Ask for the passphrase on the controlling terminal, not stdin (closes #144)

The passphrase and mnemonic prompts open /dev/tty and ask there, so
`echo v | secret add s1 --force`, `secret encrypt` and `secret decrypt`
with piped input ask at a terminal instead of failing. Only a process
with no controlling terminal still gets the error naming the variable to
set. `secret init` and `secret vault create` no longer write a newline
to stderr after the mnemonic.

On SIGINT or SIGTERM, Entry() restores the settings of /dev/tty instead
of stdin, since that is where the prompt turns echo off.

The two tests that pin the no-terminal message run the binary in a new
session, so it has no terminal wherever the tests run.

Unverified by a test: the echo restore after Ctrl-C, checked by hand.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -381,6 +381,11 @@ which every command except `secret vault import` offers when the variable is not
 set, is the safer default; `secret vault import` has no prompt and needs both
 variables.
 
+The prompt asks on the terminal the command runs in, not on stdin, so it also
+asks when stdin is a pipe, as in `echo value | secret add name --force` or
+`cat file | secret encrypt key`. With no controlling terminal, as under cron or
+in a CI job, the command fails and names the variable to set.
+
 ## Security Features
 
 ### Encryption

TODO.md

@@ -18,6 +18,16 @@ https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/milestone/12
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-14: The passphrase and mnemonic prompts ask on the controlling
+  terminal (`/dev/tty`) instead of stdin, so `echo v | secret add s1 --force`,
+  `cat file | secret encrypt key` and `cat file.age | secret decrypt key` ask
+  for the passphrase at a terminal instead of failing
+  (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/issues/144). Only a process with no
+  controlling terminal gets the error that names the variable to set. On SIGINT
+  or SIGTERM, `Entry()` restores the settings of that terminal, not of stdin,
+  since that is where the prompt turns echo off. `secret init` and
+  `secret vault create` no longer write a newline to stderr after the mnemonic
+  is typed, since the prompt ends that line on the terminal.
 - 2026-10-14: `secret generate mnemonic`, `secret vault list` and
   `secret unlocker list` print their output to stdout, as `secret list` does, so
   it can be piped or captured (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/issues/138).

internal/cli/create_vault_test.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/awnumar/memguard"
@@ -197,10 +198,10 @@ func TestStopAtPassphrasePromptLeavesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestMnemonicNotReadNamesOnlyMnemonic is a regression test for
 // https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/issues/115: `secret init` without
-// SB_SECRET_MNEMONIC and with a stdin that is not a terminal said "failed to
+// SB_SECRET_MNEMONIC and with no terminal said "failed to read mnemonic:
-// read mnemonic: failed to read passphrase: ...". The error must wrap
+// failed to read passphrase: ...". The error must wrap
 // secret.ErrMnemonicNotRead and name the mnemonic only. The message is
-// pinned on the built binary, whose stdin is surely not a terminal.
+// pinned on the built binary, run in a new session, which has no terminal.
 func TestMnemonicNotReadNamesOnlyMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -216,14 +217,15 @@ func TestMnemonicNotReadNamesOnlyMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
 		"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"),
 		"HOME=" + os.Getenv("HOME"),
 	}
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Setsid: true}
 
 	output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	require.Error(t, err)
 
 	require.Equal(t, "Initialized secrets manager at: "+stateDir+"\n"+
-		"Error: failed to read mnemonic: stdin is not a terminal (piped input "+
+		"Error: failed to read mnemonic: there is no terminal to ask on. "+
-		"or script). Please set the SB_SECRET_MNEMONIC environment variable "+
+		"Please set the SB_SECRET_MNEMONIC environment variable or run "+
-		"or run interactively\n", string(output))
+		"interactively\n", string(output))
 }
 
 // TestStopDuringCreateLeavesWholeVaultOrNone is a regression test for

internal/cli/init.go

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"log/slog"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/awnumar/memguard"
@@ -57,13 +56,11 @@ func (cli *Instance) promptMnemonic() (*memguard.LockedBuffer, func(), error) {
 	// Read mnemonic securely without echo
 	mnemonicBuffer, err := secret.ReadMnemonic("Enter your BIP39 mnemonic phrase: ")
 	if err != nil {
-		secret.Debug("Failed to read mnemonic from stdin", "error", err)
+		secret.Debug("Failed to read mnemonic", "error", err)
 
