Skip to main content

Smart Passwords Library: Cryptographic password generation and management without storage. Generate passwords from secrets, verify knowledge without exposure, manage metadata securely.

Project description

smartpasslib (Smart Passwords Library) v3.0.1


Smart Passwords Library: Cryptographic password generation and management without storage. Generate passwords from secrets, verify knowledge without exposure, manage metadata securely.

Now with Cross-Platform Determinism: Same secret + same parameters = identical password on Python, Go, Kotlin, JavaScript and any language with SHA-256.


GitHub release (latest by date) GitHub top language Platform GitHub GitHub stars GitHub forks

PyPI - Downloads PyPI PyPI - Format PyPI Downloads PyPI Downloads PyPI Downloads


⚠️ Disclaimer

By using this software, you agree to the full disclaimer terms.

Summary: Software provided "AS IS" without warranty. You assume all risks.

Full legal disclaimer: See DISCLAIMER.md


⚠️ Breaking Changes (v3.0.1)

This version is NOT backward compatible with v1.x.x and v2.x.x

Version Status Why
v1.x.x Deprecated Used random.choice(), login - insecure, excessively
v2.x.x Deprecated Used random.seed() - Python-only deterministic
v3.x.x Current Uses SHA-256 - cross-platform deterministic

What changed:

  • SmartPasswordGenerator now uses SHA-256 instead of random.seed() and SHA3-512
  • BasePasswordGenerator now uses secrets.choice() instead of random.choice()
  • Character set changed: !@#$%&^_!@#$&*-_ (removed ^ and %, added * and -)
  • Deterministic passwords now work identically across all programming languages

Migration impact:

  • Old deterministic passwords will NOT match new ones
  • Update any tests expecting specific password outputs
  • Re-generate passwords for all services using old versions

Why this is better:

  • Same secret + same length = identical password on Python, Go, Kotlin, JS
  • Based on SHA-256 (NIST standard) — not Python-specific
  • Cryptographically secure by default

Core Principles:

  • Zero-Storage Security: No passwords or secret phrases are ever stored or transmitted
  • Cross-Platform Deterministic Generation: Identical secret + parameters = identical password on any language (SHA-256 based)
  • Metadata Only: Store only verification metadata (public keys, descriptions, lengths)
  • On-Demand Regeneration: Passwords are recalculated when needed, never retrieved from storage
  • Cryptographically Secure: Uses secrets module and SHA-256

What You Can Do:

  1. Smart Passwords: Generate deterministic passwords from secret phrases (cross-platform!)
  2. Strong Random Passwords: Cryptographically secure passwords with character diversity
  3. Authentication Codes: Generate secure 2FA/MFA codes with guaranteed character sets
  4. Base Passwords: Simple cryptographically secure random passwords for general use
  5. Key Generation: Create public/private verification keys from secrets
  6. Secret Verification: Prove knowledge of secrets without revealing them (public key verification)
  7. Metadata Management: Store and update password metadata (descriptions, lengths) without storing passwords
  8. Deterministic & Non-Deterministic: Both reproducible and random password generation options

Key Features:

  • No Password Database: Eliminates the need for password storage
  • No Secret Storage: Secret phrases never leave your control
  • Cross-Platform Determinism: Same results on Python, Go, Kotlin, JavaScript
  • Public Key Verification: Verify secrets without exposing them
  • Multiple Generator Types: Smart, strong, base, and code generators
  • Store Only Public Metadata: Descriptions and public keys can be stored; private keys and secrets are NEVER persisted
  • Full Test Coverage: 100% tested for reliability and security

Security Model:

  • Proof of Knowledge: Verify you know a secret without storing or transmitting it
  • Deterministic Security: Same input = same output, always reproducible across platforms
  • No Vulnerable Metadata Storage: Only public keys and descriptions can be stored (optional). Private keys and secret phrases are NEVER stored anywhere
  • Zero Storage of Secrets: Secret phrases exist only in your memory, private keys are derived on-demand and never persisted
  • No Recovery Backdoors: Lost secret = permanently lost passwords (by design)

Research Paradigms & Publications


Technical Foundation

The library implements cross-platform deterministic password generation - passwords are generated reproducibly from secret phrases using SHA-256 cryptographic hash function.

