Hi guys,

I'm trying to set my offlineimap's config file to automatically retrieve my e-mail password from a gpg encrypted file (so I don't have to save it in plaintext) following these instructions from the Arch Wiki.

In order to not having to enter my gpg private passphrase every time offlineimap needs my e-mail password it says I should keep it cached configuring gpg-agent.

Honestly I don't really understand how should I configure the gpg-agent so I'd have to enter the passphrase the little as possible without incurring in a security hole. It is possible to make it not to ask me for the passphrase at all?

It wouldn't be much of a problem for me if someone could physically use my computer with my passphrase cached all the time if that's a concern, but it would be clearly better if it could be cached just for that task and prompted for everything else.

Apart from setting up the cache times in gpg-agent.conf, just make sure GnuPG is actually interfacing the gpg-agent. GnuPG 2 and upper versions does, but the GnuPG 1 branch doesn't. By default git is using the gpg binary, which is GnuPG 1 in original, while GnuPG 2 is installed as gpg2 on almost all systems. Atlast you will be having two options:

1. Either Change the configuration of gpg2 and set the git as under:

git config --global gpg.program gpg2
2. Or set up gpg(GnuPG 1) to use gpg-agent by adding use-agent to gpg.conf

Hopefully it will work.