passgen

README

passgen

A secure, customizable password generator CLI tool written in Go.

Features

• Secure Random Generation: Uses cryptographically secure random number generation
• Customizable Character Sets: Choose from lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and symbols
• Advanced Options: Exclude similar characters, custom character exclusion
• Multiple Passwords: Generate multiple passwords at once
• Password Strength Checker: Analyze password strength and get improvement suggestions
• Preset Configurations: Quick presets for common use cases
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows

Installation

Method 1: Automated Installation (Recommended)

The easiest way to install passgen with automatic PATH configuration:

# Download and run the installation script
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kumarasakti/passgen/main/install.sh | bash

# Or clone and run locally
git clone https://github.com/kumarasakti/passgen.git
cd passgen
./install.sh

This script will:

• Install passgen using go install
• Automatically detect your shell (zsh, bash, fish)
• Add Go's bin directory to your PATH
• Make passgen immediately available

Note: For PowerShell users, see Method 3: PowerShell Installation for a native PowerShell experience.

Method 2: Quick One-liner

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kumarasakti/passgen/main/quick-install.sh | bash

Method 3: PowerShell Installation (Windows/Linux/macOS)

For PowerShell users on any platform:

# Automated installation with interactive prompts
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kumarasakti/passgen/main/install.ps1 | iex

# Quick installation without prompts
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kumarasakti/passgen/main/quick-install.ps1 | iex

# Or run locally
git clone https://github.com/kumarasakti/passgen.git
cd passgen
.\install.ps1

This PowerShell script will:

• Install passgen using go install
• Automatically configure your PowerShell profile
• Add Go's bin directory to your PATH
• Work on Windows PowerShell, PowerShell Core, and Linux/macOS

For Linux/macOS with PowerShell:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kumarasakti/passgen/main/install.ps1 | pwsh

Method 4: Manual Go Install

go install github.com/kumarasakti/passgen@latest

Important: After manual installation, you need to add Go's bin directory to your PATH:

# For zsh users
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# For bash users
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For PowerShell users:

# Add to your PowerShell profile
$env:PATH += ";$(go env GOPATH)\bin"  # Windows
$env:PATH += ":$(go env GOPATH)/bin"  # Linux/macOS

Method 5: Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page and place it in your PATH.

Method 6: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/kumarasakti/passgen.git
cd passgen
make build
sudo mv build/passgen /usr/local/bin/  # Install to system PATH

Verify Installation

passgen --version
passgen --help

If you get "command not found", your Go bin directory is not in PATH. Use Method 1 (automated installation) or follow the PATH setup instructions in Method 3.

Usage

Basic Usage

# Generate a default password (12 characters, letters and numbers)
passgen

# Generate a 16-character password with symbols
passgen -l 16 -s

# Generate 5 passwords at once
passgen -c 5

# Generate a secure password (all character types)
passgen --secure

Advanced Options

# Exclude similar characters (i, l, 1, L, o, 0, O)
passgen --exclude-similar

# Exclude specific characters
passgen --exclude "aeiou"

# Generate only numbers (PIN)
passgen --lower=false --upper=false --numbers=true --symbols=false -l 6

# Generate alphanumeric password
passgen --alphanumeric -l 12

Preset Configurations

# Secure password (16 chars, all types)
passgen preset secure

# Simple password (12 chars, letters and numbers)
passgen preset simple

# PIN (6 digits)
passgen preset pin

# Alphanumeric (12 chars, letters and numbers)
passgen preset alphanumeric

Password Strength Checker

# Check password strength
passgen check "mypassword123"

# Example output:
# Strength: Medium (Score: 4/8)
# Suggestions: Add uppercase letters, Add special characters

Command Line Options

Flag	Short	Description	Default
--length	-l	Password length	12
--count	-c	Number of passwords to generate	1
--lower		Include lowercase letters	true
--upper		Include uppercase letters	true
--numbers	-n	Include numbers	true
--symbols	-s	Include symbols	false
--exclude-similar		Exclude similar characters (il1Lo0O)	false
--exclude		Characters to exclude	""
--secure	-S	Generate secure password (all types)	false
--simple	-m	Generate simple password (letters + numbers)	false
--alphanumeric	-a	Generate alphanumeric password	false
--help	-h	Show help message
--version	-v	Show version

