Keychain Access

macOS Keychain helpers (list/get/set/delete) via the security CLI. Trigger this skill when the user needs to inspect, store, update, or remove generic passwords from the Keychain with explicit confirmation on destructive ops and guarded secret disclosure.

Keychain Access Skill

Manage macOS Keychain items in a safe, scriptable way. Use the bundled keychain-access/keychain-access.sh helper for all operations: it wraps security calls, enforces confirmations for updates and deletions, masks secrets unless explicitly requested, and supports dry-run previews.

Safety Constraints

• Never print secrets unless the user explicitly asks to reveal them (--raw). Routine get calls only report metadata with the password hidden.
• Ask the user to confirm before modifying or deleting existing entries. The script prompts by default and accepts --yes to skip the prompt for automation.
• Support a --dry-run mode so agents can preview the security command without touching the Keychain.
• Supply secrets via --password-stdin, --password-env, or the hidden interactive prompt. The legacy --password option leaves values in shell history and process listings (the helper warns when it's used), so prefer the safer inputs; --password-env VAR reads the var and unsets it immediately to keep the secret out of the environment.
• Operate on a specific keychain when provided (--keychain); otherwise, the default search list is used. Avoid leaking system passwords by defaulting to explicit service/account filters.

Supported Operations

1. list – Summaries of matching entries.

   bash

   ./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh list \
     [--keychain /path/to/keychain] [--service NAME] [--account NAME]
   

   • Scans the chosen keychain via security dump-keychain and prints service/account/label rows.
   • Filters can target a specific service or account (substring match).
   • Use --dry-run to review the security dump-keychain invocation without running it.

2. get – Display metadata for a generic password.

   bash

   ./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh get \
     --service SERVICE --account ACCOUNT [--keychain PATH] [--raw] [--dry-run]
   

   • Requires both --service and --account to avoid ambiguity.
   • Password output is masked by default; add --raw only when the user explicitly needs the secret value.
   • Returns command diagnostics even if the password is hidden (e.g., matching record, keychain path).
   • Use --dry-run to review the security find-generic-password invocation without reaching into the keychain.

3. set – Create or update a generic password entry.

   bash

   printf '<SERVICE_SECRET>' | ./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh set      --service SERVICE --account ACCOUNT      --password-stdin      [--keychain PATH] [--yes] [--dry-run]
   

   • Supply the password via --password-stdin, --password-env VAR, or the hidden interactive prompt that runs when stdin is a terminal and no source is provided. The legacy --password flag still works but is insecure because its value appears in shell history and process listings, so the helper prints a warning if it is used.
   • --password-env VAR reads the named env var, unsets it immediately after reading, and keeps the secret out of the command line and environment dumps.
   • When a matching service/account already exists, the helper announces the pending update and prompts for confirmation before overwriting (use --yes to skip the prompt once you have authorized the change).
   • --dry-run prints the security add-generic-password ... invocation with the password redacted and exits before checking for an existing entry or prompting.

4. delete – Remove a matching generic password.

   bash

   ./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh delete \
     --service SERVICE --account ACCOUNT [--keychain PATH] [--yes] [--dry-run]
   

   • Always prompts before deletion; --yes bypasses the prompt if the user already authorized removing the credential.
   • The helper verifies the entry exists before asking for confirmation.
   • Combine with --dry-run to preview the security delete-generic-password invocation while keeping the keychain untouched; the helper exits before verifying the entry or prompting.

Request Examples

• "Store a new API token for terraform under account ci-bot." → run set for that service/account, pipe <TERRAFORM_TOKEN> into --password-stdin (or set TERRAFORM_TOKEN and pass --password-env TERRAFORM_TOKEN), then confirm the update if prompted.
• "Show everything stored for smtp credentials." → run list --service smtp and then get with --raw only if the user explicitly needs to read the password.
• "Rotate the password for deploy-bot and remove the old entry." → use set with --service deploy and --account deploy-bot, supply the new secret through one of the safe input options, allow the helper to prompt for confirmation, then delete the old credential with confirmation when the rotation is complete.
• "Preview the delete command for the app key without running it." → use delete --service app-key --account release-bot --dry-run.

Testing Transcript (safe context)

bash

# Prepare a disposable keychain (password = <KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD>)
security create-keychain -p <KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD> /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain
security unlock-keychain -p <KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD> /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain

# 1) List entries (empty keychain)
./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh list   --keychain /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain
# Output:
No matching entries found.

# 2) Set a credential (confirms before update)
printf '<SERVICE_SECRET>' | ./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh set   --service test-service --account test-user   --password-stdin --keychain /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain --yes
# Output:
Stored credential for 'test-service' / 'test-user'.

# 3) Get the credential (masked by default, raw only when asked)
./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh get   --service test-service --account test-user   --keychain /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain --raw
# Output:
password: "<SERVICE_SECRET>"
keychain: "/private/tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain"
version: 256
class: "genp"
attributes:
    0x00000007 <blob>="test-service"
    0x00000008 <blob>=<NULL>
    "acct"<blob>="test-user"
    ... (remaining metadata omitted for brevity)

# 4) Delete the credential (prompts confirmation)
./skills/keychain-access/keychain-access.sh delete   --service test-service --account test-user   --keychain /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain --yes
# Output:
Deleted credential for 'test-service' / 'test-user'.

# Cleanup
security delete-keychain /tmp/keychain-access-test.keychain

Include this transcript in reports so the main agent knows the commands and their expected output shape.