A wrong passphrase gives an error that says so (closes #157)

A passphrase that did not decrypt the passphrase unlocker failed with age's
"no identity matched any of the recipients" and advice to give the vault a
new unlocker from its mnemonic, which would replace an unlocker that works.
GetIdentity now turns that age error into "wrong passphrase for unlocker
<id>", wrapping the new secret.ErrWrongPassphrase, and withMnemonicAdvice
leaves it alone, as it does when no passphrase was read. A passphrase from
SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE and a typed one both reach this code. A priv.age that
is not an age file keeps the advice.

Judgement call: age cannot tell a wrong passphrase from a damaged key inside
a priv.age whose header reads, so that case now reads as a wrong passphrase.

Model: opus-5-5

TODO.md

@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/milestone/12
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-14: A wrong passphrase, from `SB_UNLOCK_PASSPHRASE` or typed at the
+  prompt, gives the error `wrong passphrase for unlocker <id>`
+  (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/secret/issues/157). It used to be age's "no
+  identity matched any of the recipients", followed by advice to give the vault
+  a new unlocker from its mnemonic, which would have replaced an unlocker that
+  works. The error now wraps `secret.ErrWrongPassphrase` and carries no advice
+  to use the mnemonic. A `priv.age` that is not an age file still gets that
+  advice.
 - 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

internal/cli/unlock_failure_test.go

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 // Unlock Failure Tests
 //
 // When a vault cannot be opened through its current unlocker, because a
-// file the unlocker needs is missing or the passphrase is wrong, the error
-// keeps its cause and ends by saying that the mnemonic still opens that
-// vault, but only for a vault that the mnemonic does open, and not when the
-// passphrase could not be read at all. When the current unlocker does not
-// exist and the vault has another that `secret unlocker select` accepts, the
-// error says to select one instead.
+// file the unlocker needs is missing, the error keeps its cause and ends by
+// saying that the mnemonic still opens that vault, but only for a vault that
+// the mnemonic does open, and not when the passphrase could not be read at
+// all. A wrong passphrase gives an error that says so, without that advice.
+// When the current unlocker does not exist and the vault has another that
+// `secret unlocker select` accepts, the error says to select one instead.
 // When a secret's current file is missing, the error says how to make a
 // version current again. Each test that pins such advice also follows it.
 
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
-	"filippo.io/age"
 	"github.com/awnumar/memguard"
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -165,26 +164,48 @@ func TestUnlockFailureNamesMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestWrongPassphraseNamesMnemonic checks the error of `secret get` given a
-// passphrase that does not decrypt the passphrase unlocker: it keeps age's
-// error and ends with the advice that the mnemonic still opens the vault.
-func TestWrongPassphraseNamesMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
+// TestWrongPassphraseNamesPassphrase checks the error of `secret get` given
+// a passphrase that does not decrypt the passphrase unlocker: it says that
+// the passphrase is wrong, without the advice to use the mnemonic, since the
+// unlocker still opens the vault with the right passphrase. The test then
+// gives the right passphrase.
+func TestWrongPassphraseNamesPassphrase(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	_, c := newUnlockTestCLI(t, newTwoVaultFs(t))
+	unlockerDir, c := newUnlockTestCLI(t, newTwoVaultFs(t))
 	c.UnlockPassphrase = memguard.NewBufferFromBytes([]byte("wrong passphrase"))
 	t.Cleanup(c.UnlockPassphrase.Destroy)
 
 	err := c.GetSecret(discardCmd(), "x")
 
