diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 20d2dc3..4c0b8e3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+- 0.0.19
+	* Passphrase file option to unlock keyfile for CLI tooling
+- 0.0.18
+	* Upgrade hexathon skipping buggy compact hex method
 - 0.0.17
 	* Add loglevel environment variable
 - 0.0.16
diff --git a/chainlib/cli/arg.py b/chainlib/cli/arg.py
index 37ab6cf..7d71bf8 100644
--- a/chainlib/cli/arg.py
+++ b/chainlib/cli/arg.py
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ class ArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
             self.add_argument('--seq', action='store_true', help='Use sequential rpc ids')
         if arg_flags & Flag.KEY_FILE:
             self.add_argument('-y', '--key-file', dest='y', type=str, help='Keystore file to use for signing or address')
+            self.add_argument('--passphrase-file', dest='passphrase_file', type=str, help='File containing passphrase for keystore')
         if arg_flags & Flag.SEND:
             self.add_argument('-s', '--send', dest='s', action='store_true', help='Send to network')
         if arg_flags & Flag.RAW:
diff --git a/chainlib/cli/config.py b/chainlib/cli/config.py
index 2fd2356..e63b632 100644
--- a/chainlib/cli/config.py
+++ b/chainlib/cli/config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import logging
 import os
 import sys
 import re
+import stat
 
 # external imports
 import confini
@@ -213,7 +214,14 @@ class Config(confini.Config):
             args_override['CHAIN_SPEC'] = getattr(args, 'i')
         if arg_flags & Flag.KEY_FILE:
             args_override['WALLET_KEY_FILE'] = getattr(args, 'y')
-       
+            fp = getattr(args, 'passphrase_file')
+            if fp != None:
+                st = os.stat(fp)
+                if stat.S_IMODE(st.st_mode) & (stat.S_IRWXO | stat.S_IRWXG) > 0:
+                    logg.warning('others than owner have access on password file')
+                f = open(fp, 'r')
+                args_override['WALLET_PASSPHRASE'] = f.read()
+                f.close()
         config.dict_override(args_override, 'cli args')
 
         if arg_flags & Flag.PROVIDER:
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 9619b72..e7828ff 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name=chainlib
 license=WTFPL2
 author_email=dev@holbrook.no
 description=Generic blockchain access library and tooling
-version=0.0.18
+version=0.0.19
 url=https://gitlab.com/chaintools/chainlib
 author=Louis Holbrook