Pronounceable Password Generator

Pronounceable Password Generator is a node.js script that generates strings of characters in the command line that are ordered in a way that is pronounceable and possibly easier to remember if you wish to memorize them.

It could also be used for creating random usernames or for anything where you might want a unique pronounceable string.

This script has been converted to TypeScript and is compiled to ESNext JavaScript with Babel. The script to run with node.js is under the ./dist directory.

Contents

• Installation
  • Binary Releases
  • Run as a node.js Script
• Quick Start
• Advanced Usage
  • Number of Passwords
  • Password Length
  • Numbers and Symbols
  • Capital Letters
  • Mixed Passwords
• Usage Examples
• Customization
• Build Binaries from Source
• Included Modules
• License

Installation

Binary Releases

The latest releases have been packaged as standalone binaries for MacOS, Linux, and Windows.

1. Download the latest release zip file for your operating system.
2. Unzip the file where you would like to keep it.
3. Use your terminal to enter the propass directory.

On MacOS and Linux, you may need to chmod +x propass to make it executable. If you will be using propass often, you might wish to place it in your PATH.

Run as a node.js Script

Note: node.js should already be installed on your system.

git clone https://github.com:josh-clarke/propass.git
cd propass
npm install

To run propass as a node.js script, you must type node ./dist/propass.js to execute it. In a Bash/ZSH shell you should also be able to chmod +x ./dist/propass.js and then execute ./dist/propass.js directly.

Quick Start

Calling the propass binary on its own generates three password options with the default settings.

./propass

The full default settings are:

• 3 password options
• 13 character length
• 1 symbol
• 2 numbers
• lowercase letters will fill out the remaining length

You can view all the options and some examples with the --help flag.

./propass --help

When you have chosen your password, I recommend executing the clear command to wipe the password options from the terminal display. Note: This will also wipe any other output from the the terminal that you have entered this session.

Advanced Usage

Number of Passwords

You can set how many password options you get with the --passwords or -p flag. The example will list 25 passwords.

./propass --passwords 25

Password Length

The length of the password options can be changed with the --length or -l flag. The example will list passwords that are 20 characters long.

./propass --length 20

One source suggests that a good password is at least 12 characters. Another suggests that a 16 character all lowercase password would take 208 billion minutes to crack with today's computers.

Numbers and Symbols

The amount of numbers or symbols in a password can be set with --numbers or -n and -symbols or -s, respectively. Keep in mind that these options do not change the total length of the password, so additional numbers and symbols will reduce the number of letters in the password unless you lengthen the password.

The example creates passwords that include 3 numbers and 3 symbols. The length has also been set to 16 total characters.

./propass --symbols 3 --numbers 3 --length 16

Capital Letters

If you need capitals, you can call the --caps or -c flag. This will capitalize the first consonants of a syllable, which typically results in 3 capitals for passwords using the default settings.

./propass --caps

Mixed Passwords

If you want the numbers and symbols randomly mixed into the password, you can call the --mix or -m flag. This may reduce pronounceability.

./propass --mix

Usage Examples

These examples all use the short flags, which are easier to type. You can view these examples using the --help flag.

propass                          # Generates 3 password options 
                                 with the default settings
propass -l 18                    # Generates 3 password options 
                                 that are 18 characters long
propass -p 10 -s 2 -n 3 -c       # Generates 10 password options 
                                 with 2 symbols, 3 numbers, and 
                                 capitals mixed with lowercase
propass -p 5 -mc                 # Generates 5 password options 
                                 with capital letters and the 
                                 numbers and symbols mixed in

Customization

The generator relies on a JSON file called syllables.json which can be modified to add or remove consonants, vowels, numbers, and symbols.

The letters are weighted. Essentially the script rolls a d20 to determine whether the randomly selected letter is used. If not, it randomly picks a new letter and tries again. The letters are roughly weighted by their use in English, with weight ratings from 1 to 20. A low number means the letter will be selected more often and a high number means it will be selected less often.

The --unweighted or -w flag can be used to ignore the letter weights.

Note: The binary version of this script bundles syllables.json into itself. If you want to modify the syllables.json, you can git clone and hack the code, and then build the binaries from source.

Build Binaries from Source

1. Clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com:josh-clarke/propass.git

2. Enter the directory and install the node module dependencies.

cd propass
npm install

3. Enter the ./src directory and make any changes that you want to the propass.ts file or syllables.json file. If you would like to, you could take a look at the DEVNOTES file.

4. Install the node.js module pkg if you do not already have it. It is used to build the binaries.

npm install -g pkg

5. Run npm run compile to compile the TypeScript source into ESNext JavaScript.

6. Run npm run build in a MacOS or Linux terminal, or in a WSL terminal on Windows.

By default the build script will build binaries for MacOS, Linux, and Windows and bundle them in a .zip archive with the README and LICENSE files. They will appear in a folder called ./build. The build.sh script should be easy to figure out and modify to suit your needs.

Included Modules

This script makes use of the random-seed module, which is a node.js port of the Gibson Research Corporation's Ultra-High Entropy Pseudo-Random Number Generator.

It also uses the Yargs module for beautiful handling of command line arguments.

License

This script is licensed under the MIT License.