Pkeygen Apr 2026

The JSON interface is modern, the output is predictable, and the learning curve is shallow. Next time you find yourself writing a bash script to feed gpg --batch with a heredoc full of magic strings, stop. Reach for pkeygen .

I’d love to hear about your workflows. Drop a comment below or ping me on the OpenPGP mailing list. Want to dive deeper? Check out the official RNP documentation or explore the pkeygen man page ( man pkeygen ).

%echo Generating a default key Key-Type: RSA Key-Length: 3072 Subkey-Type: RSA Subkey-Length: 3072 Name-Real: Joe Tester Name-Comment: Automation Name-Email: joe@example.com Expire-Date: 0 %commit

$ pkeygen --version rnp 0.17.0 Create a file called key-config.json : pkeygen

It is part of the suite (which also includes rnpgpg , rnpkeys , and rpki ). RNP aims to be a high-performance, easy-to-integrate OpenPGP library used by projects like Mozilla Thunderbird and ProtonMail Bridge .

{ "params": [ { "type": "EDDSA", "curve": "Ed25519" } ], "userid": "DevOps Bot <ci@example.com>" } Then run:

rnpkeys --export --armor --output my-pubkey.asc The real power of pkeygen is defining multiple subkeys for different purposes (authentication, encryption, signing). Here’s a production-ready config: The JSON interface is modern, the output is

pkeygen --config key-config.json --output public-key.gpg --public You’ll get a binary OpenPGP keyring. Convert it to ASCII armor if needed:

The key takeaway: pkeygen is for automation, CI/CD pipelines, and anyone who hates answering “Real name:” and “Email:” a hundred times. GnuPG does have a batch mode, but its configuration syntax is arcane. Compare this:

Enter — a utility often bundled with OpenPGP implementations like rnp (RNC’s OpenPGP implementation) and sometimes found in gpg as an undocumented subcommand. While it’s not as famous as its gpg cousin, pkeygen offers a refreshing, JSON-driven approach to key creation. I’d love to hear about your workflows

When most people think about creating PGP keys, they immediately type gpg --full-generate-key . It’s the standard. But what if I told you there’s a leaner, more scriptable, and arguably more transparent way to generate the same keys?

pkeygen --config key-config.json --output my-private-key.gpg To generate a public key only (for distribution):