Command line

A guide to vault-zip-cli, made for automation (RPA and the like). It uses the same ledger as the app, and both can run at the same time.

Before you start

Passwords are never passed as arguments. Pass them through standard input (--pass-stdin). There is no --password option.
Add --json when a program reads the result: each run prints one JSON object.
Existing files are never overwritten.

Main commands

vault-zip-cli compress -i folder --json                  # create (a password is generated and kept in the ledger)
vault-zip-cli compress -i folder --each                  # one ZIP per item inside
vault-zip-cli extract  -i archive.zip -o dest --json     # extract, using the ledger's password
vault-zip-cli pdf encrypt -i report.pdf --json           # password-protect a PDF
vault-zip-cli pdf decrypt -i report_encrypted.pdf        # make a copy without the password
vault-zip-cli pdf check   -i report.pdf --json           # look at a PDF (changes nothing)
vault-zip-cli identify file... --json                    # what a file is, from its content
vault-zip-cli search term --json                         # search the ledger
vault-zip-cli reveal <ID>                                # show a password from the ledger
vault-zip-cli status --json                              # state of the ledger and backups

There are also commands for backups (backup), the recovery key (recovery-key), settings (settings), licences (license) and administrator policies (policy). vault-zip-cli --help lists them all.

Choosing the password yourself

echo your-password| vault-zip-cli compress -i memo.txt --pass-stdin --json

A password is 1–128 printable ASCII characters. --print-password shows a generated password on screen; keep it out of automated flows, because it would end up in run logs.

Moving the originals to the Recycle Bin (`--purge`)

After compressing and verifying, the originals are moved to the Recycle Bin (desktop only). It acts only when the originals still match the ZIP and the Recycle Bin can take them, and it never deletes outright. Otherwise the originals stay and the exit code is 4.

Exit codes

Exit code	Meaning
0	Success
2	Usage error
3	Partly failed (e.g. `--each`); the rest succeeded
4	`--purge`: the ZIP was made but the originals were kept
10	Input not found
11	Output already exists (nothing overwritten)
12	Not enough free space
13	Other I/O error
20	No usable password
21	Wrong password
22	Data failed authentication: damaged or altered
23	Rejected by the safety checks
24	Not an archive, or an unsupported feature
25	The archive is damaged
26	A recognised format that Vault-ZIP does not read
29	More than 100,000 entries (needs `--allow-many-entries`)
30	Ledger database error
31	The ledger exists but its key is missing
32	OS keystore error
33	Portable copy: wrong passphrase
40	Backup error
41	Not a valid licence file
42	Not allowed by an administrator policy
50	Cancelled
60	A PDF was refused (already encrypted, signed, and so on)
70	Unexpected internal error