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Command: login

The terraform login command can be used to automatically obtain and save an API token for HCP Terraform, Terraform Enterprise, or any other host that offers Terraform services.

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Usage

terraform login [hostname]
If no hostname is provided, the default hostname is app.terraform.io, to log in to HCP Terraform. This command interactively helps you log in to HCP Terraform or a Terraform Enterprise instance. Terraform uses the token to authenticate when you run other commands that access state, such as terraform plan and terraform apply.
This command is only necessary when using HCP Terraform or Terraform Enterprise for state storage or remote operations. It is not needed for typical Terraform workflows with local state.

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Credentials Storage

By default, Terraform will obtain an API token and save it in a local CLI configuration file called credentials.tfrc.json. The default location of this file is:
  • On Linux and macOS: ~/.terraform.d/credentials.tfrc.json
  • On Windows: %APPDATA%\terraform.d\credentials.tfrc.json
The credentials file is in JSON format: 
{
  "credentials": {
    "app.terraform.io": {
      "token": "your-api-token-here"
    }
  }
}

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Interactive Login Process

When you run terraform login, Terraform will:
  1. Ask for your consent to open a web browser
  2. Open your web browser to the login page for the specified host
  3. Wait for you to log in and authorize the token creation
  4. Receive the token from the host
  5. Save the token to your local credentials file

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OAuth Flow

Terraform uses OAuth to obtain credentials when possible. If the host does not support OAuth, Terraform will guide you through manually creating a token in the web interface and pasting it into the terminal.

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Example

Log in to HCP Terraform: 
terraform login
Log in to a Terraform Enterprise instance: 
terraform login app.terraform.example.com

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Manual Token Configuration

If you prefer to configure credentials manually, or if you’re running Terraform in an automated environment, you can create the credentials file manually or use environment variables. See the CLI Configuration documentation for more details.

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Credentials Helpers

For advanced use cases, Terraform supports credentials helpers that can retrieve credentials from external systems like password managers or secrets management systems. Configure these in your CLI configuration file.

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