colonelpanic8/dotfiles/password-reset

Password Reset

Overview

Handle password resets end-to-end. Prefer gws gmail for reset-email retrieval, the Chrome browser extension for website interaction, and the local xkcdpassgen helper for password generation.

Tool Priorities

• Prefer gws gmail over opening Gmail in the browser.
• If gws is unavailable, use an installed Gmail CLI or IMAP-based mail tool if one exists locally. Inspect the environment first instead of guessing command names.
• Prefer the Chrome browser extension for all browser interaction.
• Use pass find and pass show before asking the user for credentials or account details.

Password Generation

The local password generator is xkcdpassgen, defined in dotfiles/lib/functions/xkcdpassgen and available in shell as an autoloaded function.

xkcdpassgen <pass-entry-name>

Behavior:

• Generates xkcdpass -n 3 | tr -d ' ' as the base password.
• Appends one uppercase letter, one digit, and one symbol by default.
• Supports:
• -U to omit uppercase
• -N to omit number
• -S to omit symbol

Do not substitute a different password generator ungless the user explicitly asks.

Safe pass Update Pattern

xkcdpassgen writes directly to the pass entry it is given. Do not run it against the canonical entry before the reset succeeds, because:

• it would overwrite the current password immediately
• it would replace any extra metadata lines in a multiline pass entry

Use this pattern instead:

entry="service/example"
tmp_entry="${entry}-password-reset-tmp"
 
existing_contents="$(pass show "$entry" 2>/dev/null || true)"
metadata="$(printf '%s\n' "$existing_contents" | tail -n +2)"
 
xkcdpassgen "$tmp_entry"
new_password="$(pass show "$tmp_entry" | head -1)"
 
# ... use $new_password in the reset flow ...
 
if [ -n "$metadata" ]; then
  printf '%s\n%s\n' "$new_password" "$metadata" | pass insert -m -f "$entry"
else
  printf '%s\n' "$new_password" | pass insert -m -f "$entry"
fi
 
pass rm -f "$tmp_entry"

If the site rejects the password because of policy constraints, keep the canonical entry unchanged, delete or reuse the temp entry, and generate another candidate with different flags only if needed.

Reset Workflow

1. Identify the account and canonical pass entry.
2. Run pass find <service> and inspect likely matches with pass show.
3. Capture existing metadata before generating a new password.
4. Generate the candidate password into a temporary pass entry with xkcdpassgen.
5. Start the reset flow in the browser via the Chrome extension:

• navigate to the login or account page
• use the site's "forgot password" flow, or
• sign in and navigate to security settings if the user asked for a rotation rather than a reset

1. Use gws gmail to retrieve the reset email when needed:

• search recent mail by sender domain, subject, or reset-related keywords
• open the message and extract the reset link
• navigate to that link in the browser via the Chrome extension

1. Fill the new password from the temporary pass entry and complete the form.
2. Verify success:

• confirmation page, or
• successful login with the new password

1. Promote the temp password into the canonical pass entry while preserving metadata, then remove the temp entry.

Email Guidance

Prefer gws gmail for reset-email handling. Typical pattern:

• list recent messages with gws gmail users messages list --params '{"userId":"me","q":"from:service.example newer_than:7d"}'
• bias toward reset keywords such as reset, password, security, verify, or signin
• read shortlisted messages with gws gmail users messages get --params '{"userId":"me","id":"MESSAGE_ID","format":"full"}' rather than browsing Gmail manually

If gws is unavailable, use an installed Gmail CLI or local mail helper only as a fallback. Keep that discovery lightweight and local to the current environment.

Browser Guidance

Use the Chrome browser extension to complete the reset flow directly:

• navigate to the reset or security page
• take snapshots to identify the relevant inputs and buttons
• click, fill, and submit through the site UI
• verify the success state before updating the canonical pass entry

Prefer driving the browser directly over describing steps for the user to perform manually.

Credentials And Account Data

• Search pass before asking the user for usernames, recovery emails, or OTP-related entries.
• If the site texts a verification or 2FA code, read it yourself with gmessages wait --since 5m --timeout 3m --query code (MCP: wait_for_message) instead of asking the user.
• Preserve existing metadata lines in multiline pass entries whenever possible.
• Never print the new password in the final response unless the user explicitly asks for it.

Failure Handling

• If account discovery is ambiguous, ask a short clarifying question only after checking pass.
• If the reset email does not arrive, search spam or alternate senders before giving up.
• If login or reset requires another secret that is not in pass, then ask the user.
• If the reset flow fails after temp-password generation, leave the canonical entry untouched.