gopass - chezmoi

chezmoi includes support for gopass, a password manager for teams built on top of pass.

Setup

Install gopass

brew install gopass

Initialize gopass

If you haven’t set up gopass yet:

# Initialize with your GPG key
gopass init [email protected]

# Or create a new team
gopass init --store=work [email protected]

Add Secrets

# Add a secret
gopass insert github/token

# Generate a random password
gopass generate aws/secret-key 32

# Add multiline data
gopass insert -m ssh/private-key

Template Function

`gopass`

Get the first line from a gopass entry:

{{ gopass "github/token" }}

This runs gopass show -o github/token and returns the first line.

Usage Examples

Simple Passwords

# ~/.config/gh/config.yml.tmpl
github_token: {{ gopass "github/token" }}

Git Configuration

~/.gitconfig.tmpl

[user]
    name = John Doe
    email = {{ gopass "git/email" }}
    signingkey = {{ gopass "git/signing-key" }}

[github]
    user = {{ gopass "github/username" }}

[gitlab]
    user = {{ gopass "gitlab/username" }}

AWS Credentials

# Store AWS credentials in gopass
gopass insert aws/personal/access-key-id
gopass insert aws/personal/secret-access-key
gopass insert aws/work/access-key-id
gopass insert aws/work/secret-access-key

~/.aws/credentials.tmpl

[personal]
aws_access_key_id = {{ gopass "aws/personal/access-key-id" }}
aws_secret_access_key = {{ gopass "aws/personal/secret-access-key" }}

[work]
aws_access_key_id = {{ gopass "aws/work/access-key-id" }}
aws_secret_access_key = {{ gopass "aws/work/secret-access-key" }}

Database Credentials

# Store database credentials
gopass insert db/production/host
gopass insert db/production/username
gopass insert db/production/password

~/.config/db/config.yml.tmpl

production:
  host: {{ gopass "db/production/host" }}
  port: 5432
  username: {{ gopass "db/production/username" }}
  password: {{ gopass "db/production/password" }}
  database: production_db

development:
  host: localhost
  port: 5432
  username: dev
  password: {{ gopass "db/development/password" }}
  database: app_dev

Multiple API Keys

~/.config/api-keys.env.tmpl

# Version Control
GITHUB_TOKEN={{ gopass "github/token" }}
GITLAB_TOKEN={{ gopass "gitlab/token" }}

# Cloud Providers
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={{ gopass "aws/access-key-id" }}
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={{ gopass "aws/secret-access-key" }}
DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN={{ gopass "digitalocean/token" }}

# Development APIs
OPENAI_API_KEY={{ gopass "openai/api-key" }}
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY={{ gopass "anthropic/api-key" }}

# Payment Services
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY={{ gopass "stripe/secret-key" }}
STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY={{ gopass "stripe/publishable-key" }}

SSH Configuration

# Store SSH usernames
gopass insert ssh/github/username
gopass insert ssh/gitlab/username
gopass insert ssh/work-server/username

~/.ssh/config.tmpl

Host github.com
    User {{ gopass "ssh/github/username" }}
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Host gitlab.com
    User {{ gopass "ssh/gitlab/username" }}
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Host work-server
    HostName server.company.com
    User {{ gopass "ssh/work-server/username" }}
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/work_id_rsa

Docker Registry Credentials

# Store Docker credentials
gopass insert docker/username
gopass insert docker/password

~/.docker/config.json.tmpl

{
  "auths": {
    "https://index.docker.io/v1/": {
      "auth": "{{ printf "%s:%s" (gopass "docker/username") (gopass "docker/password") | b64enc }}"
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Custom Command

If gopass is not in your PATH:

~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml

[gopass]
    command = "/custom/path/to/gopass"

gopass Features

Multiple Stores (Mounts)

gopass supports multiple password stores:

# Initialize stores
gopass init --store=personal [email protected]
gopass init --store=work [email protected]

# Use different stores
gopass insert personal/github/token
gopass insert work/gitlab/token

Access in templates:

{{ gopass "personal/github/token" }}
{{ gopass "work/gitlab/token" }}

Team Collaboration

gopass makes it easy to share passwords with a team:

# Initialize for multiple recipients
gopass init --store=team [email protected] [email protected]

# Clone a team store
gopass clone [email protected]:company/passwords.git team

Sync with Git

gopass automatically commits changes to git:

# Setup git remote
gopass git remote add origin [email protected]:username/passwords.git

# Push changes
gopass git push

# Pull changes
gopass git pull

# Sync (pull then push)
gopass sync

Generate Passwords

# Generate a 32-character password
gopass generate github/token 32

# Generate without symbols
gopass generate -n aws/secret-key 40

# Generate and copy to clipboard
gopass generate -c service/api-key 24

Organizing Your Password Store

Use a hierarchical structure:

