age

Simple and modern file encryption

TLDR

Encrypt a file with a passphrase

$ age -p [file.txt] > [file.txt.age]

Decrypt a file with passphrase

$ age -d [file.txt.age] > [file.txt]

Encrypt with recipient's public key

$ age -r [age1publickey...] [file.txt] > [file.txt.age]

Encrypt with multiple recipients

$ age -r [key1] -r [key2] [file.txt] > [file.txt.age]

Encrypt using SSH public key

$ age -R [~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub] [file.txt] > [file.txt.age]

Decrypt with identity file

$ age -d -i [key.txt] [file.txt.age] > [file.txt]

SYNOPSIS

age [-e|-d] [-a] [-i identity] [-r recipient] [-R file] [-o output] [input]

age is a simple, modern file encryption tool with small explicit keys, no config options, and composable with Unix pipes. It's designed as a replacement for GPG with a cleaner interface and fewer footguns.age supports encryption to one or more recipients, passphrase encryption, and can use SSH keys for recipient-based encryption. The format is designed to be simple and auditable.

PARAMETERS

-e, --encrypt

Encrypt input (default operation)

-d, --decrypt

Decrypt input

-p, --passphrase

Encrypt with passphrase

-r, --recipient recipient

Encrypt to recipient public key (repeatable).

-R, --recipients-file file

Read recipients from file, one per line (repeatable).

-i, --identity identity

Identity (private key) file for decryption (repeatable). May also be used with -e for SSH or encrypted identities.

-o file

Output file (default: stdout)

-a, --armor

Use ASCII armored format

INSTALL

sudo apt install age

sudo dnf install age

sudo pacman -S age

sudo apk add age

sudo zypper install age

brew install age

nix profile install nixpkgs#age

CAVEATS

age does not sign files; use age + signify or minisign for authenticated encryption. Keys are not interchangeable with GPG keys. No built-in key management; keys are just files.

HISTORY

age was designed by Ben Cartwright-Cox and Filippo Valsorda and first released in 2019. It was created to address the complexity and usability issues of GPG while providing a secure, simple encryption tool suitable for modern use cases.

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage

age