KM and 1 PW

[jimmys]

Peter,

Do you see a problem with using KM to fill in the PW to sign into 1PW?

James

[tiffle]

Hi @jimmys - welcome to the KM Forum.

@jimmys

Peter,

Do you see a problem...

If your question is intended for Peter N Lewis then you should follow the instructions on the KM support page here: manual:Support [Keyboard Maestro Wiki] as he does not monitor this Forum as a matter of routine.

In terms of getting KM to enter the master password into 1Password, well I do it all the time in one of my macros and it's never been a problem but then I'm using version 7; I don't know if it will continue to be OK with version 8 though.

[rolian]

I use a KM macro in 1Password 8 with no problem. It is pretty straight-forward:

1. Insert Text by Typing "mymasterpassword"
2. Pause 0.5 sec
3. Type the Return Keystroke

Triggered by a hot key and named something that doesn't reveal its purpose to anyone except it me.

[tiffle]

Hi @rolian - that's good to know about 1Password version 8.

From your post it sounds like you have your master password embedded as plain text in your macro. If that's true you should seriously consider "hiding" it in a KM password variable. There's a recent discussion of this here:

Input Password, but Make It Invisible

I'm aware of the keychain feature and I will do some research on that as well, but this particular case is a bit different, because this password cannot be stored on the keychain. I'm using Firefox and it uses the Sync feature (for those of you who use that as well or know how it works). Unfortunately, Firefox becomes a bit annoying, always asking for the master password every time I run Firefox (after quitting the app). So I would like to create a keyboard shortcut that automatically types in…

[rolian]

Wow, that's a new one on me and I've been using KM for 10 years+. Thanks!!

Update 703PM CDT:
Made the password variable - it is hidden automagically in KM's list of variables, but I had to manually hide it in Dan Thomas's Variable Inspector macro set. Just a word to the wise.

[tiffle]

@rolian

I had to manually hide it in Dan Thomas's Variable Inspector macro set

I use Dan’s macro too but I don’t remember a problem with regard to KM’s password variables. I’ll look into that and report back later! Thanks!

[Zabobon]

There is also this way, which I think is even more secure:

I would retrieve the password from the Keychain, using the method below and use it as a Local Variable (or Password Variable).

Interestingly, the Password Variables only last as long as the Keyboard Maestro Engine is running so, on a restart they won't be there anymore (if I am reading the Wiki correctly).

And Local Variable are cleared as soon as the Macro is done. So, for me I think I’d rather use a Local Variable for this task. (After first setting it via the Keychain method).

Store and Retrieve Keychain Passwords

It is generally better to use a tool like 1Password or LastPass for storing passwords for web sites, but for some situations (such as when logging in to the when site is just one step in the process, or when using it in places other than a web browser), entering passwords from Keyboard Maestro can be very handy. In this case, its best to store the passwords in the Keychain, rather than in the macro which has no security. Here is an example of two macros that store and then retrieve a Keychain …

[tiffle]

@tiffle

I’ll look into that and report back later

Well @rolian I've just checked and found that I'm using the same technique
that @Zabobon mentions. In other words, I use a local variable to extract the keychain password into. When the macro terminates, the local variable is automatically destroyed by KM and does not then appear in any utility that allows variables to be listed/viewed.

I always use the same name for the local variable: Local_Password.

It's been so long ago that I constructed my macros that use passwords from my keychain that I don't remember why I use local variables and not just straight password variables. But, like @Zabobon, I've found it to be very secure.