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git-crypt/man/git-crypt.xml
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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<refentry>
<!--
Copyright (c) 2015 Andrew Ayer
See COPYING file for license information.
-->
<refentryinfo>
<title>git-crypt</title>
<date>2022-04-21</date>
<productname>git-crypt 0.8.0</productname>
<author>
<othername>Andrew Ayer</othername>
<contrib></contrib>
<email>agwa@andrewayer.name</email>
<uri>https://www.agwa.name</uri>
</author>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>git-crypt</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>git-crypt</refname>
<refpurpose>transparent file encryption in Git</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg> <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>COMMAND</replaceable></arg> <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat"><replaceable>ARGS</replaceable></arg></command>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<title>Common commands</title>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt init</command>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt status</command>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt lock</command>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<title>GPG commands</title>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt add-gpg-user <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable></arg></command>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt unlock</command>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<title>Symmetric key commands</title>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt export-key <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>OUTPUT_KEY_FILE</replaceable></arg></command>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>git-crypt unlock <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>KEY_FILE</replaceable></arg></command>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>
<command>git-crypt</command> enables transparent encryption and decryption
of files in a git repository. Files which you choose to protect are encrypted when committed,
and decrypted when checked out. git-crypt lets you freely share a repository containing a mix of
public and private content. git-crypt gracefully degrades, so developers without the secret key
can still clone and commit to a repository with encrypted files. This lets you store your secret
material (such as keys or passwords) in the same repository as your code, without requiring you
to lock down your entire repository.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Commands</title>
<para>
<command>git-crypt</command> is logically divided into several sub-commands which
perform distinct tasks. Each sub-command, and its arguments,
are documented below. Note that arguments and options to sub-commands must be
specified on the command line <emphasis>after</emphasis> the name of the sub-command.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>init <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Generate a key and prepare the current Git repository to use git-crypt.
</para>
<para>
The following options are understood:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-k</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<term><option>--key-name</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Initialize the given key instead of the default key. git-crypt
supports multiple keys per repository, allowing you to share
different files with different sets of collaborators.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>status <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Display a list of files in the repository, with their status (encrypted or unencrypted).
</para>
<para>
The following options are understood:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-e</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Show only encrypted files.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-u</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Show only unencrypted files.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-f</option></term>
<term><option>--fix</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Encrypt files that should be encrypted but were
committed to the repository or added to the index
without encryption. (This can happen if a file
is added before git-crypt is initialized or before
the file is added to the gitattributes file.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>add-gpg-user <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg> <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Add the users with the given GPG user IDs as collaborators. Specifically,
git-crypt uses <citerefentry><refentrytitle>gpg</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
to encrypt the shared symmetric key
to the public keys of each GPG user ID, and stores the GPG-encrypted
keys in the <filename>.git-crypt</filename> directory at the root of the repository.
</para>
<para>
<replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable> can be a key ID, a full fingerprint, an email address, or anything
else that uniquely identifies a public key to GPG (see "HOW TO SPECIFY
A USER ID" in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>gpg</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
man page).
</para>
<para>
The following options are understood:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-k</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<term><option>--key-name</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Grant access to the given key, rather than the default key.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-n</option></term>
<term><option>--no-commit</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Don't automatically commit the changes to the <filename>.git-crypt</filename>
directory.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--trusted</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Assume that the GPG keys specified on the command line are trusted;
i.e. they actually belong to the users that they claim to belong to.
</para>
<para>
Without this option, git-crypt uses the same trust model as GPG,
which is based on the Web of Trust by default. Under this
model, git-crypt will reject GPG keys that do not have
trusted signatures.
</para>
<para>
If you don't want to use the Web of Trust, you can either change
GPG's trust model by setting the <option>trust-model</option>
option in <filename>~/.gnupg/gpg.conf</filename> (see
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gpg</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>),
or use the <option>--trusted</option> option to <command>add-gpg-user</command>
on a case-by-case basis.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>unlock <!--<arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg> --><arg choice="opt" rep="repeat"><replaceable>KEY_FILE</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Decrypt the repository. If one or more key files are specified on the command line,
git-crypt attempts to decrypt using those shared symmetric keys. If no key files
are specified, git-crypt attempts to decrypt using a GPG-encrypted key stored in
the repository's .git-crypt directory.
</para>
<para>
This command takes no options.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>export-key <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable></arg> <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>FILENAME</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Export the repository's shared symmetric key to the given file.
</para>
<para>
The following options are understood:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-k</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<term><option>--key-name</option> <replaceable>KEY_NAME</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Export the given key, rather than the default key.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>help <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>COMMAND</replaceable></arg></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Display help for the given <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>COMMAND</replaceable></arg>,
or an overview of all commands if no command is specified.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>version</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Print the currently-installed version of <command>git-crypt</command>.
The format of the output is always "git-crypt", followed by a space,
followed by the dotted version number.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Using git-crypt</title>
<para>
First, you prepare a repository to use git-crypt by running <command>git-crypt init</command>.
</para>
<para>
Then, you specify the files to encrypt by creating a
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gitattributes</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> file.
