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Comment by npteljes | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't that 'echo' command go straight to the command history? It would reside in ~/.bash_history unencrypted until I type 2000 other commands.

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I think it's just an example to give you a conceptual idea of what 'pass' is doing under the covers. Of course, using 'pass' does not require 'echo'ing your password anywhere.

Tangentially, if you precede a command with a space, then it won't show up in your shell history. (Double check to be sure, as this is likely a configurable option of your shell. e.g., 'histignorespace' in zsh.)

I agree with your points, but why showcase a super secure system with a flawed example? Also, so many things can go wrong with this setup, I'm inclined to think that this is one of the upsides of a password manager like KeePass.

I think you may have focused in on the tangential sentence rather than the point about it being a conceptual overview with Unix commands being used as a metaphor, i.e., not a literal example.

E.g., they’re not typing `echo` commands in the same way that they’re not typing `gpg "make-key"` (which is not a real command).

No, you appear confused. 'pass' is pretty hard to misuse. It, at no point, makes it easy to put a password into shell history. You're getting caught up in a transcript to showcase the concepts. The actual implementation of 'pass' is quite secure. It does those things for you in a way that is secure, precisely so you don't have to worry about 'echo'ing passwords in plain text.

Adding a space before echo will keep the command out of .bash_history (if $HISTCONTROL == ignorespace or ignoreboth)

I just see asterisks?

Is that you, Cthon98?

I typically use the generate pass command to generate a new password - that isnt in history

Start your command with a space to prevent it from reaching history

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