decrypt(1)

NAME
decrypt - Decrypts a message

SYNOPSIS
decrypt [-o|--output] [-n|--signatures] [--signer-cert] [--recipient-key] [--private-key-store] [--dump-session-key] [--session-key] [--dump] [-x|--hex] [-h|--help] [FILE]

DESCRIPTION
Decrypts a message

Decrypts a message using either supplied keys, or by prompting for a password. If message tampering is detected, an error is returned. See below for details.

If certificates are supplied using the "--signer-cert" option, any signatures that are found are checked using these certificates. Verification is only successful if there is no bad signature, and the number of successfully verified signatures reaches the threshold configured with the "--signatures" parameter.

If the signature verification fails, or if message tampering is detected, the program terminates with an exit status indicating failure. In addition to that, the last 25 MiB of the message are withheld, i.e. if the message is smaller than 25 MiB, no output is produced, and if it is larger, then the output will be truncated.

The converse operation is "sq encrypt".

OPTIONS

-o, --output=FILE
    Writes to FILE or stdout if omitted

-n, --signatures=N
    Sets the threshold of valid signatures to N. The message will only be considered verified if this threshold is reached. [default: 1 if at least one signer cert file is given, 0 otherwise]

--signer-cert=CERT
    Verifies signatures with CERT

--recipient-key=KEY
    Decrypts with KEY

--private-key-store=KEY_STORE
    Provides parameters for private key store

--dump-session-key
    Prints the session key to stderr

--session-key=SESSION-KEY
    Decrypts an encrypted message using SESSION-KEY

--dump
    Prints a packet dump to stderr

-x, --hex
    Prints a hexdump (implies --dump)

-h, --help
    Print help information

[FILE]
    Reads from FILE or stdin if omitted

EXAMPLES
 Decrypt a file using a secret key

     sq decrypt --recipient-key juliet.pgp ciphertext.pgp

 Decrypt a file verifying signatures

     sq decrypt --recipient-key juliet.pgp --signer-cert romeo.pgp ciphertext.pgp

 Decrypt a file using a password

     sq decrypt ciphertext.pgp

SEE ALSO
For the full documentation see <https://docs.sequoia-pgp.org/sq/>.

sq(1) sq-armor(1) sq-autocrypt(1) sq-certify(1) sq-dearmor(1) sq-encrypt(1) sq-inspect(1) sq-key(1) sq-keyring(1) sq-keyserver(1) sq-packet(1) sq-revoke(1) sq-sign(1) sq-verify(1) sq-wkd(1)