hc auth logout

Usage

hc auth logout [flags]

Description

The hc auth logout command removes your saved Harness credentials by deleting the authentication configuration file located at ~/.harness/auth.json. This effectively ends your CLI session and clears all stored authentication data including API tokens, account IDs, and scope settings. After logging out, you’ll need to run hc auth login again to authenticate with Harness services.

Flags

--force

boolean

default:"false"

Force logout even if not currently logged in. When enabled, the command will succeed without error even if no authentication file exists.Useful for cleanup scripts or when you want to ensure a clean state regardless of current authentication status.

What Gets Removed

Running hc auth logout performs the following actions:

Deletes Authentication File - Removes ~/.harness/auth.json from disk
Clears Session Config - Resets global configuration values:
- API Base URL
- Authentication Token
- Account ID
- Organization ID
- Project ID

The command does not delete the ~/.harness directory itself, only the authentication file within it.

Examples

Basic Logout

Standard logout when authenticated:

$ hc auth logout
Successfully logged out from Harness

Forced Logout

Force logout even when not authenticated:

$ hc auth logout --force
No authentication file found. Already logged out.

Logout Without Force

Attempting to logout when not authenticated (without --force):

$ hc auth logout
Error: not logged in: no authentication file found at /home/user/.harness/auth.json

Switch Between Accounts

Logout and login to a different account:

# Logout from current account
$ hc auth logout
Successfully logged out from Harness

# Login to different account
$ hc auth login --api-token $OTHER_ACCOUNT_TOKEN
Validating credentials...
✓ Credentials validated successfully
Successfully logged into Harness

Cleanup Script

Use in scripts to ensure clean authentication state:

cleanup.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Force logout to ensure clean state
hc auth logout --force

echo "Authentication state cleared"

CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup

Clean up credentials after pipeline execution:

name: Deploy with Harness

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Login to Harness
        env:
          HARNESS_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HARNESS_API_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          hc auth login \
            --api-token $HARNESS_API_TOKEN \
            --non-interactive
      
      - name: Deploy Application
        run: hc pipeline execute --id my-pipeline
      
      - name: Cleanup Credentials
        if: always()
        run: hc auth logout --force

Docker Container Cleanup

Ensure credentials don’t persist in containers:

Dockerfile

FROM alpine:latest

RUN apk add --no-cache curl bash

RUN curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/hc \
    https://github.com/harness/harness-cli/releases/latest/download/hc-linux-amd64 \
    && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/hc

COPY entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh

ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]

entrypoint.sh

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Trap to ensure cleanup on exit
trap 'hc auth logout --force' EXIT INT TERM

# Login to Harness
hc auth login \
  --api-token "${HARNESS_API_TOKEN}" \
  --non-interactive

# Execute the passed command
exec "$@"

# Note: logout happens automatically via trap

Error Handling

Not Logged In (Without Force)

When trying to logout without being authenticated:

$ hc auth logout
Error: not logged in: no authentication file found at /home/user/.harness/auth.json

Solution: Use the --force flag if you want the command to succeed anyway:

$ hc auth logout --force
No authentication file found. Already logged out.

Permission Denied

If you encounter permission errors:

$ hc auth logout
Error: error removing authentication file: remove /home/user/.harness/auth.json: permission denied

Solution: Check file permissions and ownership:

# Check current permissions
ls -la ~/.harness/auth.json

# Fix permissions if needed
chmod 600 ~/.harness/auth.json

# Try logout again
hc auth logout

Use Cases

Security Best Practice

Logout when finished working with Harness:

# Complete your work
hc pipeline execute --id prod-deployment

# Logout for security
hc auth logout

Switching Environments

Switch between different Harness environments:

# Working with production
hc auth status
# Authentication Status: ✓ Authenticated
# API URL:      https://app.harness.io
# Account ID:   prod-account-123

# Switch to staging
hc auth logout
hc auth login --api-token $STAGING_TOKEN

# Verify new environment
hc auth status
# Authentication Status: ✓ Authenticated
# API URL:      https://app.harness.io
# Account ID:   staging-account-456

Testing Multiple Accounts

Test CLI with different accounts:

test-accounts.sh

#!/bin/bash

ACCOUNTS=(
  "$ACCOUNT_1_TOKEN"
  "$ACCOUNT_2_TOKEN"
  "$ACCOUNT_3_TOKEN"
)

for token in "${ACCOUNTS[@]}"; do
  echo "Testing account..."
  
