Authentication

cakectl needs a StatusCake API token to make requests. You can view and manage your API tokens from the StatusCake account panel.

warning

API tokens must be kept private. In the event that one is exposed a new one should be generated.

There are three ways to supply the token. They are listed here from the least to the most convenient for everyday use.

Using a flag

Terminal

$ cakectl uptime list --api-token "$TOKEN"

This works for a single command, but it is the least safe way: the token is visible to other users of the machine in the list of running processes, and may be saved in your shell history.

Using the environment

Terminal

$ export STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN="$TOKEN"
$ cakectl uptime list

STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN is the variable used by the other StatusCake tools, so one variable can serve the CLI, and the Terraform provider, and the MCP server. This is the right choice in a script or a CI job, where the token should come from your secret store.

Saving the token

On your own machine, save the token once and forget about it.

Terminal

$ cakectl auth login --api-token "$TOKEN"

To keep the token out of your shell history, pipe it in instead:

Terminal

$ echo "$TOKEN" | cakectl auth login

The token is stored in ~/.config/statuscake/cakectl.yaml, a file only your user can read.

Which one wins

If more than one is supplied, a flag wins over the environment, and the environment wins over the saved token. This means you can temporarily act as a different account without altering what you saved:

Terminal

$ STATUSCAKE_API_TOKEN="$OTHER_TOKEN" cakectl uptime list

If no token can be found, cakectl stops and says how to supply one.

Next Steps

Learn about the other settings cakectl has.