1Password CLI

Use the 1Password CLI (op) to fetch and manage secrets without exposing them in plain text.

Fetching Secrets

Ask the user for their 1Password secret reference (right-click field in 1Password → "Copy Secret Reference"):

# Read a secret value
op read "op://Vault/Item/field"

# Use in a command (secret never shown in shell history)
some-cli --token "$(op read 'op://Vault/Item/api-key')"

# Use as environment variable
export API_KEY="$(op read 'op://Vault/Item/api-key')"

Common Patterns

# CLI auth
toggl auth "$(op read 'op://Employee/Toggl/api key')"
gh auth login --with-token < <(op read 'op://Personal/GitHub/token')

# Docker login
docker login -u $(op read op://Vault/Docker/username) -p $(op read op://Vault/Docker/password)

Reference Format

op://vault-name/item-name/field-name
op://vault-name/item-name/section-name/field-name

Special fields:

op read "op://Vault/Item/one-time password?attribute=otp"      # TOTP
op read "op://Vault/Item/private key?ssh-format=openssh"        # SSH key

Creating Items

Field Type Syntax

"Field Name[text]=value"        # Plain text (visible)
"Field Name[concealed]=value"   # Password/secret (hidden)
"Field Name[url]=https://..."   # Clickable URL
"Field Name[delete]"            # Remove a field

Default (no suffix) = concealed. Always be explicit about field types.

Principles

1. Only conceal actual secrets — passwords, API keys, tokens. URLs, usernames, client IDs, hostnames, ports, and other non-sensitive identifiers must use [text] or [url]. If someone would read it aloud in a meeting, it's not a secret.
2. Use clear, descriptive field names — Match the source terminology
3. Include context — Add account info, notes, and details
4. Clean up template cruft — Remove or set default fields from templates

OAuth API Credential

op item create --category="API Credential" --title="Service Name - App Name" --vault="VaultName" \
  "Client ID[text]=ABC123" \
  "Client Secret[concealed]=secret-value-here" \
  "Account[text]=user@example.com" \
  "Redirect URL[text]=http://localhost:8080" \
  "Authorization URL[text]=https://service.com/oauth2/authorize" \
  "Token Request URL[text]=https://api.service.com/oauth2/token" \
  "Developer Portal[url]=https://developer.service.com" \
  "notesPlain=Context about this credential and any gotchas."

Simple API Key

op item create --category="API Credential" --title="Service Name API" --vault="VaultName" \
  "API Key[concealed]=sk-xxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  "Account[text]=user@example.com" \
  "Documentation[url]=https://docs.service.com/api" \
  "notesPlain=Used for X purpose. Rate limit: 1000/day."

Database Credential

op item create --category="Database" --title="Production DB - ServiceName" --vault="VaultName" \
  "type[text]=postgresql" \
  "server[text]=db.example.com" \
  "port[text]=5432" \
  "database[text]=myapp_production" \
  "username[text]=app_user" \
  "password[concealed]=secret-password" \
  "notesPlain=Read replica. Primary is on port 5433."

Editing Existing Items

When adding fields to existing items with op item edit, the same type rules apply — always specify the field type explicitly:

# WRONG — defaults to concealed, hides the URL and username
op item edit "My Item" "Section.URL=https://example.com" "Section.username=admin"

# RIGHT — only the password is concealed
op item edit "My Item" "Section.URL[url]=https://example.com" "Section.username[text]=admin" "Section.password[concealed]=secret"

Handling Template Fields

Some categories add default fields like valid from and expires set to epoch 0.

# Delete if not applicable
op item edit "Item Name" --vault="VaultName" "valid from[delete]" "expires[delete]"

# Set if applicable
op item edit "Item Name" --vault="VaultName" "valid from=2026-01-27" "expires=2027-01-27"

Field Naming

Bad	Good
credential	Client ID
token_uri	Token Request URL
secret	Client Secret or API Key

Match the terminology from the service's docs.

Prerequisites

• 1Password app installed with CLI integration enabled
• User signed in (op signin if not authenticated)
• Check vaults: op vault list
• Docs: https://developer.1password.com/docs/cli