glyphlock 0.1.0

Glyph-based file obfuscation with intentional access control

Glyphlock

This module contains a simple implementation of glyph-based file obfuscation with optional access control.

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What glyphlock does

Glyphlock converts a file into a deterministic representation made up of Unicode Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The original file:

• is removed
• is replaced with a .glyph file
• is no longer readable as plain text

The transformation is fully reversible and does not modify the original data.

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What glyphlock is for

Glyphlock is meant to prevent accidental or casual access to files.

It is useful when:

• files should not be readable at a glance
• sensitive data should not be opened unintentionally
• projects need to be parked safely on disk
• access should require intent

This tool is not encryption and is not designed to protect against determined offline attacks.

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Access control

Glyphlock supports optional access gating.

When enabled:

• a password is required to decode files
• passwords are verified using a key derivation function
• passwords are never stored directly

An optional recovery key can also be generated.

The recovery key:

• is shown once
• is stored as a hash
• can be used if the password is lost

If both the password and recovery key are lost, the file cannot be recovered.

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File behavior

When encoding:

• the original file is replaced with filename.glyph
• the original file extension is stored in the header
• file permissions are preserved
• the file payload is checksummed

When decoding:

• the original file is restored exactly
• permissions are restored
• corrupted or modified files fail to decode

All file operations use atomic replacement to minimize the risk of data loss.

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Directory handling

When operating on directories, glyphlock walks the directory tree recursively.

The following are skipped automatically:

• symbolic links
• hidden directories
• version control metadata (.git, .hg, .svn)
• virtual environments (.venv, env)
• Python cache directories (__pycache__)
• editor configuration directories

Only user-authored files are processed by default.

How to use this module

Glyphlock is used as a command-line tool.

Encode a single file:

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glyphlock encode file.txt

Decode a file:

glyphlock decode file.glyph

Encode a directory with a password and recovery key:

glyphlock encode-dir project --lock --recovery

Decode a directory:

glyphlock decode-dir project