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XKCDPASS(1) Admin XKCDPASS(1)

NAME

xkcdpass - generate memorable, secure multiword passphrases

SYNOPSIS

xkcdpass [ option ... ]
xkcdpass --help

DESCRIPTION

A flexible and scriptable password generator which generates strong passphrases, inspired by XKCD 936:

$ xkcdpass
> correct horse battery staple


OPTIONS

--help

Describe how to use this command.


--wordfile WORDFILE, -w WORDFILE

Specify that the file WORDFILE contains the list of valid words from which to generate passphrases.


--min MIN_LENGTH

Generate passphrases containing at least MIN_LENGTH words. (Default: 5)


--max MAX_LENGTH

Generate passphrases containing at most MAX_LENGTH words. (Default: 9)


--numwords NUM_WORDS, -n NUM_WORDS

Generate passphrases containing exactly NUM_WORDS words. (Default: 6)


--interactive, -i

Generate and output a passphrase, query the user to accept it, and loop until one is accepted.


--valid-chars VALID_CHARS, -v VALID_CHARS

Limit passphrases to only include words matching the regex pattern VALID_CHARS (e.g. '[a-z]').


--verbose, -V

Report various metrics for given options.


--acrostic ACROSTIC, -a ACROSTIC

Generate passphrases with an acrostic matching ACROSTIC.


--count COUNT, -c COUNT

Generate COUNT passphrases. (Default: 1)


--delimiter DELIM, -d DELIM

Separate words within a passphrase with DELIM. (Default: ' ')


--separator SEP, -s SEP

Separate multiple passphrases with SEP. (Default: U+000A LINE FEED)


--case CASE, -C CASE

Set the case of each word in the passphrase by method CASE. (Default: lower)

Valid CASE values are alternating, upper, lower, first, random.



EXAMPLES

•
xkcdpass

Generates one passphrase with the default options. Example output:

pinball previous deprive militancy bereaved numeric


•
xkcdpass --count=5 --acrostic='chaos' --delimiter='|' --min=5 --max=6 --valid_chars='[a-z]'

Generates 5 passphrases, all from lower-case words and meeting the acrostic “chaos”, delimited by the “|” character. Example output:

collar|highly|asset|ovoid|sultan
caper|hangup|addle|oboist|scroll
couple|honcho|abbot|obtain|simple
cutler|hotly|aortae|outset|stool
cradle|helot|axial|ordure|shale



HISTORY

The xkcdpass command invokes the Python program xkcd_password.py.

The inspiration for the program's purpose is the XKCD 936 <https://xkcd.com/936/>
“Password Strength” cartoon.

The application is maintained by Steven Tobin < <steven@steventob.in> >.

This manual page was written by Ben Finney < <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> >.

AUTHOR

Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au>

COPYRIGHT

BSD license, attribution and disclaimer required, no endorsement allowed.

2022-02-23