  # Login
  hc auth login --api-token "$token" --non-interactive
  
  # Run tests
  hc pipeline list
  hc service list
  
  # Logout
  hc auth logout
  
  echo "---"
done

Shared Machine Cleanup

On shared systems, always logout to protect your credentials:

# After completing work on shared machine
hc auth logout

# Verify logout
if [ -f ~/.harness/auth.json ]; then
  echo "Warning: Auth file still exists!"
else
  echo "Successfully logged out"
fi

Verification

Confirm successful logout by checking:

Check Authentication File

$ ls -la ~/.harness/auth.json
ls: cannot access '/home/user/.harness/auth.json': No such file or directory

Try Authentication Status

$ hc auth status
Error: not logged in: no API token found. Please run 'hc auth login' first

Attempt API Operation

$ hc pipeline list
Error: not logged in: no API token found. Please run 'hc auth login' first

Comparison with Force Flag

Scenario	Without `--force`	With `--force`
Logged in	Succeeds, removes auth file	Succeeds, removes auth file
Not logged in	Fails with error	Succeeds with message
File doesn’t exist	Fails with error	Succeeds with message
Permission denied	Fails with error	Fails with error

Best Practices

Always Logout on Shared Systems - Protect your credentials on multi-user machines
Use in CI/CD Cleanup - Add logout to pipeline cleanup steps
Force Flag in Scripts - Use --force in automation to avoid errors
Logout Before Switching - Always logout before logging into a different account
Verify After Logout - Run hc auth status to confirm logout
Trap Signals - Use shell traps to ensure logout on script exit
Container Cleanup - Always logout in Docker entrypoint cleanup

Security Implications

Logout does not revoke your API token. It only removes the locally stored credentials.

To fully secure your account:

Run hc auth logout - Remove local credentials
Revoke the API token - Go to Harness UI and revoke the token if compromised
Generate new token - Create a new token for future use

File Locations

OS	Auth File Location
Linux	`/home/username/.harness/auth.json`
macOS	`/Users/username/.harness/auth.json`
Windows	`C:\Users\username\.harness\auth.json`

hc auth login - Authenticate with Harness
hc auth status - Check authentication status

Troubleshooting

Logout Succeeds but File Still Exists

If the file still exists after logout:

# Manually remove the file
rm -f ~/.harness/auth.json

# Verify removal
ls -la ~/.harness/auth.json

Can’t Logout Due to Process Lock

If another process is using the auth file:

# Find processes using the file
lsof ~/.harness/auth.json

# Stop the processes or wait for them to complete
# Then try logout again
hc auth logout

Directory Remains After Logout

The ~/.harness directory is not deleted by logout:

# This is normal - the directory persists
ls -la ~/.harness
# Shows empty directory or other config files

# To fully remove all CLI data:
rm -rf ~/.harness

Authentication

Registry

Artifact

Infrastructure as Code

Global Options

Utility Commands

Usage

Description

Flags

What Gets Removed

Examples

Basic Logout

Forced Logout

Logout Without Force

Switch Between Accounts

Cleanup Script

CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup

Docker Container Cleanup

Error Handling

Not Logged In (Without Force)

Permission Denied

Use Cases

Security Best Practice

Switching Environments

Testing Multiple Accounts

Shared Machine Cleanup

Verification

Check Authentication File

Try Authentication Status

Attempt API Operation

Comparison with Force Flag

Best Practices

Security Implications

File Locations

Troubleshooting

Logout Succeeds but File Still Exists

Can’t Logout Due to Process Lock

Directory Remains After Logout

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Authentication

Registry

Artifact

Infrastructure as Code

Global Options

Utility Commands

​Usage

​Description

​Flags

​What Gets Removed

​Examples

​Basic Logout

​Forced Logout

​Logout Without Force

​Switch Between Accounts

​Cleanup Script

​CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup

​Docker Container Cleanup

​Error Handling

​Not Logged In (Without Force)

​Permission Denied

​Use Cases

​Security Best Practice

​Switching Environments

​Testing Multiple Accounts

​Shared Machine Cleanup

​Verification

​Check Authentication File

​Try Authentication Status

​Attempt API Operation

​Comparison with Force Flag

​Best Practices

​Security Implications

​File Locations

​Related Commands

​Troubleshooting

​Logout Succeeds but File Still Exists

​Can’t Logout Due to Process Lock

​Directory Remains After Logout

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Usage

Description

Flags

What Gets Removed

Examples

Basic Logout

Forced Logout

Logout Without Force

Switch Between Accounts

Cleanup Script

CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup

Docker Container Cleanup

Error Handling

Not Logged In (Without Force)

Permission Denied

Use Cases

Security Best Practice

Switching Environments

Testing Multiple Accounts

Shared Machine Cleanup

Verification

Check Authentication File

Try Authentication Status

Attempt API Operation

Comparison with Force Flag

Best Practices

Security Implications

File Locations

Related Commands

Troubleshooting

Logout Succeeds but File Still Exists

Can’t Logout Due to Process Lock

Directory Remains After Logout