If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer and prefer to use a keyboard over a mobile phone, you may have encountered the hassle of TOTP (Time-based one-time password) authentication. Entering the TOTP code from your mobile phone manually every time you need to authenticate can be a hassle. Yes, We can get an autofill TOTP functionality from services like 1password, but for premium users. Most 2FA service providers require you to share your email address and phone number, which may be a concern for some people who value their privacy. This is bit of a concern for me too. Hmm! So, I decided to automate this problem using my bash skills.

Before we deep dive, If you aren't using any sort of 2FA to secure your online accounts, then it's bad not using 2FA leaves your accounts vulnerable to unauthorized access. So just start using one. I like to use Authy before I wrote this utility. Authy is the only trusted player in the TOTP 2FA market which provide support for desktop application including Linux, Windows and macOS. While Google and Microsoft also offer 2FA solutions, their support for desktop applications is more limited compared to Authy.

Don't Waste Time: If you've already set up pass-otp or using it then straight jump into the Automating Pass OTP section.

What is a Time-based one-time password (TOTP)

Ya! good question simply say, It is a much better and more secure way to handle your account OTPs. Time-based mean, every 30 seconds your new OTP will be generated. And, This works offline too.

Watch this video to know more about why your 2-Factor-Authentication method is NOT secure!!

and this video has shown how you can setup 2FA Authenticator WITHOUT Scanning a QR Code!

Passrofi, The Best 2FA Authenticator

Advantages

1. Don't require an E-Mail Address or Phone Number

2. No copy-paste is required, It auto-fills the OTP

3. GPG encrypted, which means better security and privacy

Disadvantages

1. Suitable for Linux

2. Initial setup is a hassle

Installation of requirements.txt

• pass

• pass-otp

• zbar

• git

• gpg

Arch-based OS

sudo pacman -S pass pass-otp zbar git

Debian-based OS

sudo apt install pass pass-otp zbar-tools git

Let's first setup pass-otp normally

1. Create a GPG keypair

$ gpg2 --full-generate-key

Select option 1 (RSA and RSA) for the key type.

Please select what kind of key you want:

   (1) RSA and RSA (default)
   (2) DSA and Elgamal
   (3) DSA (sign only)
   (4) RSA (sign only)

Your selection? 1

Now, choose 4096-bit key size and specify key expiry. I'll go with 0 that means 'never expires'.

RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048) 4096
Requested keysize is 4096 bits

Please specify how long the key should be valid.

        0 = key does not expire
      <n>  = key expires in n days
      <n>w = key expires in n weeks
      <n>m = key expires in n months
      <n>y = key expires in n years

Key is valid for? (0) 0
Is this correct? (y/N) y

Enter a name, e-mail address and then confirm with 'O'. Don't worry about real information. Just enter something meaningful.

GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.

Real name: FlareXes
Email address: test@gmail.com
Comment: 
You selected this USER-ID:
    "FlareXes <test@gmail.com>"

Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O

Lastly, you'll be prompted for a password to encrypt your TOTP credentials so choose wisely.

This was a one-time process. In the future, we will export and store them in a safe place may be in the cloud in an encrypted format. Then we can use these keys by importing them on a different computer.

1. Initiate pass database Initialize pass database by providing the GPG keypair name or e-mail address.

You can see the name and email address used while creating GPG keypair by listing your secret keys. Check for uid section.

$ gpg --list-secret-keys

/home/flarexes/.gnupg/pubring.kbx

--------------------------------

sec   rsa2048 2019-04-25 [SC]
DEB0D4AD41CC2612B1944D448D22D6610B2F6067
uid           [ultimate] FlareXes <test@gmail.com>
ssb   rsa2048 2019-04-25 [E]

So, now I have an email to create pass database. Let's create one by

$ pass init test@gmail.com

That's all!

How to add TOTP codes in pass-otp?

1. To set up 2FA using a QR code, you have to save a picture of the QR code or take a screenshot of it. If you are unable to save the QR code, you can take a screenshot. In Firefox, you can take a screenshot by right-clicking on the page and selecting 'Take a Screenshot' from the context menu.

2. Once you have the screenshot, you can add it to pass. It is always good to check if your screenshot is working. For that.