Each file which you want to encrypt should be assigned the "<literal>filter=git-crypt diff=git-crypt</literal>"
attributes. For example:
</para>
<screen>secretfile filter=git-crypt diff=git-crypt&#10;*.key filter=git-crypt diff=git-crypt</screen>
<para>
Like a <filename>.gitignore</filename> file, <filename>.gitattributes</filename> files can match wildcards and
should be checked into the repository. Make sure you don't accidentally encrypt the
<filename>.gitattributes</filename> file itself (or other git files like <filename>.gitignore</filename>
or <filename>.gitmodules</filename>). Make sure your <filename>.gitattributes</filename> rules
are in place <emphasis>before</emphasis> you add sensitive files, or those files won't be encrypted!
</para>
<para>
To share the repository with others (or with yourself) using GPG, run:
</para>
<screen>git-crypt add-gpg-user <replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable></screen>
<para>
<replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable> can be a key ID, a full fingerprint, an email address, or anything
else that uniquely identifies a public key to GPG. Note: <command>git-crypt add-gpg-user</command> will
add and commit a GPG-encrypted key file in the <filename>.git-crypt</filename> directory of
the root of your repository.
</para>
<para>
Alternatively, you can export a symmetric secret key, which you must
securely convey to collaborators (GPG is not required, and no files
are added to your repository):
</para>
<screen>git-crypt export-key <replaceable>/path/to/key</replaceable></screen>
<para>
After cloning a repository with encrypted files, unlock with with GPG:
</para>
<screen>git-crypt unlock</screen>
<para>
Or with a symmetric key:
</para>
<screen>git-crypt unlock /path/to/key</screen>
<para>
That's all you need to do - after git-crypt is set up (either with
<command>git-crypt init</command> or <command>git-crypt unlock</command>),
you can use git normally - encryption and decryption happen transparently.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>The .gitattributes file</title>
<para>
The <filename>.gitattributes</filename> file is documented in
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gitattributes</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
The file pattern format is the same as the one used by <filename>.gitignore</filename>,
as documented in <citerefentry><refentrytitle>gitignore</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
with the exception that specifying merely a directory (e.g. "<literal>/dir/</literal>")
is <emphasis>not</emphasis> sufficient to encrypt all files beneath it.
</para>
<para>
Also note that the pattern "<literal>dir/*</literal>" does not match files under
sub-directories of dir/. To encrypt an entire sub-tree dir/, place the
following in <filename>dir/.gitattributes</filename>:
</para>
<screen>* filter=git-crypt diff=git-crypt&#10;.gitattributes !filter !diff</screen>
<para>
The second pattern is essential for ensuring that <filename>.gitattributes</filename> itself
is not encrypted.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Multiple Key Support</title>
<para>
In addition to the implicit default key, git-crypt supports alternative
keys which can be used to encrypt specific files and can be shared with
specific GPG users. This is useful if you want to grant different
collaborators access to different sets of files.
</para>
<para>
To generate an alternative key named <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable>,
pass the <command>-k <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable></command>
option to <command>git-crypt init</command> as follows:
</para>
<screen>git-crypt init -k <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable></screen>
<para>
To encrypt a file with an alternative key, use the <literal>git-crypt-<replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable></literal>
filter in <filename>.gitattributes</filename> as follows:
</para>
<screen><replaceable>secretfile</replaceable> filter=git-crypt-<replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable> diff=git-crypt-<replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable></screen>
<para>
To export an alternative key or share it with a GPG user, pass the
<command>-k <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable></command> option to
<command>git-crypt export-key</command> or <command>git-crypt add-gpg-user</command>
as follows:
</para>
<screen>git-crypt export-key -k <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable> <filename><replaceable>/path/to/keyfile</replaceable></filename>&#10;git-crypt add-gpg-user -k <replaceable>KEYNAME</replaceable> <replaceable>GPG_USER_ID</replaceable></screen>
<para>
To unlock a repository with an alternative key, use <command>git-crypt unlock</command>
normally. git-crypt will automatically determine which key is being used.
</para>
</refsect1>
<!--
<refsect1>
<title>Global options</title>
<para>
The following options are understood by <command>git-crypt</command> and can
be used with any sub-command. Since they apply globally
to <command>git-crypt</command>, they must be specified on the command line
<emphasis>before</emphasis> the sub-command name.
</para>
<variablelist>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
-->
<!--
<refsect1>
<title>Files</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><filename>/path/to/file</filename></term>
<listitem><para>Description.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
-->
<!--
<refsect1>
<title>Environment Variables</title>
<variablelist class='environment-variables'>
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>NAME</varname></term>
<listitem>
<para>Description.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
-->
<!-- TODO: examples section
<refsect1>
<title>Examples</title>
<para>Hello world?</para>
</refsect1>
-->
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<para>
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>git</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gitattributes</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<ulink url="https://www.agwa.name/projects/git-crypt">git-crypt home page</ulink>,
<ulink url="https://github.com/AGWA/git-crypt">GitHub repository</ulink>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>