Signing In and access

What you’ll learn

How to sign in with your browser or with an organisation API key
How to check who you are signed in as
How to test your connection
How to sign out
Where your sign-in is stored

Method	Command	Best for
Browser sign-in	`boldcreate login`	Most people
Organisation API key	`boldcreate login --api-key`	Organisations that issue API keys
Environment variables	Set `BOLDCREATE_CLIENT_ID` and `BOLDCREATE_CLIENT_SECRET`, or `BOLDCREATE_TOKEN`	Scripts and automated builds. See Print mode and automation.

If more than one is set up, BoldCreate uses the first one it finds in this order:

Environment variables
A saved API key
Your browser sign-in

Signs you in through your web browser.

Syntax

boldcreate login

Steps

Run boldcreate login. The terminal shows:

Signing in to BoldCreate (production)…

Your browser opens the sign-in page. Sign in.
The browser shows Signed in to BoldCreate and “You can close this tab and return to the terminal.”

The terminal shows:

Signed in as Jane Doe <[email protected]> (production).

If the browser does not open

The terminal prints a link:

Open this URL in a browser on this machine to sign in:
  https://identity.boldcreate.com/...

Copy the link and open it in a browser on the same computer. The sign-in finishes in the terminal by itself.

Limits

You have 5 minutes to finish signing in. After that you see boldcreate: timed out after 300 s waiting for the browser. Run boldcreate login again.
Press Ctrl+C to cancel. You see boldcreate: sign-in cancelled.

Note: The browser must run on the same computer as BoldCreate. On a remote computer, for example over SSH, use an API key instead.

Note: You stay signed in. Your sign-in renews itself in the background while you work.

Common mistakes

Mistake	What to do
Opening the link on your phone or another computer	Open it in a browser on the computer where you ran `boldcreate login`.
Closing the browser before signing in	Run `boldcreate login` again.

Saves an organisation API key. An API key has two parts: a client ID (it starts with key_) and a secret.

Syntax

boldcreate login --api-key

Steps

Run boldcreate login --api-key.
At API key client id (key_…):, paste the client ID and press Enter.
At API key secret:, paste the secret and press Enter. Nothing appears on screen while you type the secret. This is normal.

You see:

Saved to /Users/you/.boldcreate/credentials.json (gateway https://api.boldcreate.com). Check it with: boldcreate status --check

Common mistakes

Mistake	Message
Pressing Enter without a client ID	`boldcreate: a client id is required`
Pressing Enter without a secret	`boldcreate: a client secret is required`
Entering an incorrect client ID or secret	`boldcreate status --check --model <MODEL_ID>` reports `Your credentials were rejected.` Check that both values match the ones provided by your administrator, including uppercase and lowercase letters.

Note: With an API key, the model list is not available. Pass a model ID with --model or set defaultModel in your settings. See Configuration.

Tip: A saved API key is used before your browser sign-in. To go back to the browser sign-in, run boldcreate logout --api-key.

Signing in from inside the chat

If you start boldcreate and you are not signed in, a box opens in the chat:

Sign in to BoldCreate (production)

→ Sign in with browser
  Use an API key

↑↓ navigate  enter select  escape cancel

Choose with the arrow keys and press Enter. You can also open this box at any time with the /login command.

Shows your account, where BoldCreate connects, and your default model.

Syntax

boldcreate status [--check] [--model ID]

Flag	What it does
`--check`	Also sends one tiny request to test that your sign-in works. Needs a model.
`--model ID`	The model to test with `--check`.

Example

boldcreate status

environment production  (build default)
identity    https://identity.boldcreate.com
gateway     https://api.boldcreate.com
account     Jane Doe <[email protected]>  (browser sign-in (production))
token       valid for 29 min, refreshes automatically
model       none (pass --model or set defaultModel)
store       /Users/jane/.boldcreate/agent.db

Line	Meaning
`account`	Who you are signed in as, and how. Shows `not signed in — run: boldcreate login` if you are not signed in.
`token`	Shown for browser sign-in only. It renews automatically.
`model`	Your default model, if you set one.
`store`	The file where your conversations are saved.

Test your connection

boldcreate status --check --model <MODEL_ID>

On success, the last line is:

✓ the gateway accepted the credentials (412 ms)

On failure, you see ✗ and a hint:

Code	Hint shown	What it means
401	Your credentials were rejected. Run: `boldcreate login`	Your sign-in is no longer valid.
402	No active subscription or credits for this account.	Your account has no active plan or credits.
403	Your organisation does not allow IDE/CLI access.	Your organisation has turned off CLI access.
403	An API key needs the `llm:invoke` scope for local runs.	Your API key is missing a permission. Ask your administrator.
429	Rate limited or over budget; try again shortly.	Too many requests, or over budget. Wait and try again.

If BoldCreate cannot connect at all, you see ✗ could not reach the gateway: <reason>. Check your internet connection or proxy.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Message
`--check` without a model	`--check needs a model: pass --model or set defaultModel.`
Not signed in	`account` shows `not signed in — run: boldcreate login`.

Sign out

Signs you out on this computer.

Syntax

boldcreate logout [--api-key]

Flag	What it does
(none)	Signs out of your browser sign-in.
`--api-key`	Removes the saved API key instead.

Examples

boldcreate logout

Signed out of production.

If you were not signed in:

Not signed in to production.

Remove a saved API key:

boldcreate logout --api-key

Removed /Users/you/.boldcreate/credentials.json.

If there was no saved key: No saved API key.

Inside the chat, the /logout command signs you out too.

What	macOS	Windows
Browser sign-in (encrypted)	`~/.boldcreate/session-production.bin`	`%USERPROFILE%\.boldcreate\session-production.bin`
Key that unlocks it	macOS Keychain	Protected by Windows for your user only, next to the sign-in file
Saved API key	`~/.boldcreate/credentials.json`	`%USERPROFILE%\.boldcreate\credentials.json`

Your browser sign-in is never saved as plain text. If your computer has no key store available, the sign-in is kept only until BoldCreate exits, and you see:

Note: no OS key store, so this sign-in is not saved.

What you’ll learn

Ways to sign in

Sign in with a browser

Sign in with an API key

Signing in from inside the chat

Check your sign-in and connection

Test your connection

Sign out

Where your sign-in is stored