Tags · Multi-Tag Filtering · Auto-Type · Smart Views · Expiry Policies · Quick Launcher · Multi-Account · Snapshot Diffing · Custom Icons · Clipboard Auto-Clear · TOTP Panel
Bitwarden is an exceptional password manager — open-source, self-hostable, and trusted by millions. DockWarden is a desktop companion app that builds directly on top of it, adding a layer of power-user workflows that close the gap with tools like 1Password — without asking you to leave Bitwarden.
Everything DockWarden does uses the official Bitwarden CLI under the hood. Your vault stays in Bitwarden, your credentials stay encrypted by Bitwarden, and your account stays under your control. DockWarden simply extends what you can do with it.
1Password has a strong feature set, but it is a closed-source, proprietary SaaS product. Bitwarden is open-source and self-hostable. For many users — individuals, businesses, and security-conscious teams — those properties are non-negotiable. DockWarden lets you keep all of Bitwarden's advantages and gain the desktop experience quality you'd expect from 1Password.
| Feature | 1Password | Bitwarden (native) | DockWarden + Bitwarden |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tag / label system | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multi-tag simultaneous filtering | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Auto-Type into native apps | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Global quick-search launcher | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Auto-select top search result | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Click any field box to copy | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Smart filters / saved searches | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Password expiry alerts | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Policy-based expiry (e.g. "90-day rotation") | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multi-account switching with color coding | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Vault snapshot diffing (audit trail) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Custom local icons / favicons (no CDN) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Clipboard auto-clear with toast countdown | ✅ | ✅ | |
| TOTP panel — all codes at a glance | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Scheduled encrypted backups | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Open source | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Self-hostable vault | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom CSS / theming | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Your vault data never leaves Bitwarden. Tags, expiry dates, and other metadata are written to Bitwarden's own custom fields — encrypted at rest in your Bitwarden vault.
Bitwarden's folder system is great for broad organisation, but power users often want to cross-reference items with multiple labels. DockWarden adds a multi-tag system stored transparently in custom fields (_dw_tags), so your tags are preserved in your Bitwarden vault regardless of what app you use to access them.
- Bulk editor — select multiple items, apply or remove tags in one action
- Tag cloud sidebar — click any tag to instantly filter the item list; click a second tag to add it to the filter
- AND / OR mode toggle — filter to items that have ALL selected tags (AND) or ANY of them (OR)
- Smart tag suggestions — see existing tags as you type
- Merge & rename — combine duplicate tags across your entire vault
The Labels/Tags feature request has 267 replies and over 62,000 views on the Bitwarden community forum — one of the most-requested features ever. Multi-tag filtering lets you finally slice your vault the way power users have always wanted.
Press Ctrl+Alt+A from any application. A floating picker appears on the monitor you're working on. Select the entry — DockWarden minimises itself and types username → Tab → password → Enter directly into whatever window had focus before you pressed the shortcut.
- Works with any native app: SSH terminals, legacy desktop apps, RDP sessions, anything
- No browser extension required
- Configurable: type only password, only username, with or without Enter
- Powered by Windows
SendKeys(no extra dependencies to install)
A Spotlight/Alfred-style popup triggered by Ctrl+Alt+\ that floats on whatever monitor your cursor is on, completely independent of the DockWarden main window.
- Instant fuzzy search across your entire vault (cached in memory — no CLI round-trip)
↑↓to navigate,Enterto open the item in the main vault view- Dismisses when you click away
- Opens on the monitor you're working on, not on the DockWarden window
One of the most-cited quality-of-life differences between 1Password and Bitwarden's desktop app is how search behaves. In 1Password, the best match is selected and its details opened automatically as you type. DockWarden brings the same behaviour to the Bitwarden vault browser.
- Start typing in the search box — the top fuzzy-matched result is automatically selected and shown in the detail panel on the right
- No need to click the result first
- Clearing the search returns to your previous selection
- Works the same way in the Quick Launcher floating window
Save complex filter combinations as named "Smart Views" that act like dynamic folders. Pin any Smart View to the sidebar to see its live item count and jump straight to the filtered list.
