Items and history
Paw stores items as individual encrypted files inside your local vault.
Supported item types
| Item type | Stored data | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Login | Username, password, website URL, TOTP authenticator key, notes | Supports file attachments |
| Password | Standalone password, notes | |
| Secure note | Multiline text notes | Supports file attachments |
| SSH key | Public key, private key, optional passphrase, comment | Ed25519 and RSA |
SSH keys
Paw can generate new Ed25519 SSH keys or import existing keys in OpenSSH or PEM format (both Ed25519 and RSA are supported).
- Desktop app: In the SSH key editor, select Import to load a private key file. If the key is protected with a passphrase, Paw prompts for it. Use the action buttons to export the public (
.pub) or private (.key) file. - CLI: Import an existing key when creating an item with the
--inputflag:paw cli add --input ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 Personal/ssh_key/server
When you unlock a vault, Paw automatically loads all of its SSH keys into the background agent. See the SSH agent documentation.
Item history
Whenever you edit and save an existing item, Paw automatically records a revision in that item’s history.
- Paw keeps up to 10 earlier revisions per item.
- Revisions are included in
.paw,.cxf, and.cxf.ageexport formats. - Restoring an earlier revision preserves the current version as a new historical snapshot before replacing it, so no data is lost.
View and restore history in the desktop app
- Open the item details view.
- Select History in the top bar.
- Select an earlier revision from the list to view its contents.
- Select Restore to replace the current item with the selected revision.
View and restore history from the CLI
List revisions:
paw cli history list <VAULT/TYPE/NAME>Revision index
0represents the most recent past version.Inspect a revision:
paw cli history show <VAULT/TYPE/NAME> <INDEX>Restore a revision:
paw cli history restore <VAULT/TYPE/NAME> <INDEX>Paw asks for confirmation before completing the restore operation.