@menu
* Overview:: Overview of the auth-source library.
* Help for users::
+* Secret Service API::
* Help for developers::
* Index::
* Function Index::
@chapter Overview
The auth-source library is simply a way for Emacs and Gnus, among
-others, to find the answer to the old burning question ``I have a
-server name and a port, what are my user name and password?''
+others, to answer the old burning question ``I have a server name and
+a port, what are my user name and password?''
The auth-source library actually supports more than just the user name
(known as the login) or the password, but only those two are in use
-today in Emacs or Gnus. Similarly, the auth-source library can in
-theory support multiple storage formats, but currently it only
-understands the classic ``netrc'' format, examples of which you can
-see later in this document.
+today in Emacs or Gnus. Similarly, the auth-source library supports
+multiple storage formats, currently either the classic ``netrc''
+format, examples of which you can see later in this document, or the
+Secret Service API.
@node Help for users
@chapter Help for users
@defvar auth-sources
The @code{auth-sources} variable tells the auth-source library where
-your netrc files live for a particular host and protocol. While you
-can get fancy, the default and simplest configuration is:
+your netrc files or Secret Service API collection items live for a
+particular host and protocol. While you can get fancy, the default
+and simplest configuration is:
@lisp
+;;; old default: required :host and :protocol, not needed anymore
(setq auth-sources '((:source "~/.authinfo.gpg" :host t :protocol t)))
+;;; mostly equivalent (see below about fallbacks) but shorter:
+(setq auth-sources '((:source "~/.authinfo.gpg")))
@end lisp
This says ``for any host and any protocol, use just that one file.''
-Sweet simplicity. In fact, this is already the default, so unless you
-want to move your netrc file, it will just work if you have that
-file. You may not, though, so make sure it exists.
+Sweet simplicity. In fact, the latter is already the default, so
+unless you want to move your netrc file, it will just work if you have
+that file. Make sure it exists.
By adding multiple entries to @code{auth-sources} with a particular
host or protocol, you can have specific netrc files for that host or
shared netrc files or some other unusual setup (90% of Emacs users
have unusual setups and the remaining 10% are @emph{really} unusual).
+Here's an example that uses the Secret Service API for all lookups,
+using the default collection:
+
+@lisp
+(setq auth-sources '((:source (:secrets default))))
+@end lisp
+
+And here's a mixed example, using two sources:
+
+@lisp
+(setq auth-sources '((:source (:secrets default) :host "myserver" :user "joe")
+ (:source "~/.authinfo.gpg")))
+@end lisp
+
+The best match is determined by order (starts from the bottom) only
+for the first pass, where things are checked exactly. In the example
+above, the first pass would find a single match for host
+@code{myserver}. The netrc choice would fail because it matches any
+host and protocol implicitly (as a @emph{fallback}). A specified
+value of @code{:host t} in @code{auth-sources} is considered a match
+on the first pass, unlike a missing @code{:host}.
+
+Now if you look for host @code{missing}, it won't match either source
+explicitly. The second pass (the @emph{fallback} pass) will look at
+all the implicit matches and collect them. They will be scored and
+returned sorted by score. The score is based on the number of
+explicit parameters that matched. See the @code{auth-pick} function
+for details.
+
@end defvar
If you don't customize @code{auth-sources}, you'll have to live with
earlier. Since Tramp has about 88 connection methods, this may be
necessary if you have an unusual (see earlier comment on those) setup.
+@node Secret Service API
+@chapter Secret Service API
+
+TODO: how does it work generally, how does secrets.el work, some examples.
+
@node Help for developers
@chapter Help for developers
The auth-source library only has one function for external use.
-@defun auth-source-user-or-password mode host port
+@defun auth-source-user-or-password mode host port &optional username
Retrieve appropriate authentication tokens, determined by @var{mode},
-for host @var{host} and @var{port}. If @code{auth-source-debug} is t,
-debugging messages will be printed. Set @code{auth-source-debug} to a
-function to use that function for logging. The parameters passed will
-be the same that the @code{message} function takes, that is, a string
+for host @var{host} and @var{port}. If @var{username} is provided it
+will also be checked. If @code{auth-source-debug} is t, debugging
+messages will be printed. Set @code{auth-source-debug} to a function
+to use that function for logging. The parameters passed will be the
+same that the @code{message} function takes, that is, a string
formatting spec and optional parameters.
If @var{mode} is a list of strings, the function will return a list of
strings or @code{nil} objects (thus you can avoid parsing the netrc
-file more than once). If it's a string, the function will return a
-string or a @code{nil} object. Currently only the modes ``login'' and
-``password'' are recognized but more may be added in the future.
+file or checking the Secret Service API more than once). If it's a
+string, the function will return a string or a @code{nil} object.
+Currently only the modes ``login'' and ``password'' are recognized but
+more may be added in the future.
@var{host} is a string containing the host name.
a port number. It must be a string, corresponding to the port in the
users' netrc files.
+@var{username} contains the user name (e.g. ``joe'') as a string.
+
@example
;; IMAP example
(setq auth (auth-source-user-or-password
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