- Filter by: tag, folder, item type, expiry window, favourite status, TOTP presence
- AND / OR operators — build precise queries
- Pinned views appear in the sidebar with live counts, exactly like folders
- Used as the backbone of the expiry dashboard and tag-based workflows
DockWarden goes beyond simple expiry date fields — it introduces policy-based credential management that proactively flags stale passwords even if you haven't set a per-item date.
- Dashboard — grouped view: Expired · Expiring This Week · Expiring This Month
- System tray notifications — 30, 7, and 1 day before expiry
- Configurable reminder rules — adjust lead times per item type
- Edit expiry dates inline in the item detail panel
The community specifically asked for policy-based expiry — e.g., "flag any password older than 90 days as stale" — rather than relying solely on per-item dates. DockWarden's Policy Dashboard delivers exactly this.
- Create rotation policies — e.g. "90-Day Rotation" or "Annual Review"
- Each policy specifies: threshold (days since last modified), item types to check, and advance notification window
- Violation dashboard — see every credential that violates each active policy, sorted by staleness
- AND/OR item type scope — apply a policy to logins only, or cards + logins together
- Policies are stored locally; vault items are evaluated in memory — nothing extra written to Bitwarden
- Enable / disable policies with a single toggle
Many users have both a personal and a work Bitwarden account. DockWarden makes switching between them frictionless, with visual color coding so you always know which vault you're working in.
- Accounts are automatically saved as profiles on first login
- Color-coded sidebar header — each account has a distinct accent color shown in the brand logo and sidebar
- Account switcher dropdown — click the DockWarden logo in the sidebar to see all saved profiles
- Switching accounts locks the current vault and pre-fills the email on the unlock screen — just enter your password
- Manage and remove profiles from Settings → Account Profiles
- Works with personal accounts, business accounts, and self-hosted Bitwarden servers
DockWarden wraps bw export --format encrypted_json in a configurable cron job that runs silently in the background.
- Destinations: Local folder · AWS S3 · Cloudflare R2 · Backblaze B2 · WebDAV
- Schedule: Hourly · Daily · Weekly · On every vault sync
- Retention policy — automatically prune old backups
- Backup history with file size, status, and destination path
- One-click restore verification
DockWarden automatically snapshots your vault metadata every time you sync, giving you an audit trail of changes over time. You can also save manual snapshots at any moment.
- Every vault sync auto-saves a lightweight snapshot (item names, types, last-modified timestamps)
- Save named snapshots before a big change: "Before bulk delete", "Before sharing with team"
- Compare any two snapshots side by side — Added, Deleted, Modified, and Unchanged items are clearly flagged in color
- Stored locally (up to 50 snapshots) — no external requests, fully private
- Found in Backup → Snapshot Diff tab
"These 5 items were added, 2 were modified, 1 was deleted since your last sync" — instantly visible.
Bitwarden auto-fetches favicons from a remote CDN, which has privacy implications (external requests for every site in your vault). DockWarden lets you set icons locally — no external requests ever.
- Click the avatar on any item's detail panel to open the icon picker
- Choose from a curated emoji set or pick a color + initials combination
- Custom icons persist in DockWarden's local store and are shown everywhere: item list, detail panel, and the TOTP panel
- Reset to default at any time — the generated color-coded initials are still there as a fallback
- Zero network requests — completely private and offline
When you copy a sensitive field (password, TOTP, card number), DockWarden shows a non-intrusive toast in the bottom-right corner counting down to clipboard clearance.
- Visual countdown bar so you always know how long until the clipboard is wiped
- One-click Cancel if you still need the value on the clipboard
- Configurable delay: 10s · 15s · 30s · 60s · Never — set in Settings → Security
- Uses the native OS clipboard, so it works across all apps — not just in the browser like Bitwarden's extension
- Setting is persisted across app restarts
Bitwarden supports TOTP codes, but buries them deep inside individual item views. DockWarden surfaces all your expiring codes at a glance in a dedicated panel.