Why SHA-256 instead of SHA3-512:

  • Cross-platform standard - Available in every programming language by default
  • NIST certified - FIPS 180-4 compliant, used in Bitcoin, TLS, JWT
  • 256-bit security - Quantum-resistant (128-bit effective with Grover's algorithm)
  • Performance - Faster on 32-bit and 64-bit systems
  • Sufficient for passwords - 256 bits of entropy is impossible to brute force

Key principle: Instead of storing passwords, you store verification metadata. The actual password is regenerated on-demand from your secret.

Cross-Platform Guarantee:

  • Same secret phrase + same length = identical password on any platform
  • Implemented in Python, Go, Kotlin, JavaScript
  • Based on SHA-256 (NIST standard) — not language-specific

What's NOT stored:

  • Your secret phrase
  • The actual password
  • Any reversible password data

What IS stored (optional):

  • Public verification key (hash of secret)
  • Service description
  • Password length parameter

Security model: Proof of secret knowledge without secret storage.


What's New in v3.0.1

Breaking Changes (Migration Required):

  • SmartPasswordGenerator now uses SHA-256 — passwords differ from v1.x and v2.x
  • BasePasswordGenerator uses secrets.choice() — cryptographically secure, different output
  • Character set changed: !@#$%&^_!@#$&*-_ (removed ^ and %, added * and -)
  • No backward compatibility with versions 1.x.x and 2.x.x

Cross-Platform Determinism (NEW):

  • Same secret → same password on Python, Go, Kotlin, JavaScript
  • SHA-256 based — NIST standard, not Python-specific
  • Test vectors available for all languages

Security Improvements:

  • No more random module in any generator
  • secrets.choice() for cryptographically secure random passwords
  • Problematic symbols removed

Code Quality:

  • Unified character sets via PasswordChars mixin
  • No code duplication across generators
  • 100% test coverage maintained

Storage Improvements:

  • New config location: ~/.config/smart_password_manager/passwords.json
  • Automatic migration: Legacy ~/.cases.json files are auto-migrated on first use
  • Cross-platform paths: Uses Path.home() for all OS support

Migration Guide (v2.x → v3.x):

# OLD (v2.x) - STILL WORKS, BUT GIVES DIFFERENT RESULTS
# from smartpasslib.generators.smart import SmartPasswordGenerator
# password = SmartPasswordGenerator.generate("my_secret", 16)
# Output: m2m#4kb#RO6vAu2e (for example)

# NEW (v3.x) - USE THIS FOR CROSS-PLATFORM DETERMINISM
from smartpasslib.generators.smart import SmartPasswordGenerator
password = SmartPasswordGenerator.generate("my_secret", 16)
# Output: 560wjO-w3Kcl&Tc0 (DIFFERENT from v2.x!)
# Same secret gives SAME password on Python, Go, Kotlin, JS!

Action required:

  1. Old code still works, but produces DIFFERENT passwords than before
  2. If you need the OLD behavior → pin to smartpasslib==2.2.2
  3. If you migrate to v3.x → re-generate all passwords for your services

Why the change:

  • v2.x used random.seed() + SHA3-512 (Python-specific)
  • v3.x uses SHA-256 (cross-platform standard)
  • Same input → different output by design (different algorithm)

Installation

pip install smartpasslib

File Locations

Configuration files are stored in:

Platform Configuration Path
Linux ~/.config/smart_password_manager/passwords.json
macOS ~/.config/smart_password_manager/passwords.json
Windows C:\Users\Username\.config\smart_password_manager\passwords.json

Legacy Migration:

