ASCII armor
The difference between a file you can paste into chat and one you cannot. ASCII armor encodes an age file as printable text between BEGIN/END markers; binary output is smaller but not text-safe.
ASCII armor is a base64 text encoding of an age file, wrapped in -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE----- markers, so it can pass through systems that only handle text.
What it is
age can emit either raw binary or an armored text block. The contents are identical: armor just base64-encodes the binary and adds header lines. The CLI flag is -a/--armor.
Why it matters
Armor is about 33% larger but survives email bodies, chat messages, and copy-paste. Binary is the right choice for large files and storage. AgePony reads both automatically and lets you choose the output form.
Related terms
Common questions
Which should I use?
Armor for text channels like email and chat; binary for large files and storage.
Are they interchangeable?
Yes. Same ciphertext, different envelope. Any age tool reads either.
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