boltgolt/howdy
🛡️ Windows Hello™ style facial authentication for Linux observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
38/100
- Activity 34
- Release rhythm 8
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 3163
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 400
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
7738 stars · 407 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
Howdy provides Windows Hello-style facial authentication for Linux using IR emitters and a camera with facial recognition. It integrates with PAM so face login works everywhere a password would: login screen, lock screen, sudo, and su.
Use cases
- unlock my linux laptop with my face like windows hello
- use face recognition for sudo authentication
- log in to my linux desktop with an infrared camera
- replace password prompts with facial authentication on ubuntu
- set up face unlock on fedora or arch linux
- authenticate the lock screen with my webcam
When to choose
- you have a laptop with an IR camera and Windows Hello-style sensors
- you want system-wide PAM-based face authentication on a supported distro
- you prefer biometric login over typing passwords for sudo and lock screens
When to avoid
- your machine lacks an IR camera or compatible webcam
- you need strong security guarantees, since face recognition is weaker than passwords
- you run a distro without packaging support or with retired Python 2 dependencies
Facets
application · maturity active
auth computer-vision security security operating-systems computer-vision python facial-authentication pam-module windows-hello ir-camera biometrics linux
2 sources
- readme: https://github.com/boltgolt/howdy · fetched 2026-08-28 · 678b9625dd95
- registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/howdy/json · fetched 2026-08-29 · cff810394e1a
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| boltgolt/howdy | main | 38 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem