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artidokuz

1 karma · joined February 12, 2026

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artidokuz··on Show HN: AbsentKey E2E encrypted vault that releases secrets when you can't
Great points, and you're right to call out the push vs. pull tradeoff neither is universally better, it really depends on your recipients. On the Bitwarden comparison though: one thing worth clarifying is that Bitwarden's emergency access doesn't actually support per-vault or per-item scoping. It's all-or-nothing your contact gets your entire personal vault, and you can't give different people access to different secrets. That's actually a long-standing feature request in their community with no resolution yet. One of the reasons I made this app.

The bigger practical gap is the recipient side. Bitwarden emergency access requires your contact to have their own Bitwarden account, maintain it over the years, and know to go request access when something happens to you. For a technically savvy partner who already uses Bitwarden, sure that works. But for a parent, sibling, or lawyer who isn't in that world, it quietly fails in the exact moment it's needed most.

If they know there is a spesific app for these cases, easy to use, a way to request not buried under 100 features I though this would be easier to use for them. Also they can request one secret from you at one time. Maybe a wifi password? It doesnt have to be life or death. This is what the app is about it deliveres secret whenever you want. Dead mans switch case is only one option.

And fair point on reproducible builds that's a meaningful gap between source-available and truly verifiable. Worth prioritizing. I want to invest more time on that.