~/.local/share/gopass/stores/root/
├── personal/
│   ├── email/
│   │   └── gmail.gpg
│   ├── github/
│   │   ├── token.gpg
│   │   └── username.gpg
│   └── ssh/
│       └── passphrase.gpg
├── work/
│   ├── aws/
│   │   ├── access-key-id.gpg
│   │   └── secret-access-key.gpg
│   ├── github/
│   │   └── token.gpg
│   └── vpn/
│       └── password.gpg
└── shared/
    └── wifi/
        └── home.gpg

Advanced Usage

Environment-Specific Secrets

~/.config/app/config.yml.tmpl

{{ if eq .chezmoi.hostname "work-laptop" -}}
# Work environment
api_key: {{ gopass "work/api-key" }}
db_password: {{ gopass "work/db-password" }}
{{ else -}}
# Personal environment
api_key: {{ gopass "personal/api-key" }}
db_password: {{ gopass "personal/db-password" }}
{{ end }}

Copy Secrets to Clipboard

# Copy to clipboard
gopass show -c github/token

# Copy for 10 seconds
gopass show -C 10 github/token

Search Secrets

# Search for secrets
gopass search github

# Grep for content
gopass grep "api-key"

Audit and Security

# Check recipients
gopass recipients

# Audit store
gopass audit

# Fix permissions
gopass fsck

Complete Examples

Multi-Service Configuration

~/.config/services.yml.tmpl

github:
  username: {{ gopass "github/username" }}
  token: {{ gopass "github/token" }}
  email: {{ gopass "github/email" }}

aws:
  access_key_id: {{ gopass "aws/access-key-id" }}
  secret_access_key: {{ gopass "aws/secret-access-key" }}
  region: us-east-1

database:
  host: {{ gopass "database/host" }}
  port: {{ gopass "database/port" }}
  username: {{ gopass "database/username" }}
  password: {{ gopass "database/password" }}

smtp:
  host: {{ gopass "email/smtp-host" }}
  port: {{ gopass "email/smtp-port" }}
  username: {{ gopass "email/username" }}
  password: {{ gopass "email/password" }}

Troubleshooting

GPG Key Not Found

Ensure your GPG key is available:

gpg --list-secret-keys

Secret Not Found

List all secrets:

gopass ls

Or search:

gopass search github

Command Not Found

Ensure gopass is installed:

which gopass
gopass --version

Testing Templates

Test template functions:

chezmoi execute-template '{{ gopass "test/password" }}'

Sync Issues

Force sync with git:

gopass sync

Or manually:

gopass git pull
gopass git push

gopass vs pass

Feature	pass	gopass
Backend	GPG + Git	GPG + Git
Team Support	Manual	Built-in
Multiple Stores	Manual	Native
Auto-sync	No	Yes
Binary Attachments	Extensions	Native
YAML/JSON Support	No	Yes
UI	CLI only	CLI + GUI
OTP Support	Extension	Native

Best Practices

Use stores: Separate personal, work, and shared passwords
Sync regularly: Enable automatic git sync
Use hierarchy: Organize secrets in logical folders
Generate passwords: Use gopass generate for strong passwords
Audit regularly: Run gopass audit to check for issues
Backup: Keep encrypted backups of your password store
Team sharing: Use proper recipient management for teams
Use descriptive names: Make entry names clear and searchable

Get Started

Core Concepts

User Guide

Encryption & Secrets

Password Managers

Advanced Usage

FAQ

​Setup

​Install gopass

​Initialize gopass

​Add Secrets

​Template Function

​gopass

​Usage Examples

​Simple Passwords

​Git Configuration

​AWS Credentials

​Database Credentials

​Multiple API Keys

​SSH Configuration

​Docker Registry Credentials

​Configuration

​Custom Command

​gopass Features

​Multiple Stores (Mounts)

​Team Collaboration

​Sync with Git

​Generate Passwords

​Organizing Your Password Store

​Advanced Usage

​Environment-Specific Secrets

​Copy Secrets to Clipboard

​Search Secrets

​Audit and Security

​Complete Examples

​Multi-Service Configuration

​Troubleshooting

​GPG Key Not Found

​Secret Not Found

​Command Not Found

​Testing Templates

​Sync Issues

​gopass vs pass

​Best Practices

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Setup

Install gopass

Initialize gopass

Add Secrets

Template Function

`gopass`

Usage Examples

Simple Passwords

Git Configuration

AWS Credentials

Database Credentials

Multiple API Keys

SSH Configuration

Docker Registry Credentials

Configuration

Custom Command

gopass Features

Multiple Stores (Mounts)

Team Collaboration

Sync with Git

Generate Passwords

Organizing Your Password Store

Advanced Usage

Environment-Specific Secrets

Copy Secrets to Clipboard

Search Secrets

Audit and Security

Complete Examples

Multi-Service Configuration

Troubleshooting

GPG Key Not Found

Secret Not Found

Command Not Found

Testing Templates

Sync Issues

gopass vs pass

Best Practices

See Also