Offline-first CLI Password Manager with Local File System Storage & Server Sync

[YashwantSaste]

I would like to propose an offline-first CLI-based password manager that integrates seamlessly with the existing zecrypt-server backend, while also supporting secure local file system storage.

The goal is to enable users—especially developers and power users—to manage passwords locally via a CLI, with optional encrypted synchronization to the backend server.
Problem Statement

Currently, password managers are often:

• Fully dependent on network connectivity
• Browser or UI-heavy
• Hard to integrate into developer workflows
• Less flexible for air-gapped or offline environments

There is a strong use case for:

• A local, CLI-driven password manager
• Secure file-based encrypted storage
• Optional zero-knowledge sync with the backend
• Proposed Solution

Introduce a CLI client that acts as a first-class consumer of zecrypt-server and supports:

1. CLI-Based Password Management

Users interact via terminal commands:

zecrypt init
zecrypt login
zecrypt add github --username user --password ****
zecrypt get github
zecrypt list

2. Encrypted Local File System Storage (Offline-First)
   Passwords stored locally in encrypted form
   No backend dependency for read/write operations
   Example structure:

~/.zecrypt/
├── vaults/
│ ├── personal.zvault
│ └── work.zvault
├── config.yml
└── keystore

Encryption keys derived from:
Master password
OS keychain / keystore (optional)
3. Optional Backend Sync (Zero-Knowledge)
CLI syncs encrypted vaults with zecrypt-server
Server never sees plaintext data
Backend acts as:

• Encrypted vault storage
• Metadata/version manager

Possible APIs:

POST /vault/sync
GET /vault/export
POST /vault/import

4. Import / Export Capabilities
   Enable:
   Export local vault → backend
   Import backend vault → local file
   Backup / restore workflows
   Easy migration between machines
   Formats:

• Encrypted .zvault files
• Optional decrypted export (explicit user consent)
• Sync Strategy (Initial Ideas)
• Timestamp-based or version-based sync
• Conflict detection with manual resolution
• Advanced option (future): CRDT-based sync

Benefits

• Offline-first & developer-friendly
• Strong security & zero-knowledge compliance
• CLI automation & scripting support
• Easy backup, restore, and migration
• Extends zecrypt beyond web-only usage