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr) // Add newline after hidden input
-
 	return mnemonicBuffer, mnemonicBuffer.Destroy, nil
 }
 

internal/cli/passphrase_prompt_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+package cli_test
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
+	"testing"
+
+	"filippo.io/age"
+	"github.com/awnumar/memguard"
+	"github.com/creack/pty"
+	"github.com/spf13/afero"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/secret/internal/secret"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/secret/internal/vault"
+)
+
+// TestPassphraseAskedAtTerminalWithPipedStdin is a regression test for
+// https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/issues/144: run at a terminal with stdin
+// a pipe, as in `echo v2 | secret add s1 --force`, a command that needed
+// the passphrase failed instead of asking for it. Each command here must ask
+// on the terminal and succeed once the passphrase is typed there.
+func TestPassphraseAskedAtTerminalWithPipedStdin(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	stateDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	passphrase := memguard.NewBufferFromBytes([]byte(testPassphrase))
+	defer passphrase.Destroy()
+
+	vlt, err := vault.CreateVault(afero.NewOsFs(), stateDir, "default",
+		testMnemonicBuffer(t), passphrase)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	value := memguard.NewBufferFromBytes([]byte("v1"))
+	defer value.Destroy()
+
+	require.NoError(t, vlt.AddSecret("s1", value, false))
+
+	identity, err := age.GenerateX25519Identity()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	key := secret.IdentityToLockedBuffer(identity)
+	defer key.Destroy()
+
+	require.NoError(t, vlt.AddSecret("mykey", key, false))
+
+	runAtTerminal(t, stateDir, "v2\n", "add", "s1", "--force")
+
+	vlt.UnlockPassphrase = passphrase
+
+	added, err := vlt.GetSecret("s1")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	defer added.Destroy()
+
+	assert.Equal(t, "v2", added.String())
+
+	encrypted := runAtTerminal(t, stateDir, "a document\n", "encrypt", "mykey")
+	decrypted := runAtTerminal(t, stateDir, encrypted, "decrypt", "mykey")
+	assert.Equal(t, "a document\n", decrypted)
+}
+
+// TestInitWritesNoBlankLineAfterMnemonic runs `secret init 2>log` at a
+// terminal: the terminal is its controlling terminal and none of stdin,
+// stdout and stderr. The mnemonic is typed on the terminal and the prompt
+// ends its line there, so stderr must not get a newline for it as well, a
+// blank line in the log. pty.Open is described above
+// TestRemoveIgnoresTerminalOnStdout.
+func TestInitWritesNoBlankLineAfterMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), commandWait)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	stateDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	//nolint:gosec // G204: test executes the freshly built secret binary
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, secretBinaryPath(t), "init")
+	cmd.Env = []string{
+		secret.EnvStateDir + "=" + stateDir,
+		secret.EnvUnlockPassphrase + "=" + testPassphrase,
+		"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"),
+		"HOME=" + os.Getenv("HOME"),
+	}
+
+	ptmx, tty, err := pty.Open()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	defer func() { _ = ptmx.Close() }()
+
+	deadline, _ := ctx.Deadline()
+	require.NoError(t, ptmx.SetReadDeadline(deadline))
+
+	var stderr strings.Builder
+
+	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
+	cmd.ExtraFiles = []*os.File{tty}
+	// Ctty is a descriptor in the new process: 3, the first of ExtraFiles.
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Setsid: true, Setctty: true, Ctty: 3}
+
+	require.NoError(t, cmd.Start())
+
+	_ = tty.Close()
+
+	var (
+		shown []byte
+		char  byte
+	)
+
+	terminal := bufio.NewReader(ptmx)
+	for !bytes.HasSuffix(shown, []byte("Enter your BIP39 mnemonic phrase: ")) {
+		char, err = terminal.ReadByte()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "secret init did not ask on the terminal: %s",
+			shown)
+
+		shown = append(shown, char)
+	}
+
+	_, err = ptmx.WriteString(testMnemonic + "\n")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// The read ends once the command has exited and so closed the terminal.
+	rest, _ := io.ReadAll(terminal)
+
+	err = cmd.Wait()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "secret init: %s%s%s", shown, rest, stderr.String())
+
+	assert.True(t, strings.HasPrefix(stderr.String(),
+		"Initialized secrets manager at: "+stateDir+"\n\n"+
+			"Default vault created and configured\n"),
+		"stderr: %q", stderr.String())
+}
+
+// runAtTerminal runs the secret binary with args and input on stdin, in a
+// new session whose controlling terminal is a new terminal, which is also
+// its stderr: a command typed at a terminal with its input piped. pty.Open
+// is described above TestRemoveIgnoresTerminalOnStdout. runAtTerminal waits
+// for the passphrase prompt on the terminal, types the passphrase there,
+// and returns what the command wrote to stdout once it has succeeded.
+func runAtTerminal(t *testing.T, stateDir, input string, args ...string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), commandWait)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	//nolint:gosec // G204: test executes the freshly built secret binary
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, secretBinaryPath(t), args...)
+	cmd.Env = []string{
+		secret.EnvStateDir + "=" + stateDir,
+		"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"),
+		"HOME=" + os.Getenv("HOME"),
+	}
+
+	ptmx, tty, err := pty.Open()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	defer func() { _ = ptmx.Close() }()
+
+	deadline, _ := ctx.Deadline()
+	require.NoError(t, ptmx.SetReadDeadline(deadline))
+
+	var stdout strings.Builder
+
+	cmd.Stdin = strings.NewReader(input)
+	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = tty
+	// Ctty is a descriptor in the new process: 2, its stderr.
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Setsid: true, Setctty: true, Ctty: 2}
+
+	require.NoError(t, cmd.Start())
+
+	_ = tty.Close()
+
+	var (
+		shown []byte
+		char  byte
+	)
+
+	terminal := bufio.NewReader(ptmx)
+	for !bytes.HasSuffix(shown, []byte("Enter unlock passphrase: ")) {
+		char, err = terminal.ReadByte()
+		require.NoError(t, err, "secret %v did not ask on the terminal: %s",
+			args, shown)
+
+		shown = append(shown, char)
+	}
+
+	_, err = ptmx.WriteString(testPassphrase + "\n")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// The read ends once the command has exited and so closed the terminal.
+	rest, _ := io.ReadAll(terminal)
+
+	require.NoError(t, cmd.Wait(), "secret %v: %s%s", args, shown, rest)
+
+	return stdout.String()
+}

