Proton Pass CLI — Credential Management

Binary: /opt/homebrew/bin/pass-cli

Quick Reference

Check connection

pass-cli test

List vaults

pass-cli vault list

List items in a vault

pass-cli item list "MyVault"
pass-cli item list "MyVault" --output json

View an item

# By title
pass-cli item view --title "My Item" --vault-name "MyVault"
# By URI (returns specific field)
pass-cli item view "pass://MyVault/My Item/password"

Create a login item

pass-cli item create login \
  --vault-name "MyVault" \
  --title "Service Name" \
  --username "user" \
  --password "secret" \
  --url "https://example.com"

Create with generated password

# Random: length,uppercase,symbols
pass-cli item create login \
  --vault-name "MyVault" \
  --title "New Service" \
  --username "user" \
  --generate-password="20,true,true"

# Passphrase: word_count
pass-cli item create login \
  --vault-name "MyVault" \
  --title "New Service" \
  --username "user" \
  --generate-passphrase="5"

Update an item

pass-cli item update \
  --vault-name "MyVault" \
  --title "Service Name" \
  --field password=new_secret \
  --field username=new_user

Delete an item

pass-cli item delete --share-id SHARE_ID --item-id ITEM_ID

Secret References

URI format: pass://vault/item/field

Common fields: username, password, email, url, note, totp

Inject secrets into a template file

# template.env contains: DB_PASS={{ pass://MyVault/My DB/password }}
pass-cli inject template.env

Run a command with secrets as env vars

pass-cli run -- env DB_PASS="pass://MyVault/My DB/password" my-command

Gotcha (verify resolution): the run -- env X="pass://…" form has been observed to pass the literal pass://… URI as the value instead of the resolved secret (e.g. a 78-byte URI reached the program as the "password", causing an auth failure that looks like a wrong credential). When correctness matters, resolve explicitly with command substitution and sanity-check the length before use:

SECRET="$(pass-cli item view 'pass://MyVault/My DB/password')"
[ ${#SECRET} -gt 0 ] || { echo "secret did not resolve"; exit 1; }

Security Guidelines

1. Never print passwords in chat output. Use item view only to verify items exist, not to display secrets.
2. Prefer inject and run for programmatic use — they resolve secrets without exposing them in shell history.
3. Use --generate-password or --generate-passphrase when creating new credentials instead of inline passwords.
4. Always specify --vault-name to avoid accidentally storing in the wrong vault.

Detailed Command Reference

For full command documentation including all flags, template formats, SSH key management, TOTP, sharing, and aliases, see references/commands.md.