The CLI authenticates against authenticated Paubox endpoints (such as the Paubox Email API) using your API key and endpoint username. Run paubox auth login once and your credentials are stored securely; you won’t need to pass them on every command.
To get your API key and endpoint username, go to Paubox Email API > Settings or follow the Quickstart guide.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|
paubox auth login | Prompt for API username and key, validate, and store credentials |
paubox auth logout | Remove stored credentials |
paubox auth status | Show whether credentials are currently stored |
auth login
? Paubox API username: your_endpoint_username
? Paubox API key: ********************************
✓ Credentials verified and saved.
auth logout
This removes the stored API key and username from wherever they were saved (keychain or config file).
auth status
✓ Logged in as your_endpoint_username
✗ Not logged in. Run `paubox auth login` to authenticate.
Where credentials are stored
| Platform | Storage location |
|---|
| macOS | macOS Keychain |
| Windows | Windows Credential Vault |
| Linux (with libsecret) | Secret Service (GNOME Keyring / KWallet) |
| Linux (without libsecret) | ~/.config/paubox/config.json with 0600 permissions |
If your system falls back to file-based storage, never commit ~/.config/paubox/config.json to source control. Add it to your .gitignore if your home directory is under version control.
In CI environments, set credentials via environment variables instead of running auth login. The CLI reads PAUBOX_API_KEY and PAUBOX_API_USERNAME if present, and these take precedence over stored credentials.
paubox forms get and paubox forms submit call public Paubox Forms endpoints and do not require paubox auth login.