internal/cli/root.go

@@ -15,16 +15,29 @@ import (
 // but exit with the code.
 func Entry() int {
 	// On SIGINT or SIGTERM memguard runs this function, wipes every buffer
-	// and exits with status 1. The passphrase prompt turns terminal echo
+	// and exits with status 1. The passphrase prompt turns echo off on the
-	// off until the read finishes, so a signal there would leave echo off.
+	// controlling terminal until the read finishes, so a signal there would
-	// Only a process in the terminal's foreground process group may reset
+	// leave echo off. Only a process in the terminal's foreground process
-	// it: one in the background that tries is stopped instead of exiting.
+	// group may reset it: one in the background that tries is stopped
-	terminalState, terminalErr := term.GetState(unix.Stdin)
+	// instead of exiting.
+	terminal, terminalErr := os.Open(secret.TerminalPath)
+
+	var terminalState *term.State
+
+	if terminalErr == nil {
+		defer func() { _ = terminal.Close() }()
+
+		terminalState, terminalErr = term.GetState(int(terminal.Fd()))
+	}
 
 	memguard.CatchSignal(func(os.Signal) {
-		foreground, err := unix.IoctlGetInt(unix.Stdin, unix.TIOCGPGRP)
+		if terminalErr != nil {
-		if terminalErr == nil && err == nil && foreground == unix.Getpgrp() {
+			return
-			_ = term.Restore(unix.Stdin, terminalState)
+		}
+
+		foreground, err := unix.IoctlGetInt(int(terminal.Fd()), unix.TIOCGPGRP)
+		if err == nil && foreground == unix.Getpgrp() {
+			_ = term.Restore(int(terminal.Fd()), terminalState)
 		}
 	}, os.Interrupt, unix.SIGTERM)
 

internal/cli/unlock_failure_test.go

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"filippo.io/age"
@@ -288,7 +289,7 @@ func TestMissingCurrentUnlockerNamesMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // TestPassphraseNotReadNamesNoMnemonic runs `secret get x` on the built
-// binary without SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE and with a stdin that is not a
+// binary without SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE and in a new session, which has no
 // terminal, so the passphrase cannot be read. The unlocker was not tried,
 // and adding one would need a passphrase read the same way, so the error
 // is the cause alone, without the advice to use the mnemonic.
@@ -319,15 +320,16 @@ func TestPassphraseNotReadNamesNoMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
 		"PATH=" + os.Getenv("PATH"),
 		"HOME=" + os.Getenv("HOME"),
 	}
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Setsid: true}
 
