╔══════════════════════════════╗
║       A E T H E R V A U L T  ║
║   Encrypted Password Vault   ║
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AetherVault

Encrypted, local-first password manager
Store, organize, and protect your credentials — encrypted with AES-256, right on your machine.
Your data stays yours. No cloud. No servers.

Screenshots

Features

• AES-256 encryption — every password encrypted with Fernet (cryptography library), key derived with PBKDF2-SHA256
• Master password auth — setup/login flow; only the PBKDF2 hash is stored
• Credential management — add, edit, delete, search, sort, filter
• Password generator — configurable length and character sets
• Password strength meter — real-time scoring as you type
• Password health report — scan for weak, reused, or short passwords
• Category & tag filters — dynamic dropdowns, category click-to-filter
• Custom fields — key/value pairs on any entry (JSON-backed)
• Rich text notes — bold / italic / underline formatting toolbar
• Favicon auto-fetch — site icons pulled from Google's service
• System tray — minimize to tray, quick-lock from the tray menu
• Dark / light theme — toggle in Settings, persists across sessions
• Auto-lock — configurable 1/3/5/10/30 minutes or never
• Duress password (optional) — entering it at login permanently destroys the vault and all backups, indistinguishable from a failed login
• Clipboard auto-clear — copied passwords clear after 15 seconds
• One-click backup — timestamped filenames, auto-rotation keeps the 5 most recent
• CSV import / export — bulk add or migrate from other managers
• Duplicate detection — find and remove entries with matching title + username
• Portable mode — all data stays in the app directory (.portable marker)
• Startup integrity check — auto-detects corruption and recovers from backup

Download a Pre-Built Executable

No Python or pip needed. Grab the binary for your platform from the Releases page (or the latest Actions build artifacts):

Prefer a package manager? pip install 'aethervault-py[gui]' (PyPI) installs the desktop app on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Omit [gui] for the headless CLI/SDK.

The binaries are unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper may warn on first run. Windows: click More info → Run anyway. macOS: right-click the .app → Open (or xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine AetherVault.app) if Gatekeeper blocks it. Linux: the binary expects standard Qt/X11 system libraries. Executable installs — to update, download the new binary from the Releases page (aethervault -u requires a pip or git install and will not work inside a bundled executable).

Quick Start

Install

AetherVault is on PyPI (aethervault-py) and published to GitHub Releases on every version tag.

Option 1 — pipx (recommended):

sudo apt install pipx          # Debian/Ubuntu; pacman -S python-pipx on Arch
pipx install 'aethervault-py[gui]'
pipx ensurepath                # adds ~/.local/bin to PATH if needed
aethervault

pipx installs each app in its own virtual environment, so no system-Python modification is needed and the aethervault command is available everywhere. The [gui] extra pulls in PySide6 (Qt); drop it for a headless install.

Option 2 — pip (all platforms):

pip install 'aethervault-py[gui]'

On modern Linux distros (Ubuntu 23.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora, Arch), the OS-managed Python blocks pip with a PEP 668 "externally-managed-environment" error. In that case either use pipx above, a virtual environment (Option 3), or install into your user site:

pip install --user --break-system-packages 'aethervault-py[gui]'

Option 3 — Global install (editable):

git clone https://github.com/AetherSolDev/AetherVault.git
cd AetherVault
pip install --user --break-system-packages -e '.[gui]'

Option 4 — Virtual environment:

git clone https://github.com/AetherSolDev/AetherVault.git
cd AetherVault
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e '.[gui]'

Option 5 — Build yourself (PyInstaller):

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller aethervault.spec
# Output in dist/aethervault/

Option 6 — Headless CLI / SDK (no Qt):

pip install aethervault-py        # cryptography only — no PySide6
aethervault-cli --help

Use this on servers, CI, or a phone (Termux on Android) where Qt can't run. See aethervault/docs/SDK.md for the full SDK + CLI reference.

Run

aethervault              # Launch GUI (auto-detaches from terminal on Unix)
aethervault-cli list     # Headless CLI — list entries
aethervault --version    # Show installed version
aethervault --help       # CLI usage

Usage

1. First launch — set a master password (minimum 8 characters)
2. Login — enter your master password to unlock the vault
3. Add entries — click "Add New" and fill in the form
4. Generate passwords — click "Generate" next to the password field
5. Copy to clipboard — double-click a table cell or click the "Copy" buttons
6. Organize — categories and tags group your entries
7. Backup — File → Backup Vault (or auto-backup on save/shutdown)

Security

• Passwords are never stored in plain text — AES-256 via Fernet
• Master password is never stored — only its PBKDF2-SHA256 hash
• Encryption key derived from the master password hash (PBKDF2, 480K iterations)
• Clipboard auto-cleared after 15 seconds
• Auto-lock on inactivity or window focus loss
• SQLite with parameterized queries (no SQL injection)
• Startup integrity check with automatic recovery from backup
• Optional duress password — destroys the vault on coercion

Data

Documentation

Full user guide: aethervault/docs/USER_GUIDE.md

License

GPLv3 — Free as in freedom.