Examples

Generate Different Types of Passwords

# Default password (14 characters, uppercase, lowercase, symbols)
$ passgen
🎉 Password Generated Successfully! 🎉

Password: -PUZ:@)x$DSloj

📊 Password Analysis:
✅ Length: 14 characters (Good!)
✅ Character Sets: Lowercase, Uppercase, Symbols
✅ Entropy: 88.0 bits (Very Strong!)
✅ Strength: Very Strong 💪

🔒 Security Assessment:
• This password would take approximately 4892016 years to crack with modern hardware
• Contains 3 different character types for excellent complexity
• Exceeds security standards for high-value accounts

Someone's taking this security thing seriously! 🌟

# Secure password with all character types (gets the ice cold message!)
$ passgen --secure -l 20
🎉 Password Generated Successfully! 🎉

Password: =;1.7y$A]RqH8a7):s&C

📊 Password Analysis:
✅ Length: 20 characters (Excellent!)
✅ Character Sets: Lowercase, Uppercase, Numbers, Symbols
✅ Entropy: 129.2 bits (Extremely Strong!)
✅ Strength: Extremely Strong 🔥

🔒 Security Assessment:
• This password would take approximately 1.2e+19 years to crack with modern hardware
• Contains 4 different character types for maximum complexity
• Quantum-resistant for the foreseeable future!

Brr, that's ice cold security! Even hackers are shivering! 🥶

# Medium strength password (with sarcastic feedback)
$ passgen -l 8
✨ Password Generated! ✨

Password: gz*yK#<&

📊 Password Analysis:
⚠️  Length: 8 characters (Could be longer)
✅ Character Sets: Lowercase, Uppercase, Symbols
✅ Entropy: 50.3 bits (Medium!)
✅ Strength: Medium ⚡

🔒 Security Assessment:
• This password would take approximately 11.4 minutes to crack with modern hardware
• Contains 3 different character types for excellent complexity
• Adequate for most general purposes

💡 Tips for improvement:
• Consider using 12+ characters for better security

Well, it's... adequate. I guess that's something! 👍

Advanced Usage

# Generate multiple passwords
$ passgen -c 2 -l 10
🎉 Password Generated Successfully! 🎉

Password: CIMc|OVmzv

📊 Password Analysis:
✅ Length: 10 characters (Good!)
✅ Character Sets: Lowercase, Uppercase, Symbols
✅ Entropy: 62.9 bits (Strong!)
✅ Strength: Strong 💯

🔒 Security Assessment:
• This password would take approximately 1.2 years to crack with modern hardware
• Contains 3 different character types for excellent complexity
• Great for securing important accounts

Not bad, you actually read the security guidelines! 🎯

==================================================

🎉 Password Generated Successfully! 🎉

Password: oXEduV)%|K

📊 Password Analysis:
✅ Length: 10 characters (Good!)
✅ Character Sets: Lowercase, Uppercase, Symbols
✅ Entropy: 62.9 bits (Strong!)
✅ Strength: Strong 💯

🔒 Security Assessment:
• This password would take approximately 1.2 years to crack with modern hardware
• Contains 3 different character types for excellent complexity
• Great for securing important accounts

Not bad, you actually read the security guidelines! 🎯

# Check version
$ passgen --version
passgen version v1.0.3

Development

Installation Scripts

This repository includes multiple installation scripts for different environments:

• install.sh - Full-featured bash installer with shell detection (zsh, bash, fish)
• quick-install.sh - Minimal bash installer for quick setup
• install.ps1 - Full-featured PowerShell installer (Windows/Linux/macOS)
• quick-install.ps1 - Minimal PowerShell installer for quick setup

All scripts automatically handle PATH configuration and provide colored output with error handling.

Building

# Install dependencies
make deps

# Build for current platform
make build

# Build for all platforms
make build-all

# Run tests
make test

# Development workflow (format, lint, test, build)
make dev

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run tests with coverage
go test -cover ./...

# Run specific test
go test -run TestGeneratePassword

Release

# Create release binaries and archives
make release

Security

This tool uses Go's crypto/rand package for cryptographically secure random number generation. The generated passwords are suitable for production use.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

v1.0.0

• Initial release
• Basic password generation with customizable options
• Password strength checker
• Preset configurations
• Cross-platform support