 	output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	require.Error(t, err)
 
 	assert.Equal(t, "Error: failed to unlock vault: "+
 		"failed to get long-term key: failed to get unlocker identity: "+
-		"failed to read passphrase: stdin is not a terminal (piped input or "+
+		"failed to read passphrase: there is no terminal to ask on. Please "+
-		"script). Please set the SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE environment variable or "+
+		"set the SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE environment variable or run "+
-		"run interactively\n", string(output))
+		"interactively\n", string(output))
 }
 
 // TestCryptoUnlockFailureNamesMnemonic checks that `secret encrypt` and

internal/secret/constants.go

@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ const (
 	// EnvGPGKeyID is the environment variable for providing the GPG key ID
 	EnvGPGKeyID = "SB_GPG_KEY_ID"
 
+	// TerminalPath opens the controlling terminal of the process that opens
+	// it, where the passphrase and mnemonic prompts ask.
+	TerminalPath = "/dev/tty"
+
 	// UnlockerTimeFormat is the layout of the time, in UTC, in the name of a
 	// new unlocker's directory. It runs to the nanosecond, so that every new
 	// unlocker, even one added right after another, gets a directory of its

internal/secret/crypto.go

@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
-	"syscall"
 	"unsafe"
 
 	"filippo.io/age"
@@ -16,11 +15,8 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	errNilPassphraseBuffer = errors.New("passphrase buffer is nil")
-	errStdinNotTerminal    = errors.New(
+	errNoTerminal          = errors.New("there is no terminal to ask on")
-		"stdin is not a terminal (piped input or script)")
+	errNothingEntered      = errors.New("nothing was entered")
-	errStderrNotTerminal = errors.New(
-		"stderr is not a terminal (running in non-interactive mode)")
-	errNothingEntered = errors.New("nothing was entered")
 )
 
 // ErrMnemonicNotRead is wrapped in every error of ReadMnemonic: there is no
@@ -193,38 +189,33 @@ func ReadMnemonic(prompt string) (*memguard.LockedBuffer, error) {
 	return readFromTerminal(prompt, ErrMnemonicNotRead, EnvMnemonic)
 }
 
-// readFromTerminal reads input from the terminal without echoing it. Every
+// readFromTerminal asks on the controlling terminal and reads the answer
-// error it returns wraps notRead; without a terminal, the error says to set
+// there without echoing it, whatever stdin is: in
-// envVar instead.
+// `echo value | secret add name --force`, stdin is a pipe. Every error it
+// returns wraps notRead; without a terminal, the error says to set envVar
+// instead.
 func readFromTerminal(
 	prompt string, notRead error, envVar string,
 ) (*memguard.LockedBuffer, error) {
-	// Check if stdin is a terminal
+	terminal, err := os.OpenFile(TerminalPath, os.O_RDWR, 0)
-	if !term.IsTerminal(syscall.Stdin) {
+	if err != nil {
-		// Not a terminal - never read secrets from piped input
+		Debug("Failed to open the controlling terminal", "error", err)
-		// for security reasons
+
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 			"%w: %w. Please set the %s environment variable or run interactively",
-			notRead, errStdinNotTerminal, envVar)
+			notRead, errNoTerminal, envVar)
 	}
+	defer func() { _ = terminal.Close() }()
 
-	// stdin is a terminal, check if stderr is also a terminal for
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprint(terminal, prompt)
-	// interactive prompting
-	if !term.IsTerminal(syscall.Stderr) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w. Please set the %s environment variable",
-			notRead, errStderrNotTerminal, envVar)
-	}
 
-	// Both stdin and stderr are terminals - use secure password reading
+	input, err := term.ReadPassword(int(terminal.Fd()))
-	fmt.Fprint(os.Stderr, prompt) // Write prompt to stderr, not stdout
-
-	input, err := term.ReadPassword(syscall.Stdin)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", notRead, err)
 	}
 
-	// Print newline to stderr since ReadPassword doesn't echo
+	// The newline typed after the input, which ReadPassword did not echo
-	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr)
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(terminal)
 
 	if len(input) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", notRead, errNothingEntered)