How to use the command 'bw' (with examples)

The ‘bw’ command is used to access and manage a Bitwarden vault. It provides various functionalities to interact with a Bitwarden user account, such as logging in and out, searching and displaying items from the vault, retrieving specific items, and creating folders within the vault.

Use case 1: Log in to a Bitwarden user account

Code:

bw login

Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to log in to your Bitwarden user account using the command line. It provides an alternative to logging in through the Bitwarden web interface.

Explanation: The command ‘bw login’ prompts you to enter your Bitwarden email address and master password. Once entered correctly, it logs you into your Bitwarden user account.

Example output:

Email: example@gmail.com
Password:
Successfully authenticated to Bitwarden.

Use case 2: Log out of a Bitwarden user account

Code:

bw logout

Motivation: Logging out of your Bitwarden user account is necessary to protect your vault’s data when you’re finished using it, especially on shared or public machines.

Explanation: The ‘bw logout’ command logs you out of your Bitwarden user account, terminating the session. It clears any authentication tokens and credentials stored locally.

Example output:

Successfully logged out of Bitwarden.

Use case 3: Search and display items from Bitwarden vault

Code:

bw list items --search github

Motivation: When you have a large number of items in your Bitwarden vault, searching for a specific item based on a keyword or phrase is useful to quickly locate the desired information.

Explanation: The command ‘bw list items –search github’ searches for items in the Bitwarden vault that contain the keyword ‘github’ in their name, username, or notes. It lists all the matching items, including their name, username, password, and other relevant information.

Example output:

Searching for items matching 'github'...
1. Item Name: GitHub
   Username: exampleusername
   Password: ********

2. Item Name: GitHub Enterprise
   Username: exampleusername
   Password: ********

Use case 4: Display a particular item from Bitwarden vault

Code:

bw get item github

Motivation: Sometimes, you may need to view the details of a specific item in your Bitwarden vault, such as fetching the password for a particular website or retrieving other stored information.

Explanation: The ‘bw get item github’ command retrieves and displays the details of the item named ‘github’ from the Bitwarden vault. It shows information such as the item name, username, password, and any other relevant data associated with the item.

Example output:

Item Name: GitHub
Username: exampleusername
Password: ********

Use case 5: Create a folder in Bitwarden vault

Code:

echo -n '{"name":"My Folder1"}' | base64 | bw create folder

Motivation: Organizing the items in your Bitwarden vault into different folders can help you manage and categorize your stored information more efficiently. This use case allows you to create a new folder within your vault directly from the command line.

Explanation: The command ’echo -n ‘{“name”:“My Folder1”}’ | base64 | bw create folder’ creates a new folder named ‘My Folder1’ in the Bitwarden vault. It utilizes base64 encoding to convert the folder name into the required format expected by the Bitwarden CLI.

Example output:

Folder created successfully.

Conclusion:

The ‘bw’ command provides a convenient way to access and manage your Bitwarden vault from the command line. It allows you to perform tasks such as logging in and out, searching and displaying items, retrieving specific items, and creating folders. By leveraging these use cases, you can efficiently handle your Bitwarden vault actions without relying solely on the Bitwarden web interface.