🔐 Ciphertext CLI

Interactive terminal tool to encrypt and decrypt text securely using a password.

ciphertext-cli lets you protect notes, API keys, tokens, or messages directly from your terminal with modern cryptography (AES-256-GCM + scrypt key derivation).

✨ Features

• Interactive arrow-key menu
• Hidden password input (like sudo)
• Strong encryption (AES-256-GCM)
• Tamper detection (cannot modify ciphertext without password)
• Single command usage
• Works offline
• Cross-platform (Linux / macOS / Windows)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd ciphertext-cli

2. Install dependencies:

   # Using pnpm (recommended)
   pnpm install
   
   # Or using npm
   npm install

3. Link the command globally:

   npm link

Or just install the package globally npm install -g ciphertext-cli

Now you can use the ciphertext command directly from anywhere in your terminal!

🧭 Usage

When you run the command:

ciphertext

You will see:

? What do you want to do?
❯ Encrypt
  Decrypt

Use ↑ ↓ arrow keys and press Enter.

Encrypt

1. Select Encrypt
2. Enter the text
3. Enter your password (hidden)

Output:

Encrypted:

q9YJ3xC9l0Q1YQ8yR... (base64 ciphertext)

Save this ciphertext anywhere (notes, database, git, etc).

Decrypt

1. Select Decrypt
2. Paste the ciphertext
3. Enter the same password

Output:

Decrypted:

Attack at dawn

If the password is wrong or data was modified:

Wrong password or corrupted ciphertext

🔐 Security

ciphertext-cli uses modern authenticated encryption:

• AES-256-GCM encryption
• scrypt password key derivation
• Random salt per encryption
• Random IV (nonce)
• Authentication tag verification

This means:

• Attackers cannot read the message
• Attackers cannot modify the message
• Wrong passwords are detected safely

This tool is designed for protecting secrets at rest and sharing private messages.

⚠️ Important Notes

• If you forget the password → data cannot be recovered
• There is no backdoor
• The encryption is local only (no servers involved)

Good use cases

• Sending private messages
• Personal secure notes
• Environment variables

Bad use cases

• Password manager replacement
• Large file encryption
• Enterprise key management
• Long-term archival storage

🧪 How it works (simple)

Your password is never used directly as a key.

Instead:

password → scrypt → secure key → AES-256-GCM → ciphertext

Every encryption generates a new random salt and IV, so encrypting the same message twice produces different ciphertext.

👤 Author

Sifat Ullah

📜 License

ISC