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Keychain credential storage

gcx stores token-shaped credentials in the operating system credential store. It uses Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, and Secret Service on Linux and BSD. The YAML file contains a reference to the stored credential.

The reference is bound to these values:

  • The canonical configuration file path.
  • The owner type and owner name.
  • The credential field.
  • The normalized credential destination.

A copied configuration file cannot use the stored credential. Authenticate the copied file separately.

Plaintext fallback

gcx can keep a new credential in a mode-0600 configuration file when no credential store is available. gcx writes a warning when it does this.

gcx does not use plaintext fallback for these conditions:

  • A locked credential store.
  • A replacement or deletion of an existing credential.
  • A missing or rejected credential reference.
  • A value that is too large for the credential store.
  • An unknown credential store error.

Keychain locked

This error means that macOS Keychain or a Linux or BSD Secret Service is available, but gcx cannot unlock it in the current session. gcx stops commands that need the credential. It does not use or write a plaintext credential. Configuration inspection and repair commands remain available.

Windows Credential Manager lock failures are not in this error class.

You can supply a credential with an environment variable when you cannot unlock the credential store. For example, you can use GRAFANA_TOKEN.

Unlock macOS Keychain

Unlock the login keychain in the same security session that runs gcx. An unlock in a different terminal or process tree might not apply to the gcx process.

Run this command in the gcx session:

shell 
security unlock-keychain

The command asks for the keychain password. Do not use the -p option. This option exposes the password in the process arguments.

Run the gcx command again after the unlock. If gcx still cannot use the keychain, run gcx from an unlocked desktop session.

Unlock a GNOME keyring in a headless session

A headless or SSH session might not have an agent that can answer the unlock prompt. First, read the lock state:

shell 
busctl --user get-property org.freedesktop.secrets \
  /org/freedesktop/secrets/collection/login \
  org.freedesktop.Secret.Collection Locked

b true means that the collection is locked.

gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock reads the password from standard input. It does not show a prompt. The --daemonize option creates a child process, so a password that you type does not reach that process. A trailing newline also prevents the unlock. Use this procedure:

shell 
stty -echo; printf 'Keyring password: '; read -r PW; stty echo; echo
printf '%s' "$PW" | gnome-keyring-daemon --replace --daemonize --unlock
unset PW

Read the lock state again. b false means that the collection is unlocked.

If the state does not change, a service manager might own the org.freedesktop.secrets name. Stop the service, and run the unlock procedure again:

shell 
systemctl --user stop gnome-keyring-daemon.service gnome-keyring-daemon.socket

A credential was rejected before network use

This error means that gcx did not send the credential. The error can have one of these causes:

  • The keychain reference is missing or belongs to a different source.
  • The credential destination changed.
  • The keychain is locked.
  • An environment credential is paired with an automatically discovered repository destination.

If the keychain is locked, gcx shows the Keychain locked error and the procedures on this page apply.

For another cause, review the file and run the exact repair command from the error. You can use gcx config edit user or gcx config edit --config "<path>" when the error gives that command. Then, re-authenticate, replace the field, or unset the field.

An explicit configuration path does not make a missing, foreign, or destination-mismatched keychain reference valid.