never changed unlocking either — it writes an audit entry and raises a
security finding.
L-8 — plaintext backup import was not bound to a profile. A seed-only backup
is implicitly seed-bound: the wrong seed cannot decrypt it. A plaintext one
imports into any profile and is then re-derived from the TARGET seed, so every
password, SSH key, PGP key and seed silently comes out different from the one
the backup was taken to preserve. Nothing errors anywhere along the way.
Both the CLI and the TUI now compare the wrapper's fingerprint to the target
profile and require an explicit override (--allow-fingerprint-mismatch, or a
confirmation in the TUI). `vault import --inspect` reports the backup's
fingerprint and encryption mode so the mismatch is visible before committing.
The CLI also stops deciding encryption mode by regex over the whole file: new
parseBackupWrapper reads the envelope, which is the structural question being
asked.
Tests: backups.test.ts (9 cases: filename parity, 0600, verbatim ciphertext,
mirror naming, mirror-failure reporting, interval throttling, CLI end-to-end)
plus foreign-import cases in cli.test.ts and tuiMenus.test.ts using a genuine
second profile rather than a doctored file. All mutation-verified: removing
each hook or guard turns the matching tests red.
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.