╔══════════════════════════════╗ ║ A E T H E R V A U L T ║ ║ Encrypted Password Vault ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╝
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.
- 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 (
.portablemarker) - Startup integrity check — auto-detects corruption and recovers from backup
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(PyPI) works on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows (x86_64) | aethervault-windows-x86_64.exe |
| Linux (x86_64) | aethervault-linux-x86_64 |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | AetherVault-arm64.dmg |
| macOS (Intel) | AetherVault-x86_64.dmg |
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 -urequires a pip or git install and will not work inside a bundled executable).
AetherVault is on PyPI (aethervault-py) and published to GitHub Releases on every version tag.
Option 1 — pip (recommended, all platforms):
pip install aethervault-py
# or
pip install --user aethervault-pyOption 2 — Global install (editable):
git clone https://github.com/AetherSolDev/AetherVault.git
cd AetherVault
pip install --user --break-system-packages -e .Option 3 — 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 .Option 4 — Build yourself (PyInstaller):
pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller aethervault.spec
# Output in dist/aethervault/aethervault # Launch GUI (auto-detaches from terminal on Unix)
aethervault --version # Show installed version
aethervault --help # CLI usage- First launch — set a master password (minimum 8 characters)
- Login — enter your master password to unlock the vault
- Add entries — click "Add New" and fill in the form
- Generate passwords — click "Generate" next to the password field
- Copy to clipboard — double-click a table cell or click the "Copy" buttons
- Organize — categories and tags group your entries
- Backup — File → Backup Vault (or auto-backup on save/shutdown)
| CLI Command | Description |
|---|---|
aethervault |
Launch the GUI (auto-detaches on Unix) |
aethervault --version |
Show installed version |
aethervault --debug |
Launch with debug logging |
aethervault --upgrade / -u |
Check for updates and auto-upgrade (pip install aethervault-py) |
aethervault --foreground / -f |
Keep terminal attached (debugging) |
- 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 | Location |
|---|---|
| Encrypted vault | data/aethervault.db |
| Master password hash | data/.master.key |
| App settings | data/.app_settings.json |
| Portable marker | .portable (enables portable mode) |
Full user guide: aethervault/docs/USER_GUIDE.md
GPLv3 — Free as in freedom.