Can we get a better HTTP Basic Auth experience?

dmiwyatt
dmiwyatt
Community Member
edited January 2023 in 1Password in the Browser

I realize this has been asked a few times over the years, but I wanted to bring up something that I haven't seen (but I've probably just missed someone talking about it).

I'm currently trialing 1Password. I've been using KeePass for years. KeePass handles HTTP basic auth way better than 1Password!

As a Windows application it can detect the current URL and send the correct keystrokes to fill out the HTTP Basic Auth credentials. Since 1Password has a Windows app, it should be able to do the same. The browser extension does not need to be involved.

To be clear, here's the workflow with KeePass:

  1. Click one of my dozens of bookmarks to a HTTP Basic Auth sites (system administration is fun...right?).
  2. Press KeePass autofill hotkey.
  3. Profit.

Here's my workflow with 1Password in Firefox:

  1. Click one of my dozens of bookmarks to a HTTP Basic Auth sites.
  2. Click the 1password extension icon.
  3. Search for the site.
  4. Click "open & fill"
  5. See that the new tab isn't loading anything because previous tab with basic auth credentials prompt is still open (thanks firefox).
  6. Click back to the original tab with the still-open basic auth credentials prompt.
  7. Cancel the basic auth cred prompt.
  8. Close the tab.
  9. Finally back on the correct tab and site and logged in.

As you can see, the KeePass method works way better! You could argue that "I'm doing it wrong" by clicking on the bookmark to a site instead of starting from the 1Password extension, but I think I'd disagree. Bookmarks are the way of accessing saved sites, and you're asking me to remember which sites out of the very many I access on a regular basis use basic auth and which do not.

So, all of this is to say that the desktop app should be able to work like KeePass (plus the WebAutoFill plugin, which I think might be required for this functionality?) in this regard. I haven't looked at the KeePass code, but I imagine it's using some accessibility API to inspect the current URL in the browser...

Granted, this might be harder if the 1Password app is Electron or some other JS-as-desktop-app technology that doesn't expose access to native OS functionality.

1Password Version: 8.9.10
Extension Version: 2.5.1
OS Version: Windows 10
Browser:_ Firefox

Comments

  • paul.m_1p
    paul.m_1p
    1Password Alumni

    Hey @dmiwyatt Big thanks for taking the time to share all these details with us. 🙂

    It sounds like you use HTTP Basic Auth often enough that the current workflow with 1Password isn't ideal for you, and I'm sorry for the trouble you've seen.

    Based on the flow you described with 1Password, something doesn't seem right. If you are on the site, and the HTTP Basic Auth prompt is shown, when you click the 1Password extension icon the relevant login item should already be suggested, and the button should say 'Autofill' and not 'Open & Fill'. So based on this, the 1Password login item might not have the URL saved in it properly.

    Could you try saving the URL for the Basic Auth site into your 1Password item and trying again?

    Here is a test you can do (on our testing site) to confirm if it works:

    1. Click the 1Password icon in your browser's toolbar and select New Item > Login.
    2. Add the URL https://basic.fill.dev to the item
    3. Enter test as the username, and autofill as the password.
    4. Navigate to this link -> https://basic.fill.dev
    5. Left click the 1Password icon in the toolbar, and click 'Autofill'.

    Here is a video of my test after creating the item for you to compare with -> https://share.cleanshot.com/KJ5pMWJ3

    Let me know how things go!

This discussion has been closed.