Authentication

Learn how to authenticate and manage sessions with Paystack CLI.

Login

The CLI uses your Paystack account credentials for authentication:

paystack-cli login

Login Process

When you run the login command, you'll be prompted for:

1. Email Address - Your Paystack account email
2. Password - Your Paystack account password
3. Remember Email - Option to save your email for faster future logins

$ paystack-cli login
Email address: john@example.com
Password: ********
Remember Email Address? (yes/no): yes

Integration Selection

If your account has multiple integrations (businesses), you'll be prompted to select which one to use:

Select an integration:
1. My Business (test)
2. Another Business (live)

The selected integration will be used for all subsequent API calls.

Session Management

Automatic Session Handling

Once logged in, the CLI automatically manages your session:

• Session tokens are securely stored in a local SQLite database
• Tokens are automatically included in all API requests
• You don't need to manually handle authentication for each command

Session Expiration

Sessions automatically expire after the token timeout period. When your session expires:

ERROR: Your session has expired. Please run the `login` command to sign in again.

Simply run paystack-cli login again to re-authenticate.

Checking Session Status

Your session is automatically validated before each API call. If you're not logged in, you'll see:

ERROR: You're not signed in, please run the login command before you begin

Logout

To clear your session and logout:

paystack-cli logout

This will:

• Remove your authentication token
• Clear the selected integration
• Require you to login again before making API calls

Security

Local Storage

The CLI stores authentication data locally in a SQLite database located at:

<project-root>/app.db

This file contains:

• Your authentication token
• User information
• Selected integration details
• Configuration settings

WARNING

Keep your app.db file secure and never commit it to version control.

Best Practices

1. Use Test Mode - Start with test mode integrations for development
2. Logout When Done - Run logout on shared machines
3. Secure Your Database - Keep app.db file permissions restricted
4. Don't Share Tokens - Never share your authentication token or database file

Switching Integrations

To switch between integrations:

1. Logout from the current session:

   paystack-cli logout

2. Login again and select a different integration:

   paystack-cli login

Troubleshooting

"You're not signed in" Error

Solution: Run the login command first

paystack-cli login

"Session expired" Error

Solution: Your session has timed out, login again

paystack-cli logout
paystack-cli login

Can't Login

Possible causes:

• Incorrect email or password
• Network connectivity issues
• Paystack API is down

Solution: Verify your credentials and try again

Next Steps

• Learn about Configuration options
• Explore available Commands
• Start using the API