Authentication

Every command authenticates with a BCTRL API key, supplied either through an interactive login or the BCTRL_API_KEY environment variable.

Local login

$
bctrl auth login

This stores your key locally so later commands run without passing it each time.

Check which key is active and which account it resolves to:

$
bctrl auth status
$
bctrl auth status --json

Clear the stored credentials when you are done:

$
bctrl auth logout

CI and agents

For automation, set the key in the environment rather than logging in:

$
export BCTRL_API_KEY="bctrl_..."
$
bctrl auth status --json

BCTRL_API_KEY overrides any stored credentials, so a CI or agent run always uses the key you handed it.

Printing the active token

bctrl auth token prints the key in use. It refuses to write to an interactive terminal unless you pass --reveal, which keeps the key out of your scrollback by default:

$
bctrl auth token --reveal

In a script, pipe stdout to the consumer instead:

$
bctrl auth token | some-script

Reach for this only when a tool needs the raw key. Prefer driving BCTRL through the CLI rather than extracting the token.

Development API URL

The CLI talks to https://api.bctrl.ai/v1 by default. Point it at a local or staging stack with BCTRL_API_URL:

$
BCTRL_API_URL=http://localhost:8787/v1 bctrl auth status

Most users never need this.