- All TOTP codes in one grid view — no more clicking into each item to find the code
- Live countdown ring on every card showing seconds remaining before code rotation
- Visual urgency: green → yellow → red as the code approaches expiry
- Critical pulse animation when a code has less than 5 seconds left
- Click any card to copy the code (also respects the clipboard auto-clear setting)
- Search/filter by item name or username
- Respects custom icons — your emoji and color icons show here too
- Codes are generated client-side using Web Crypto API — the TOTP secret never leaves your device
Access via TOTP Codes in the sidebar tools section (Ctrl+click to focus quickly).
A small but frequently requested UX improvement: clicking anywhere on a username, password, website, or card number field box copies the value to your clipboard instantly — no need to aim for the small copy icon.
- The entire field row is the click target
- A copy icon appears on hover as a visual hint
- The row flashes green and the icon turns to a checkmark to confirm the copy
- The eye/reveal button for passwords is intentionally separate and does not trigger a copy
A fully-featured in-app CSS editor under Settings → Advanced. Retheme the entire application without touching any source files — changes persist across restarts and are applied live as you type.
- Live preview — 400 ms debounce applies CSS as you type
- Quick presets — one-click to try wider sidebar, purple/rose accent, compact density
- CSS variables reference — collapsible panel listing every
--variablewith a click-to-copy - Line-number gutter · Tab indentation ·
Ctrl+Sto save ·Resetto undo all changes
| Home Dashboard | Item Browser |
|---|---|
|
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| Quick Launcher | Auto-Type Picker |
|---|---|
|
|
| Tag Manager | Smart Views |
|---|---|
|
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| Expiry Dashboard | Encrypted Backup |
|---|---|
|
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| Custom CSS Editor | Settings |
|---|---|
|
 |
- Node.js 18+
- Bitwarden CLI — install once:
npm install -g @bitwarden/cli bw --version # should print e.g. 2024.x.x
# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/JaredScar/DockWarden.git
cd DockWarden/dockwarden
# 2. Install
npm install
# 3. Build Angular in watch mode + launch Electron
npm run electron:devnpm run electron:build
# → packaged installer in dockwarden/release/npm run build # Angular production build
npm run electron # Launch Electron against dist/| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Alt+\ |
Open Quick Launcher (on active monitor) |
Ctrl+Alt+A |
Open Auto-Type picker (on active monitor) |
Ctrl+N |
New vault item |
Ctrl+E |
Edit selected item |
Ctrl+S |
Sync vault with Bitwarden |
Ctrl+L |
Lock vault |
Quick Launcher and Auto-Type open as independent floating windows on the monitor your cursor is on — not inside the DockWarden window.
DockWarden is designed with a minimal attack surface:
- No credentials stored by DockWarden — authentication is handled entirely by the official
bwCLI; the session key lives only in memory for the lifetime of the app process - contextBridge isolation — the Angular renderer has no access to Node.js or IPC directly; it communicates only through a typed, allowlisted surface defined in
preload.js - Metadata in your vault — tags and expiry dates are written to Bitwarden custom fields (not a local database), so they are encrypted at rest by Bitwarden
- Open source — full source available for review
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| App shell | Electron 42 |
| UI framework | Angular 21 (standalone components, signals, OnPush) |
| State management | Angular Signals — signal(), computed() |
| Vault integration | Bitwarden CLI (bw) via child_process |
| Fuzzy search | fuse.js |
| Config persistence | electron-store |
| Keyboard simulation | Windows SendKeys via PowerShell (Windows); nut-js planned for Mac |
| Build & distribution | electron-builder |
dockwarden/
├── electron/
│ ├── main.js # Main process: tray, IPC handlers, global shortcuts,
