How to Set Up Authentication

Configure your Torc credentials so that CLI commands authenticate automatically.

Prerequisites

Your server administrator must have enabled authentication on the Torc server. If you receive "Authentication required" errors, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Generate a Password Hash

Run torc-htpasswd hash on your machine. It prompts for your password securely (nothing appears on screen):

torc-htpasswd hash

Password for 'alice':
Confirm password for 'alice':
Hashing password (cost=12)...
alice:$2b$12$xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Send the line above to your server administrator.

The hash is safe to share — it cannot be used to recover your password.

Step 2: Send the Hash to Your Administrator

Send the output line (alice:$2b$12$...) to your server administrator through any channel (email, Slack, etc.). They will add it to the server's htpasswd file.

Step 3: Save Your Password Persistently

Create the credentials file using read -s so the password never appears on screen or in shell history:

mkdir -p ~/.config/torc
(
  read -s -p "Enter Torc password: " _pw && echo
  printf 'export TORC_PASSWORD="%s"\n' "$_pw"
) > ~/.config/torc/credentials
chmod 600 ~/.config/torc/credentials

Source the file from your shell configuration so it loads automatically. Add this line to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

echo '[ -f ~/.config/torc/credentials ] && source ~/.config/torc/credentials' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.config/torc/credentials

Step 4: Verify

torc workflows list

Protecting Your Credentials

The credentials file is already restricted (chmod 600) from step 3
Never pass --password on the command line — it appears in shell history and process lists
Do not commit ~/.config/torc/credentials or any file containing passwords to version control

Torc Documentation