openide/platform/credential-store

IntelliJ Platform Credentials Store API allows you to securely store sensitive user data.

Previously known as Password Safe, it is still named so for users, but internally and for developers was renamed asCredentials Store since IntelliJ Platform 2016.3.

Where Data is Stored

MacOS: Keychain (using Security Framework).

Linux: Secret Service API (using libsecret).

Windows: file in the KeePass format (key encrypted using Crypt32 API).

Glossary

Service name

The combined name of your service and name of service that requires authentication.

• In the reverse-DNS format: com.apple.facetime: registrationV1.
• Or in the prefixed human-readable format: IntelliJ Platform Setttings Repository — github.com, where IntelliJ Platform is a required prefix. You must always use this prefix.

Credentials

Pair of user and password. user may be an account name (e.g. john) or a path to SSH key file (e.g. /Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa).

Credential Attributes

Attributes of credentials — service name and user name. Can be another attributes, depends on implementation (e.g. requestor). Only platform can define and use additional attributes.

How to Store and Retrieve Credentials

You should store user as user and password as password. Not service name as user and joined user&password as password – as it was before IntelliJ Platform 2016.3.

API allows you to get credentials only by service name.

See CredentialStore. API has two methods:

• get: Pass service name and user name. Or only service name — in this case first matched entry will be returned.
• set: Pass credentials attributes and credentials.