-	var noMatch *age.NoIdentityMatchError
-
-	require.ErrorAs(t, err, &noMatch)
-
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, secret.ErrWrongPassphrase)
+	assert.NotContains(t, err.Error(), mnemonicAdvice)
 	require.EqualError(t, err, "failed to unlock vault: "+
 		"failed to get long-term key: failed to get unlocker identity: "+
-		"failed to decrypt unlocker private key: failed to create decryptor: "+
-		noMatch.Error()+mnemonicAdvice)
+		"wrong passphrase for unlocker "+filepath.Base(unlockerDir))
+
+	c.UnlockPassphrase = memguard.NewBufferFromBytes([]byte(testPassphrase))
+	t.Cleanup(c.UnlockPassphrase.Destroy)
+	assert.Equal(t, "value", getSecret(t, c, "x"))
+}
+
+// TestDamagedUnlockerNamesMnemonic checks the error of `secret get` when the
+// passphrase unlocker's priv.age is not an age file: the passphrase is not
+// blamed, and the error ends with the advice that the mnemonic still opens
+// the vault.
+func TestDamagedUnlockerNamesMnemonic(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	fs := newTwoVaultFs(t)
+	unlockerDir, c := newUnlockTestCLI(t, fs)
+
+	require.NoError(t, afero.WriteFile(fs, filepath.Join(unlockerDir, "priv.age"),
+		[]byte("damaged"), secret.FilePerms))
+
+	err := c.GetSecret(discardCmd(), "x")
+
+	require.NotErrorIs(t, err, secret.ErrWrongPassphrase)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, mnemonicAdvice)
 }
 
 // TestMoveUnlockFailureNamesVault checks the error of `secret move` into

internal/secret/passphraseunlocker.go

@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ import (
 // empty. A passphrase unlocker that fails with it was not tried.
 var ErrPassphraseNotRead = errors.New("failed to read passphrase")
 
+// ErrWrongPassphrase is wrapped in the error of GetIdentity when the
+// passphrase does not decrypt the unlocker's private key.
+var ErrWrongPassphrase = errors.New("wrong passphrase")
+
 // PassphraseUnlocker represents a passphrase-protected unlocker
 type PassphraseUnlocker struct {
 	Directory  string
@@ -73,6 +77,12 @@ func (p *PassphraseUnlocker) GetIdentity() (*age.X25519Identity, error) {
 		Debug("Failed to decrypt unlocker private key",
 			"error", err, "unlocker_id", p.GetID())
 
+		// age says that no identity matched when the passphrase is wrong
+		var noMatch *age.NoIdentityMatchError
+		if errors.As(err, &noMatch) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w for unlocker %s", ErrWrongPassphrase, p.GetID())
+		}
+
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to decrypt unlocker private key: %w", err)
 	}
 	defer privKeyBuffer.Destroy()

internal/vault/vault.go

@@ -291,10 +291,13 @@ func (v *Vault) unlockLongTermKey(
 // without a mnemonic records none, and without its metadata the key cannot
 // be derived. It is not added when the passphrase could not be read: the
 // unlocker was not tried, and adding one would need a passphrase read the
-// same way. Nor is it added when the current unlocker does not exist and the
-// vault has others: the error already says to select one of them.
+// same way. Nor is it added when the passphrase is wrong: the unlocker still
+// opens the vault with the right one. Nor is it added when the current
+// unlocker does not exist and the vault has others: the error already says
+// to select one of them.
 func (v *Vault) withMnemonicAdvice(err error) error {
 	if errors.Is(err, secret.ErrPassphraseNotRead) ||
+		errors.Is(err, secret.ErrWrongPassphrase) ||
 		errors.Is(err, ErrUnlockerNotFound) {
 		return err
 	}

internal/vault/vault_error_test.go

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
-	"filippo.io/age"
 	"github.com/awnumar/memguard"
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -140,9 +139,7 @@ func TestAddSecretForceWithWrongPassphraseChangesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 
 	err = vlt.AddSecret(testSecretName, second, true)
 
-	var noMatch *age.NoIdentityMatchError
-
-	require.ErrorAs(t, err, &noMatch)
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, secret.ErrWrongPassphrase)
 	assert.Equal(t, before, dirContents(t, fs, secretDir))
 }