pmenu

pmenu is a Rust password picker with runtime-selectable backends.

It compiles a single binary and selects concrete implementations for menu, password store, clipboard, and autofill at runtime through CLI flags or a config file.

Features

• Menu backends: wofi, fuzzel, bemenu
• Password store backends: passage, pass
• Clipboard backends: wl-clipboard, xclip
• Autofill backends: wtype
• Config file support with CLI override precedence
• Reusable core library with backend traits and flow orchestration
• Built-in password, username, url, and fill selections
• Best-effort context-aware initial search for qutebrowser, Discord, and Steam on Linux

Project Layout

• src/core/: backend traits, domain types, errors, and the main picker flow
• src/cli/: CLI parsing, config loading, notifications, and concrete process-backed backends
• flake.nix: Nix dev shell and package definition

Building

With Nix:

nix develop -c cargo test
nix build .#default

Without Nix:

cargo build
cargo test

The compiled binary is named pmenu.

Usage

Run with defaults:

pmenu

Select backends explicitly:

pmenu \
  --store-backend passage \
  --menu-backend wofi \
  --clipboard-backend wl-clipboard \
  --autofill-backend wtype

Trigger autofill instead of copy:

pmenu --action autofill

Select a field directly without opening the second menu:

pmenu --field fill

Enable built-in tracing:

pmenu --trace

CLI Flags

• --config <path>
• --store-backend <name>
• --store-path <path>
• --store-identities-file <path>
• --menu-backend <name>
• --clipboard-backend <name>
• --autofill-backend <name>
• --clip-time <seconds>
• --field <name>
• --action <copy|autofill>
• --no-notify
• --trace

CLI flags override config file values.

Configuration

Default config path:

~/.config/pmenu/config.toml

Example:

[store]
backend = "passage"
path = "~/.passage/store"
identities_file = "~/.passage/identities"

[menu]
backend = "wofi"

[clipboard]
backend = "wl-clipboard"
clip_time_secs = 45

[autofill]
backend = "wtype"

Defaults when no config is present:

• store backend: passage
• menu backend: wofi
• clipboard backend: wl-clipboard
• autofill backend: wtype
• action: copy
• clip timeout: 45

Runtime Notes

• pass stores are read from .gpg files.
• passage stores are read from .age files.
• File-based stores skip hidden files and directories.
• The picker exposes built-in username and url fields derived from entry metadata or the entry path.
• The fill option types username, then tab, then password when an autofill backend is available.
• On Linux, wofi can open with an initial search based on the focused app; qutebrowser, Discord, and Steam are recognized.
• ~ is expanded in configured paths.
• Notifications use notify-send on Linux when enabled.
• --trace emits detailed logs to stderr without printing secret values.
• RUST_LOG can be used instead of --trace for custom log filtering.
• Missing external tools fail at runtime with a clear command-specific error.