πŸ›‘οΈ Protocol v1.1 β€’ Updated: September 2026 β€’ Zero-Dependency WebCrypto

When All Your Devices Are Gone, How Do You Recover Your Identity?

ID Recovery Kit is an open-source, cold-start disaster-recovery protocol. It securely encapsulates your password manager emergency tokens, 2SV backup codes, and live TOTP authenticators inside an offline AES-GCM-256 encrypted vault that you can unlock on any borrowed browser using a memorized Diceware passphrase.

AES-GCM-256 Authenticated
600,000 PBKDF2 Rounds
100% Offline in Local RAM
Dead-Drop DNS Fallback
Decrypted In-Memory β€’ Session Ephemeral
Press Escape x3 to Panic Flush
Root of Trust: 1Password Verified
Emergency Account Key
A3-9K2M4-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX Copy
Google 2SV Backup Codes Single-Use
Unused Disaster Tokens
4829 1042 7103 9821 3302 9184
Primary Email TOTP Live WebCrypto
849 201 Refreshes in 18s
Hardware Wallet Seed BIP-39
24-Word Recovery Phrase
witch collapse practice feed shame open...

Two Ways to Build Your Recovery Kit

No repository cloning or developer environment required. Choose the browser GUI or the 1-command automated CLI.

Option B β€’ 1-Command CLI

⚑ Automated Terminal Wizard

Automates encryption, test verification, edge hosting upload, and DNS TXT dead-drop synchronization with zero repository cloning.

npx github:janhrabcak/identity-recovery
  • 1 Zero installation: Runs instantly via npx from GitHub without cloning repo files.
  • 2 Direct edge upload: Publishes directly to Cloudflare Pages edge via Wrangler with zero secrets in Git.
  • 3 Auto DNS sync: Automatically synchronizes your 120s TTL DNS TXT dead-drop via Cloudflare API.
View CLI Reference β†—

How Cold-Start Recovery Works

Engineered for high-stress disaster scenarios when you have zero secondary devices and zero access to your primary email or phone.

1

Assemble in Studio Workspace

Use our air-gapped web studio to configure your password manager tokens, backup codes, and seeds with live terminal preview. All encryption executes strictly in local browser RAM.

2

Memorize 6–8 Words

Choose a Diceware passphrase (minimum 6 words, 8 words recommended for ~80 bits of entropy). Your passphrase is never stored on disk, never sent over a network, and known only to your human memory.

3

Recover Anywhere

In a crisis, borrow any computer or phone worldwide. Access your self-hosted recovery page (or query your DNS dead-drop via DoH), type your 6–8 words, and unlock your identity.

Four Core Security Guarantees

Built from first principles to withstand physical device loss, untrusted public terminals, and hosting censorship.

Zero Runtime Dependencies

Single-file HTML running pure browser WebCrypto. Zero external CDNs, zero NPM packages in production, zero telemetry, and a strict default-src 'none' CSP.

Military-Grade Encryption

PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 with 600,000 iterations (exceeding OWASP recommendations by 300,000 rounds) paired with AES-GCM-256 authenticated encryption.

Dead-Drop DNS Fallback

If your web hosting is blocked or censored, your encrypted vault is queryable as an RFC 1035 DNS TXT record via Cloudflare & Google DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH).

Ephemeral In-Memory Defense

Zero storage persistence (no-store, zero localStorage). Pressing Escape x3 flushes all DOM secrets instantly, and the clipboard auto-scrubs after 45 seconds.

Test Diceware Passphrase Entropy

Estimate brute-force resistance against high-performance GPU clusters when protected by 600,000 rounds of PBKDF2.

Type words separated by spaces:
Word Count
8 words
Entropy Estimate
~103.4 bits
Offline Crack Time
> 100M Years
Security Rating
Extremely Strong

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions regarding threat models, hosting safety, and disaster recovery mechanics.

The recovery client and vault builder are single-file HTML applications executed entirely through browser-native WebCrypto (window.crypto.subtle). All key derivation, encryption, and decryption happen strictly in local RAM without transmitting any data over a network.
Yes. The ciphertext is protected by AES-GCM-256 authenticated encryption and 600,000 PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 iterations. Without your memorized Diceware passphrase (minimum 6 words, 8 words recommended for ~80 bits of entropy), offline brute-force cracking is computationally infeasible even on high-end GPU clusters.
Standard emergency access requires trusted contacts, waiting periods (often 24 to 48 hours), and receiving approval via your primary email accountβ€”which you cannot access if your phone and hardware keys are gone. ID Recovery Kit provides immediate, autonomous cold-start recovery with zero dependencies on third parties.
When web hosting is unavailable or blocked, your encrypted Base64 payload can be published as sequenced RFC 1035 TXT chunks on a DNS subdomain. The client queries anycast DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) resolvers from Cloudflare or Google to reassemble the ciphertext directly in the browser.
All decrypted data resides strictly in ephemeral JavaScript memory (zero localStorage, zero cookies). The client automatically scrubs the system clipboard after 45 seconds, and pressing Escape x3 triggers an instant panic purge that zeroes DOM memory. Once you recover on a safe device, simply rotate your master keys.
No. You can create, test, and deploy your vault with zero git commands and zero terminal usage. Use our In-Browser Vault Studio at /app/ to compile your credentials into an encrypted index.html file, then drag and drop it directly into Cloudflare Pages Direct Upload or Netlify Drop. If you prefer the terminal, you can run the 1-command setup wizard directly via npx github:janhrabcak/identity-recovery with zero repository cloning.

Ready to Secure Your Cold-Start Recovery?

It takes less than 3 minutes to compile an encrypted vault and memorize your Diceware recovery phrase.

πŸš€ Open Vault Studio Workspace View Source on GitHub