bitwarden-cli mit Homebrew, chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget installieren

Projektlinks

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream-Dokumentation
• Paketmanager-Seite

Befehle und Aliase

• bw

Projektgeschichte

The Bitwarden clients repository was created in 2016 and houses the web, browser extension, desktop, and CLI clients, with mobile clients split into separate iOS and Android repositories.

By the 2020s, the CLI had dedicated release tags in the clients repository, including cli-v2022.6.0 and continuing through cli-v2026.6.0. Bitwarden's CLI docs now document native executable downloads, npm installation, Chocolatey, Snap, Flatpak use through the desktop app, and GitHub checksums.

Adoptionsgeschichte

The input package-manager data shows broad package adoption across Homebrew, Chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Scoop, and winget. The official docs also list npm, Chocolatey, Snap, native executables, and Flatpak-mediated use.

Bitwarden's own help center positions the CLI for interactive login, API-key login, SSO login, server geography selection, and self-hosted deployments, which explains its reach beyond personal password lookup into business and automation workflows.

Wie es verwendet wird

Typical CLI use starts with bw login, then bw unlock to generate a session key for commands that touch encrypted vault data. Official docs also document API-key login through BW_CLIENTID and BW_CLIENTSECRET environment variables for automated work.

The CLI can list, get, edit, generate, encode, import, export, and serve vault data. Package users care about the serve mode and raw/JSON output options because they let local tools consume vault data without binding to Bitwarden's GUI clients.

Bitwarden documents BITWARDENCLI_APPDATA_DIR for separate data.json configurations, which lets users keep multiple accounts or environments isolated.

Warum Paket-Nerds sich dafür interessieren

bitwarden-cli is one of the canonical examples of a security GUI product with a serious command-line surface. It lets package managers deliver a password-vault client into headless machines and scripted environments without requiring a desktop app.

Its package story is also interesting because the official docs distinguish OSS and non-OSS CLI bundles on GitHub while common distribution platforms carry the default build. That distinction matters to users who audit package provenance.

For shell users, bw is a bridge between human secret storage and automation: strong enough for personal use, but scriptable enough for infrastructure migration and controlled retrieval.

Zeitleiste

• 2016: bitwarden/clients repository created.
• 2022-07-05: cli-v2022.6.0 release published in the clients repository.
• 2024: Official CLI docs reference OSS and non-OSS bundle naming examples such as bw-oss-windows-2024.12.0.zip and bw-windows-2024.12.0.zip.
• 2026-06-25: cli-v2026.6.0 release published.

Related projects

• bitwarden/server provides the backend infrastructure for Bitwarden.
• bitwarden/ios and bitwarden/android provide the mobile clients outside the clients monorepo.
• bitwarden/directory-connector supports enterprise directory synchronization.
• Bitwarden Secrets Manager is a related Bitwarden product for machine secrets, but it is distinct from the Password Manager CLI.

Quellen

• https://bitwarden.com/help/bitwarden-security-white-paper/
• https://bitwarden.com/help/cli.md
• https://bitwarden.com/help/cli/
• https://github.com/bitwarden/clients#readme
• source_facts.package-manager