Go Password Generator

A flexible and secure random password generator implemented in Go.

Features

• Customizable password length
• Configurable character set
• Secure random generation using math/rand with time-based seeding
• Prevents consecutive duplicate characters
• Simple command-line interface

Installation

go get github.com/softwareplace/go-password

Usage

Basic Usage

go run cmd/main.go

Generates a 24-character password using the default character set.

Custom Length

go run cmd/main.go -length=32

Generates a 32-character password.

Custom Character Set

go run cmd/main.go -chars="ABCDEF123!@#"

Generates a password using only the specified characters.

Help

go run cmd/main.go -help

Displays usage information.

API Documentation

Generator Struct

type Generator struct {
    Length int    // Length of the password to generate
    Chars  string // Character set to use for generation
}

Methods

SetLength(length int) *Generator

Sets the password length.

SetChars(chars string) *Generator

Sets the character set to use.

Generate() string

Generates and returns the password.

Helper Functions

New() *Generator

Creates a new Generator instance with default values.

Default() *Generator

Creates a new Generator instance configured via command-line flags.

Default Character Set

The default character set includes:

• Lowercase letters: a-z
• Uppercase letters: A-Z
• Numbers: 0-9
• Special characters: !@#$%^&*?

Examples

Programmatic Usage

package main

import (
    "github.com/softwareplace/go-password/pkg/str"
)

func main() {
    // Using defaults
    password := str.Default().Generate()
    
    // Custom configuration
    customPass := str.New().
        SetLength(16).
        SetChars("ABCD1234").
        Generate()
}

Command Line Examples

1. Generate a 12-character password:

   go run cmd/main.go -length=12

2. Generate a password with only numbers:

   go run cmd/main.go -chars="0123456789"

3. Generate a complex 20-character password:

   go run cmd/main.go -length=20 -chars="abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ23456789!@#$%^&*?"

Security Notes

• The generator uses Go's math/rand package seeded with the current time
• For cryptographic applications, consider using crypto/rand instead
• The implementation prevents consecutive duplicate characters
• Minimum recommended length is 12 characters for basic security

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.