  • Old ~/.cases.json files are automatically migrated on first use
  • Original file is backed up as ~/.cases.json.bak
  • Migration is one-time and non-destructive

Quick Start

from smartpasslib import SmartPasswordMaster

# Your secret phrase is the only key needed
secret = "my_secret_key"

# Discover the password (CROSS-PLATFORM!)
password = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_smart_password(
    secret=secret, 
    length=12
)
print(f"Your discovered password: {password}")
# Output: i&h!lLy&ONxC

Verification Without Storage

from smartpasslib import SmartPasswordMaster

# Generate a public verification key (store this, not the password)
public_key = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_public_key(
    secret="my_secret_key"
)

# Later, verify you know the secret without revealing it
is_valid = SmartPasswordMaster.check_public_key(
    secret="my_secret_key",
    public_key=public_key
)
print(is_valid)  # True

Cross-Platform Compatibility

smartpasslib Python produces identical passwords to:

Platform Repository
Python smartpasslib
JavaScript smartpasslib-js
Kotlin smartpasslib-kotlin
Go smartpasslib-go
Web Web Manager
Android Android Manager
Desktop Desktop Manager
CLI CLI PassMan / CLI PassGen

Core Components

SmartPasswordMaster - Main Interface

from smartpasslib import SmartPasswordMaster

# Generate different types of passwords
base_password = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_base_password(length=12)
# Output example: JcAmAN-QIXHm

strong_password = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_strong_password(length=14)
# Output example: YFYCkqg#8W!_pH

smart_password = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_smart_password("my_secret_key", 12)
# Output: i&h!lLy&ONxC

# Generate and verify keys
public_key = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_public_key("my_secret_key")
is_valid = SmartPasswordMaster.check_public_key("my_secret_key", public_key)
print(f"Verification: {is_valid}")  # Verification: True

# Generate secure codes
auth_code = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_code(8)
# Output example: oLi&D@3s

SmartPasswordManager - Metadata Storage

from smartpasslib import SmartPasswordManager, SmartPassword, SmartPasswordMaster

manager = SmartPasswordManager()

# Store verification metadata (not the password and not secret phrase!)
public_key = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_public_key("github_secret")
smart_pass = SmartPassword(
    public_key=public_key,
    description="GitHub account",
    length=18
)
manager.add_smart_password(smart_pass)

# Retrieve and regenerate password when needed
stored_metadata = manager.get_smart_password(public_key)
regenerated_password = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_smart_password(
    "github_secret",
    stored_metadata.length
)
print(regenerated_password) # 3vQW6WHsbTo6YanMLJ

Generators

Base Generator - Cryptographically secure random passwords:

from smartpasslib.generators.base import BasePasswordGenerator
password = BasePasswordGenerator.generate(12)
# Output example: Q#1&tesRzeza

Strong Generator - Cryptographically secure with character diversity:

from smartpasslib.generators.strong import StrongPasswordGenerator
password = StrongPasswordGenerator.generate(14)
# Output example: Ft7n!vJu6&9@V4

Code Generator - Secure codes for authentication:

from smartpasslib.generators.code import CodeGenerator
code = CodeGenerator.generate(6)
# Output example: M$yVc9

Smart Generator - Deterministic passwords from seeds (CROSS-PLATFORM):

from smartpasslib.generators.smart import SmartPasswordGenerator

password = SmartPasswordGenerator.generate("my_secret_key", 12)
# Output: i&h!lLy&ONxC (SAME on Go, Kotlin, JS!)

