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Configuring Your API Key

To use the Seaplane CLI, you need to make sure seaplane knows about your API key. We can do this in a few different ways:

  • Set api_key = "..." in our configuration file
  • Set the SEAPLANE_API_KEY environment variable
  • Use the --api-key CLI flag

The option you choose depends on your specific preferences and needs. Each option has different security and override-ability considerations.

Each of these options overrides any option above. This means if you set an API key in your configuration file, it can be overridden by setting the environment variable or using the command line flag. This is helpful if you need to change your API key for just a few invocations.

We generally recommend using the configuration file when possible.

Storing the API key in the Configuration File​

We can use seaplane account login to store our API key in the configuration file. We could also write the API key to the configuration file manually, but then you have to find the configuration file, make sure it's properly formatted, etc. It's easier to just let Seaplane handle it for you!

You will be prompted to paste your API key, which is stored in the appropriate location of the configuration file.

$ seaplane account login
Enter your API key below.
(hint: it can be found [here](https://share.hsforms.com/1dc59Fr5vTdWIHdhplJl3sw4q18d))

InlifethevisiblesurfaceoftheSpermWhaleisnottheleastamongthemanymarvelshepresents
Successfully saved the API key!

Security of SEAPLANE_API_KEY Environment Variable​

When the seaplane process executes, it's possible for some other processes to see the environment that was given to seaplane. Generally this requires elevated privileges, but that may not always be the case.

Security of --api-key CLI Flag​

Like the environment variable when the seaplane process executes, it's possible for some other processes to see command line flags given to seaplane. Generally this requires elevated privileges, but that may not always be the case.

However, unlike the environment variable, the --api-key flag supports a more secure option of using the value - which means "read the API key from STDIN" which is generally considered secure, and not viewable by other processes on the same system.

For example, if the API key was stored in a file called my_api_key.txt and using the short flag of --api-key of -A:

$ cat my_api_key.txt | seaplane -A-