Launcher pass

Browse a GNU Pass password store from the Noctalia launcher and copy or auto-type passwords, OTP codes, usernames, and any other field — without opening a terminal.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	mellotanica/launcher-pass
Entries	Launcher provider: pass
Launcher Prefix	/pass

The prefix is pass preceded by your launcher's provider prefix (shell.launcher.provider_prefix, / by default). Every example below assumes the default, so adjust /pass if you changed it.

Requirements

Install pass, find, and grep on PATH. pass also needs gpg and a Wayland clipboard helper (wl-clipboard) for its -c copy mode.

Optional:

• pass-otp — enables the Copy OTP / Type OTP rows. They appear only for entries whose decrypted body contains an otpauth:// line.
• wtype — enables every Type row. If it is not on PATH the Type rows are hidden and only the Copy rows are shown.

A working password store is expected where pass looks for it: $PASSWORD_STORE_DIR when set, otherwise ~/.password-store. Override it with the Password store path setting.

Usage

Open the Noctalia launcher and type /pass.

Input	Result
/pass	list the store root
/pass <query>	fuzzy-search the whole store (see below)
/pass work/	browse inside the work folder
/pass work/aws pr	fuzzy-search inside work/aws

Activating a folder drills into it; a "Go back" row returns to the parent. Activating an entry decrypts it with pass show and opens its detail view, which lists, in order:

1. Copy Password / Type Password
2. Copy OTP / Type OTP — only when the entry has an otpauth:// line
3. Copy Username / Type Username — the value of the first login, user, or username field (case-insensitive), or the entry's own name when there is none
4. Copy <field> / Type <field> for every remaining key: value line, in file order
5. Go back to the entry's folder

In the detail view, keep typing to filter these rows: /pass work/aws/root otp shows only the two OTP rows. The filter uses the same match rule as search (spaces are wildcards).

Copy puts the value on the clipboard. Password and OTP go through pass -c / pass otp -c, so the clipboard is cleared automatically after the timeout; usernames and other fields are copied directly and are not auto-cleared. Type closes the launcher, waits Type delay, then types the value with wtype.

If GPG needs a passphrase, a pinentry dialog appears; the launcher hides itself so the dialog can take focus and reopens once decryption finishes.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
storePath	folder	(empty → ~/.password-store)	Exported as PASSWORD_STORE_DIR to every pass call.
clipTimeout	string	(empty)	Seconds before pass clears the clipboard after Copy Password / Copy OTP. Empty falls back to the PASSWORD_STORE_CLIP_TIME environment variable, then to pass's own default. Only a positive integer takes effect.
typeDelay	int	500	Milliseconds to wait after the launcher closes before wtype starts typing, so the compositor can restore focus to the field you were in. (Advanced. The v4 label "Launcher Close Delay" was misleading — this is the pre-typing delay.)
wtypeDelay	int	12	Milliseconds between simulated keystrokes. Increase it if characters are dropped. (Advanced.)
pinentryGraceMs	int	200	Milliseconds to wait for a decrypt to finish before assuming a pinentry dialog is blocking and hiding the launcher. If your GPG agent already has the passphrase cached, the launcher never flickers. (Advanced.)
detailActionOrder	select	copy	In an entry's detail view, whether the Copy row (copy) or the Type row (type) comes first for each value. (Advanced.)
detailActionGrouping	select	interleaved	interleaved: each value's Copy and Type rows sit together. grouped: every Copy row first, then every Type row (each block in the detailActionOrder direction). (Advanced.)

IPC

This plugin exposes no custom IPC actions. To open the launcher straight into this provider, use Noctalia's panel IPC:

noctalia msg panel-open   launcher "/pass "
noctalia msg panel-toggle launcher "/pass "
noctalia msg panel-close  launcher

Replace / with your provider_prefix if you changed it. The plugin uses these same panel-close / panel-open commands internally to juggle focus around the GPG pinentry prompt.

Notes

• Auto-paste: Noctalia's shell.launcher.auto_paste (Ctrl+V / Shift+Insert after a copy) only applies to the built-in providers — the plugin runtime has no hook to opt in. The Type rows exist to cover that case; they insert the value with wtype regardless of the auto_paste setting.
• Index file: find lists the non-hidden folders and *.gpg names under the store once into <plugin data dir>/store.index (rebuilt in the background, ~once a minute). Every keystroke greps that file — it holds paths only, never decrypted content. Decrypted contents are read only when you open an entry's detail view (pass show), and are cached in memory for 60 s.
• Spawned processes: find (index build); grep (per keystroke); pass show, pass -c, pass otp, pass otp -c (per action); wtype and sleep (Type actions); noctalia msg panel-* (pinentry focus handling).
• Secrets: decrypted values live only in the plugin's in-memory cache and on the system clipboard via pass / Noctalia. Neither Noctalia state nor the index file holds decrypted content. Navigation state is encoded in the launcher query, not persisted.
• Network: none.
• Writes: only the store.index file above; pass, gpg, and clipboard tools manage their own runtime state.