Advanced Usage

Password Management System

from smartpasslib import SmartPasswordManager, SmartPassword, SmartPasswordMaster

class PasswordVault:
    def __init__(self):
        self.manager = SmartPasswordManager()
    
    def add_service(self, service_name: str, secret: str, length: int = 16):
        public_key = SmartPasswordMaster.generate_public_key(secret)
        metadata = SmartPassword(
            public_key=public_key,
            description=service_name,
            length=length
        )
        self.manager.add_smart_password(metadata)
        return public_key
    
    def get_password(self, public_key: str, secret: str) -> str:
        metadata = self.manager.get_smart_password(public_key)
        if metadata:
            return SmartPasswordMaster.generate_smart_password(secret, metadata.length)
        return None

# Usage
vault = PasswordVault()
key = vault.add_service("My Account", "my_account_secret", 20)
password = vault.get_password(key, "my_account_secret")

Ecosystem

Core Libraries:

Applications:


For Developers

Development Setup

pip install -r data/requirements-dev.txt
pytest -v --cov=smartpasslib --cov-report=html
python -m build

Testing Coverage

100% test coverage - All components thoroughly tested

Test Coverage

API Stability

Public API (stable):

  • SmartPasswordMaster - Main interface class
  • SmartPasswordManager - Metadata management
  • SmartPassword - Password metadata container
  • SmartPasswordFactory - Factory for creating metadata

Internal API (subject to change):

  • smartpasslib.generators.*
  • smartpasslib.factories.*
  • smartpasslib.utils.*

License

BSD 3-Clause License

Copyright (©) 2026, Alexander Suvorov


Support


Security Warnings

Security Requirements

Secret Phrase

  • Minimum 12 characters (enforced)
  • Case-sensitive
  • Use mix of: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols, emoji, or Cyrillic
  • Never store digitally
  • NEVER use your password description as secret phrase

Strong Secret Examples

✅ "MyCatHippo2026"          — mixed case + numbers
✅ "P@ssw0rd!LongSecret"     — special chars + numbers + length
✅ "КотБегемот2026НаДиете"   — Cyrillic + numbers
✅ "GitHubPersonal2026!"     — description + extra chars (but not the description alone)

Weak Secret Examples (avoid)

❌ "GitHub Account"          — using description as secret (weak!)
❌ "password"                — dictionary word, too short
❌ "1234567890"              — only digits, too short
❌ "qwerty123"               — keyboard pattern
❌ Same as description       — never use the same value as password description

Secret Phrase Security

Your secret phrase is the cryptographic master key

  1. Permanent data loss: Lost secret phrase = irreversible loss of all derived passwords
  2. No recovery mechanisms: No password recovery, no secret reset, no administrative override
  3. Deterministic generation: Identical input = identical output on any platform
  4. Single point of failure: Secret phrase is the sole authentication factor
  5. Secure storage required: Digital storage of secret phrases is prohibited

Critical: Test password regeneration with non-essential accounts before production use Note: Always test password generation in your specific environment. Implementation security depends on proper usage. NEVER use your password description as secret phrase


Project details


Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

smartpasslib-3.0.1.tar.gz (25.8 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

smartpasslib-3.0.1-py3-none-any.whl (31.1 kB view details)

Uploaded Python 3

File details

Details for the file smartpasslib-3.0.1.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: smartpasslib-3.0.1.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 25.8 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.14.3

File hashes

Hashes for smartpasslib-3.0.1.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 a7aa2c9a755a94a44e37cdf8b7bcb949e32e12fd3fe0c69cff9867be091971db
MD5 6648a8e9f00ec4169a8b6a49b38f8f59
BLAKE2b-256 8e837ba6e0d4e44aec242d36e4051f37207a228d9c4a011e82101778eedc5731

See more details on using hashes here.

File details

Details for the file smartpasslib-3.0.1-py3-none-any.whl.

File metadata

  • Download URL: smartpasslib-3.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 31.1 kB
  • Tags: Python 3
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.14.3

File hashes

Hashes for smartpasslib-3.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 c3956a8650277cbe9401d18371cfed04d83f2079a2b60da962527006e3a66115
MD5 a2f6186ec358e0ca48bad39f91b2008a
BLAKE2b-256 a9dc1fc19e6e2b521f6ec55f5a037a97929caa413ad1dc301515e2c083de2da3

See more details on using hashes here.

Supported by

AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Depot Continuous Integration Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Pingdom Monitoring Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page