│ │ # launcher window management, auto-type execution
│ └── preload.js # contextBridge — fully typed ElectronAPI surface
└── src/app/
├── core/
│ ├── vault.service.ts # Items cache, auth state, CRUD operations
│ └── smart-view.service.ts # Filter engine, pinned views
├── features/
│ ├── home/ # Dashboard: stats, health score, expiry widget
│ ├── items/ # Master-detail vault browser, inline edit
│ ├── launcher/ # Quick Search floating window (dedicated route)
│ ├── autotype/ # Auto-Type picker window (dedicated route)
│ ├── tags/ # Tag manager + multi-select bulk editor
│ ├── smart-views/ # Saved filter builder, pin to sidebar
│ ├── expiry/ # Expiry dashboard + reminder rules
│ ├── backup/ # Backup destinations, schedule, history
│ ├── settings/ # Preferences + Custom CSS editor
│ └── unlock/ # Login / unlock screen with 2FA support
└── shared/
└── models/ # TypeScript interfaces: VaultItem, Tag, SmartView…
DockWarden follows strict Angular 21 patterns:
- Signals everywhere — no
BehaviorSubject, no RxJS for state management ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPushon every component- Standalone components only — no NgModules
- Modern control flow —
@if,@for,@switch(no*ngIf/*ngFor) inject()function — no constructor injection- Lazy-loaded routes — every feature bundle loaded on demand
// Reactive vault state — pure signals
@Injectable({ providedIn: 'root' })
export class VaultService {
private readonly _items = signal<VaultItem[]>([]);
readonly items = this._items.asReadonly();
readonly stats = computed(() => deriveStats(this._items()));
readonly allTags = computed(() => deriveTags(this._items()));
}| Phase | Features | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ Foundation | Electron scaffold, IPC surface, vault browser, tray | Shipped |
| ✅ Tag Manager | _dw_tags read/write, multi-tag, bulk editor, tag sidebar |
Shipped |
| ✅ Multi-Tag Filtering | AND/OR filter bar, tag picker, simultaneous multi-tag filtering | Shipped |
| ✅ Quick Launcher | Global hotkey, multi-monitor floating window, fuzzy search | Shipped |
| ✅ Auto-Type | Global hotkey, picker window, PowerShell keystroke injection (Win) | Shipped |
| ✅ Smart Views | Filter builder, AND/OR, sidebar pinning, dynamic counts | Shipped |
| ✅ Expiry System | _dw_expires field, expiry dashboard, OS notifications |
Shipped |
| ✅ Expiry Policies | Policy-based "90-day rotation" violations dashboard, per-policy items | Shipped |
| ✅ Multi-Account Switching | Color-coded profiles, sidebar switcher, Settings manager | Shipped |
| ✅ Encrypted Backup | bw export cron, local/S3/Backblaze, retention, history |
Shipped |
| ✅ Custom CSS | Live-preview CSS editor, variable reference, presets | Shipped |
| ✅ Click-to-Copy Fields | Click any field box to copy; green flash confirmation | Shipped |
| ✅ Auto-Select Search | Top fuzzy match selected automatically as you type | Shipped |
| ✅ Auto-updater | Silent background updates via electron-updater + GitHub Releases |
Shipped |
| ✅ Mac Auto-Type | pbcopy + osascript keystroke injection for macOS |
Shipped |
| ✅ TOTP in Launcher | Click or Tab to copy live OTP code; countdown ring |
Shipped |
| ✅ Vault Snapshot Diffing | Auto-snapshot on sync, manual snapshots, A/B diff viewer | Shipped |
| ✅ Custom Icons per Entry | Emoji, color+initials picker — zero CDN requests, private | Shipped |
| ✅ Clipboard Auto-Clear | Toast countdown, cancel button, configurable delay (10–60s) | Shipped |
| ✅ TOTP Panel | All codes at a glance, live countdown ring, urgency coloring, click-to-copy | Shipped |
| 🚧 Cloud backup adapters | S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, WebDAV live | Planned |
Contributions are welcome! Please follow the Angular 21 standards defined in DockWarden-Plan.md: signals over RxJS, standalone components, inject() over constructor injection.
git checkout -b feature/my-feature
# make changes
git commit -m "feat: describe your change"
# open a pull requestMIT © DockWarden Contributors
Built with ❤️ on top of Bitwarden — the best open-source password manager.
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