Option to import/export from/to a plain text file with a list of otpauth URIs

[timkgh]

Option to import/export from/to a plain text file with a list of otpauth URIs. Take a look at Aegis. Thank you.

[robsonsobral]

Given that Authy will shut down its desktop app in August 2024 , the window to migrate will close soon.

[timkgh]

Given that Authy will shut down its desktop app in August 2024 , the window to migrate will close soon.

You can use https://github.com/alexzorin/authy or https://github.com/jmhobbs/authy-cli or other similar tools, you do not need to rely on the desktop app workarounds.

[robsonsobral]

Thank you, @timkgh, but Authy is banning accounts from unofficial clients.

Thank you!

[timkgh]

I didn't know, thank you for pointing it out. Everyone should rush and get a copy of their secrets, even if they continue to use the Authy apps. For new entries, also add it to another alternate app.

[impredicative]

How am I supposed to import into 2fas the export of alexzorin/authy?

[timkgh]

How am I supposed to import into 2fas the export of alexzorin/authy?

A few options:

• (fastest but Android only) you can import the list into Aegis, export in Aegis format from there and then import into 2FAS. Aegis may not be a bad app to just use or keep around as a backup anyway (I use both Aegis and 2FAS).
• manually import secret by secret (works if you don't have too many)
• use another tool to generate QR codes from the exported URIs and scan them into 2FAS (do not use a web tool, if you care about security, never know where your secrets end up). Some examples: qrencode, qrcode and I'm sure there are GUI apps out there for various OSes.

[impredicative]

you can import the list into Aegis, export in Aegis format from there and then import into 2FAS.

If Aegis supports both an import and an export, then why do I need 2fas? I could then just use Aegis.

[impredicative]

you can import the list into Aegis, export in Aegis format from there and then import into 2FAS.

I just realized that in the 2fas app, I can import the output of alexzorin/authy as "Authenticator Pro". This worked fine except for some accounts that were using an old "@protonmail.ch" email address. I then manually reviewed (and edited as needed) all entries now to ensure everything was correct.

[KobeW50]

Similar to #88

[mr-september]

you can import the list into Aegis, export in Aegis format from there and then import into 2FAS.

I just realized that in the 2fas app, I can import the output of alexzorin/authy as "Authenticator Pro". This worked fine except for some accounts that were using an old "@protonmail.ch" email address. I then manually reviewed (and edited as needed) all entries now to ensure everything was correct.

Could you please explain further? The output I get from alexzorin/authy is a .json file. 2FAS import from Authenticator Pro expects a .txt file. If I simply re-name the .json to .txt, that does not work. No errors pop up, but also no tokens get imported.

[timkgh]

Export in Key URI Format, not JSON. It's just a plain text file with 1 URI per line. https://github.com/alexzorin/authy?tab=readme-ov-file#applications Your file should look like a bunch of lines similar to this:

otpauth://totp/Example:alice@google.com?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&issuer=Example
otpauth://totp/Example:bob@google.com?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&issuer=Google
...

[mr-september]

Thanks, I just realized that I was following a different guide back when I did the export (it was using some browser dev tools). The drawback of alexzorin/authy is the lack of pre-compiled Windows release. It's not trivial for most users to "just" compile it from source.

At this stage I think it's easier to ask chatgpt to generate a .json to URI python script. It is a little strange how much 2FAS devs are dragging their feet on this seemingly trivial compatibility feature.

[impredicative]

The drawback of alexzorin/authy is the lack of pre-compiled Windows release.

One can run it on a Linux VM.

[mr-september]

That's still a lot of hassle. Here's a working python script for real users:

import json

def convert_json_to_uri(input_file, output_file):
    # Read the JSON file
    with open(input_file, 'r') as file:
        data = json.load(file)

    # Extract the 'totp' values
    totp_values = [item['login']['totp'] for item in data['items'] if 'login' in item and 'totp' in item['login']]

    # Write the 'totp' values to a new line in the output text file
    with open(output_file, 'w') as file:
        for totp in totp_values:
            file.write(totp + '\n')

# Example usage in Windows
input_path = r'D:\OneDrive\Desktop\input.json'
output_path = r'D:\OneDrive\Desktop\output.txt'

convert_json_to_uri(input_path, output_path)

Just change your paths and click "Run" in VSCode or whatever.

EDIT: Just confirmed that it works with the Authenticator Pro import route, as discussed above.