Bitwarden CLI

Set up and use Bitwarden CLI (bw). Use when installing the CLI, authenticating (login/unlock), or reading secrets from your vault. Supports email/password, API key, and SSO authentication methods.

Bitwarden CLI Skill

The Bitwarden command-line interface (CLI) provides full access to your Bitwarden vault for retrieving passwords, secure notes, and other secrets programmatically.

Workflow Requirements

CRITICAL: Always run bw commands inside a dedicated tmux session. The CLI requires a session key (BW_SESSION) for all vault operations after authentication. A tmux session preserves this environment variable across commands.

Required Workflow

1. Verify CLI installation: Run bw --version to confirm the CLI is available
2. Create a dedicated tmux session: tmux new-session -d -s bw-session
3. Attach and authenticate: Run bw login or bw unlock inside the session
4. Export session key: After unlock, export BW_SESSION as instructed by the CLI
5. Execute vault commands: Use bw get, bw list, etc. within the same session

Authentication Methods

Method	Command	Use Case
Email/Password	bw login	Interactive sessions, first-time setup
API Key	bw login --apikey	Automation, scripts (requires separate unlock)
SSO	bw login --sso	Enterprise/organization accounts

After bw login with email/password, your vault is automatically unlocked. For API key or SSO login, you must subsequently run bw unlock to decrypt the vault.

Session Key Management

The unlock command outputs a session key. You must export it:

bash

# Bash/Zsh
export BW_SESSION="<session_key_from_unlock>"

# Or capture automatically
export BW_SESSION=$(bw unlock --raw)

Session keys remain valid until you run bw lock or bw logout. They do not persist across terminal windows—hence the tmux requirement.

Reading Secrets

bash

# Get password by item name
bw get password "GitHub"

# Get username
bw get username "GitHub"

# Get TOTP code
bw get totp "GitHub"

# Get full item as JSON
bw get item "GitHub"

# Get specific field
bw get item "GitHub" | jq -r '.fields[] | select(.name=="api_key") | .value'

# List all items
bw list items

# Search items
bw list items --search "github"

Security Guardrails

• NEVER expose secrets in logs, code, or command output visible to users
• NEVER write secrets to disk unless absolutely necessary
• ALWAYS use bw lock when finished with vault operations
• PREFER reading secrets directly into environment variables or piping to commands
• If you receive "Vault is locked" errors, re-authenticate with bw unlock
• If you receive "You are not logged in" errors, run bw login first
• Stop and request assistance if tmux is unavailable on the system

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
BW_SESSION	Session key for vault decryption (required for all vault commands)
BW_CLIENTID	API key client ID (for --apikey login)
BW_CLIENTSECRET	API key client secret (for --apikey login)
BITWARDENCLI_APPDATA_DIR	Custom config directory (enables multi-account setups)

Self-Hosted Servers

For Vaultwarden or self-hosted Bitwarden:

bash

bw config server https://your-bitwarden-server.com

Reference Documentation

• Get Started Guide - Installation and initial setup
• CLI Examples - Common usage patterns and advanced operations