Manage your GnuPG keys with ease! 🔐
1.7k
Stars
46
Forks
14
Open issues
12
Contributors
AI Analysis
gpg-tui is a terminal user interface for GnuPG that simplifies key management operations like listing, exporting, and signing keys. It serves systems administrators, security professionals, and developers who need to manage GPG keys interactively without memorizing command-line options. This tool is not for casual users unfamiliar with GnuPG or those requiring the full feature set of gpg itself.
Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.
AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.
Terminal UI for GnuPG key management, actively maintained Rust tool serving users who prefer interactive key operations over CLI
gpg-tui is a terminal user interface for GnuPG that makes interactive key management operations (list, export, sign, generate, delete) more accessible than pure CLI workflows. Built in Rust with TUI framework, it targets users managing cryptographic keys who want guided interaction without sacrificing CLI fallback. Adoption appears concentrated among Linux power users and administrators; real-world production usage numbers are not publicly documented. Project shows consistent maintenance—regular commits, cross-platform packaging, and active deployment CI/CD—but modest star growth suggests niche rather than mainstream positioning.
Created December 2020 by orhun, gpg-tui emerged as a Rust TUI tool in a period of growing interest in terminal-based UIs for traditional CLI utilities. It fills a gap between GnuPG's complex command-line interface and GUI tools, targeting terminal-native workflows.
Repository gained 1,736 stars over ~5.5 years with 6 stars in the last 7 days as of July 2026—consistent but slow growth. Presence across multiple package managers (Arch Linux community repo, AUR, Alpine, Gentoo, Homebrew, Docker, FreeBSD, NetBSD) indicates successful distribution rather than rapid viral adoption. Growth trajectory suggests stable adoption within a defined niche rather than acceleration toward mainstream use.
Adoption not verified. README does not cite production deployments, organizational users, or case studies. Presence in Linux community repositories (Arch Linux official, Alpine, Gentoo) indicates some real-world installation, but scale and active usage cannot be quantified from available metadata. No public testimonials or documented use cases provided.
Appears to be a single-binary TUI application written in Rust, wrapping GnuPG functionality (likely via GPGME bindings based on dependency list). README indicates modular UI with scrolling, search, file explorer, selection mode, and command execution. Architecture likely separates UI rendering from GPG operations, though implementation details cannot be verified from README alone.
README displays a codecov badge linking to coverage metrics, suggesting automated test infrastructure exists. However, specific coverage percentage and test strategy not documented in provided README excerpt. Coverage badge presence indicates measurement is being tracked.
Last push 2026-07-06 (3 days before evaluation date) shows active recent work. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment workflows documented and appear operational (badge links present). CI badge shows passing status. Regular releases tracked on crates.io and GitHub. No evidence of stalled development or abandoned issues. Maintenance pattern is consistent—not high-velocity but not dormant.
ADOPT IF: you work primarily in terminal environments, manage GnuPG keys regularly, and prefer guided interactive UI over memorizing gpg command flags while accepting niche tool with limited ecosystem. AVOID IF: you need comprehensive GPG feature coverage, require commercial support, work in Windows-primary environments, or depend on extensive third-party integrations. MONITOR IF: you currently use gpg CLI but could benefit from faster key management workflows—evaluate usability against your specific key operations before committing to TUI workflow.
Independent dimensions
Mainstream potential
3/10
Technical importance
5/10
Adoption evidence
3/10
- Limited adoption and user base may reduce bug discovery and real-world edge case coverage compared to established tools. Security-critical tool dependency on small active community.
- Niche positioning creates risk of maintenance discontinuation if primary developer loses interest or availability—project depends heavily on orhun for recent activity.
- Feature coverage intentionally limited (README: 'not trying to be full-fledged interface for all features')—may force fallback to CLI for uncommon operations, reducing UX cohesion.
- Terminal-UI paradigm limits discoverability and onboarding for users unfamiliar with TUI workflows; may not be intuitive for non-terminal users.
- Dependency on GPGME and system GnuPG installation creates deployment friction compared to integrated solutions; cross-platform compatibility not fully tested at scale.
Likely to remain a stable, maintained niche tool for terminal-native Linux users managing GnuPG keys. Adoption growth will plateau unless GnuPG adoption itself expands significantly or security/cryptography practices shift to require more interactive key management. Maintenance trajectory suggests active stewardship will continue at current pace.
Explore similar
Newsletter
Get analyses like this every Monday
Free weekly digest of the most interesting open-source discoveries.
Languages
Information
- Language
- Rust
- License
- MIT
- Last updated
- 4d ago
- Created
- 67mo ago
- Analyzed with
- anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Stars over time
Contributors over time
Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.
Open issues
RUSTSEC-2026-0195: Unbounded namespace-declaration allocation in `NsReader` enables memory-exhaustion denial of service
RUSTSEC-2026-0194: Quadratic run time when checking a start tag for duplicate attribute names
RUSTSEC-2026-0173: proc-macro-error2 is unmaintained
RUSTSEC-2025-0058: custom_derive crate is unmaintained
Show keygrips
Top contributors
Similar repos
| Repository | Stars | Week Δ | Language | Score | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
orhun/gpg-tui
this
|
1.7k | +6 | Rust | 8/10 | 4d ago |
 gitui-org/gitui
|
22.2k | — | Rust | 8/10 | 22h ago |
 rpgp/rpgp
|
1k | — | Rust | 8/10 | 1d ago |
 altsem/gitu
|
2.8k | — | Rust | 8/10 | 1mo ago |
 kitlangton/ghui
|
1k | — | TypeScript | 8/10 | 2w ago |
 pythops/bluetui
|
2.9k | — | Rust | 8/10 | 2w ago |
gpg-tui does not replace gpg; it wraps it. Offers interactive UI for common operations, provides CLI fallback for advanced tasks. Complementary rather than competitive positioning.
Kleopatra is a full graphical application; gpg-tui is terminal-native. Targets different user cohorts—terminal-preference vs. desktop preference. gpg-tui lighter weight and scriptable; Kleopatra more feature-complete.
gpg-tui adds interactivity layer; does not replace gpg2 itself. Depends on underlying GnuPG infrastructure and GPGME library.
gitui achieves far higher adoption for Git management. Both Rust TUI wrappers around CLI tools, but Git has broader user base. Demonstrates TUI-wrapping strategy is viable, but success scales with underlying tool's ubiquity.
Similar-scale Rust TUI project. Both serve terminal-preference niches. Similar adoption magnitude suggests comparable market penetration for specialized terminal UIs.