$ zbarimg -q --raw screenshot.png

otpauth://totp/totp-secret?secret=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&issuer=totp-secret

If you see something like a URL then you're good to go.

1. Finally, Add it pass-otp.

$ zbarimg -q --raw screenshot.png | pass otp insert twitter

1. To see TOTP generated by pass-otp type.

pass otp twitter

this should show your otp.

Automating pass-otp

After adding all your accounts to pass-otp you want to open the terminal and type pass otp <account name> again and again. So, ya! it's time to automate this stuff.

If you're a rofi guy just like me

First, Install rofi.

sudo pacman -S rofi

1. Set your environment variable LANG to "en_US.UTF-8". Otherwise, it won't work properly.

export LANG="en_US.UTF-8"

1. Extract all the account names you have registered into pass-otp till now.

entries=$(ls ~/.password-store | cut --delimiter="." --fields=1)

1. Select your account name.

selected_entry=$(echo "$entries" | rofi -dmenu -p "OTP: ")

1. Retrieve the otp for the selected entry from the pass-otp.

otp=$(pass otp "$selected_entry")

1. Type the otp into the active window.

xdotool type --window getactivewindow "$otp"

If you're a dmenu guy

First, Install dmenu.

sudo pacman -S dmenu

For dmenu the whole script will be the same except for step 3. Replace step 3 with the below line.

selected_entry=$(echo "$entries" | dmenu -p "OTP: ")

Else would be the same.

Complete script for rofi

#!/bin/sh

# Set the language to US English to ensure that rofi and xdotool
# display and type the password correctly.
export LANG="en_US.UTF-8"

# List the files in the password-store and extract the names of entries
# without the .gpg extension.
entries=$(ls ~/.password-store | cut --delimiter="." --fields=1)

# Use rofi to display a menu of the otp entries, and allow the user to
# choose one of the entries.
selected_entry=$(echo "$entries" | rofi -dmenu -p "OTP: ")

# Retrieve the otp for the selected entry.
otp=$(pass otp "$selected_entry")

# Copy the retrieved otp on clipboard.
echo -n "$otp" | xclip -selection clipboard

# Type the otp into the active window on the system using xdotool.
xdotool type --window getactivewindow "$otp"

Save it as passrofi under /usr/local/bin, then give passrofi executable permission.

$ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/passrofi

You can always find an updated version of passrofi on my GitHub @FlareXes.

Binding keyboard shortcut with passrofi

I use sxhkdrc to bind my keyboard shortcuts. So, open the sxhkdrc file in a text editor and paste the below lines

# Pass-Otp
alt + shift + l
  /usr/local/bin/passrofi

Backup And Sync Stored OTPs And GPG Keys

For backup, we will use git and GitHub. So, create a private repository at your GitHub account for example passotp-backup. Then, copy the ssh url and add remote.

1. Initiate git repo

$ pass git init

1. Add remote

$ pass git remote add origin git@github.com:<github account>/passotp-backup.git

1. Push to GitHub every time you add a new OTP

$ pass git push -u origin master

or

$ pass git push

You also need to backup your GPG keys. And store them somewhere safe. For that, you need to export them.

Export keys with specific email.

gpg --export --export-options backup --output public.gpg test@gmail.com

gpg --export-secret-keys --export-options backup --output private.gpg test@gmail.com

gpg --export-ownertrust > trust.gpg

Sync with different computer

Move all the exported keys to a different computer. After that, import them one by one.

gpg --import public.gpg

gpg --import private.gpg

gpg --import-ownertrust trust.gpg

We can check everything has been imported properly by using the --list-secret-keys option.

gpg --list-secret-keys

Now, Importing OTPs from GitHub.

pass git init

pass git remote add origin git@github.com:<github account>/pass-otp.git

pass git pull

That's it now you're good to go.

Conclusion

Pass and Pass Otp are two amazing utilities that are only used by very few people around the world. Those few people include privacy and security-conscious individuals or computer nerds. But, this passrofi thing can be addictive once you start using it and get the game.

So, always use better 2FA systems like TOTP or Security Keys like Yubico. I recommend Authy due to its flexibility but Authy is closed-source and ask for personal information. From now I'll gonna stick with passrofi. A better and suckless way to handle 2FA. Lastly don't forget to check out latest version Passrofi on my GitHub.

Thanks for hanging around!