pwgen - Password Generator CLI

A command-line password generator tool built in Rust that provides flexible options for generating secure passwords and memorable passphrases.

Features

• 🔐 Random passwords - Cryptographically secure alphanumeric passwords
• 📝 Memorable passwords - Word-based passwords like "Correct-Horse-Battery-42"
• 🎛️ Configurable - Customize length, character sets, and more
• ⚡ Fast - Instant generation with minimal overhead
• 🛡️ Secure - Uses cryptographically secure random number generation

Installation

From source

git clone https://github.com/minhchu/pwgen.git
cd pwgen
cargo install --path .

This will compile and install the pwgen binary to ~/.cargo/bin/ (make sure it's in your PATH).

Usage

# Generate a default password (16 chars, alphanumeric)
pwgen
# Output: Kj8mNp2xQr5tYw9v

# Generate a 24-character password
pwgen -l 24
# Output: Kj8mNp2xQr5tYw9vAb3cDe7f

# Generate a password with special characters
pwgen -s
# Output: Kj8@mNp2#xQr5$tY

# Generate a memorable password
pwgen --memorable
# Output: Correct-Horse-Battery-42

# Generate a password without numbers
pwgen --no-numbers
# Output: KjXmNpVxQrUtYwZv

# Generate 5 passwords
pwgen -c 5
# Output:
# Kj8mNp2xQr5tYw9v
# Xp4hLm7bRt2wYq6n
# Zf9kBc3jVs8dNg1m
# Ht5pWr8yNk2vJf4x
# Lq7sYd6gMb3cRe9z

# Generate 3 memorable passwords with special characters
pwgen -m -s -c 3

CLI Options

Option	Short	Long	Description	Default
Length	-l	--length	Password length	16
Special Characters	-s	--special	Include special characters (!@#$%^&*)	false
No Numbers		--no-numbers	Exclude numbers (0-9)	false
Memorable	-m	--memorable	Generate memorable password (word-based)	false
Count	-c	--count	Number of passwords to generate	1
Help	-h	--help	Show help message	-
Version	-V	--version	Show version	-

Library Usage

You can also use pwgen as a library in your Rust projects:

use pwgen::{PasswordConfig, generate_passwords};

fn main() {
    // Generate a default password
    let config = PasswordConfig::default();
    let passwords = generate_passwords(&config);
    println!("{}", passwords[0]);

    // Generate a memorable password with special characters
    let config = PasswordConfig {
        memorable: true,
        include_special: true,
        count: 3,
        ..Default::default()
    };
    let passwords = generate_passwords(&config);
    for password in passwords {
        println!("{}", password);
    }
}

Security

• Uses rand crate with OsRng for cryptographically secure random number generation
• Ensures character diversity in random passwords (at least one lowercase, uppercase, and number/special if enabled)
• Shuffles password characters to avoid predictable patterns

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.