1password-cli

1Password CLI

When to use CLI vs MCP

Task	Use
Manage Environments (create, mount .env, list var names)	MCP (1password-mcp skill)
Read vault items, secret references	CLI
op run / op inject in scripts	CLI
Wrap MCP server configs without plaintext tokens	CLI
Shell plugin auth (OpenAI CLI, Claude Code, etc.)	CLI
Service account automation	CLI

Prerequisites

op --version          # must be installed
op whoami             # must be signed in

Install: https://1password.com/downloads/command-line

Sign in with desktop app integration (biometrics):

op signin

For headless/CI, use a service account token:

export OP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN="ops_..."

Core commands

Secret references

Format: op://vault-name/item-name/[section/]field

# Resolve a secret at runtime (never commit the output)
op read "op://Work/GitHub/password"

# Run a command with secrets as env vars
op run --env-file=.env.tpl -- npm start

# Inject secrets into a config template
op inject -i config.tpl -o config.yml

Items and vaults

op vault list
op item list --vault Private
op item get "GitHub" --fields label=username,label=password
op item get Netflix --format json | jq .id

Environments (beta CLI)

op environment list
op environment variable list <environment-id>

Prefer MCP for Environment management when available.

Service accounts

op service-account create "my-ci-bot" --vault "CI Secrets:read_items"

Store token in CI secrets — never in source code.

Secure MCP configs with op run

Replace hardcoded tokens in mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "op",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--environment",
        "<environmentID>",
        "--",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ]
    }
  }
}

op run injects variables from the 1Password Environment into the child process. No env block with plaintext secrets needed.

Use full path to op if the MCP host can't find it on PATH:

which op   # e.g. /usr/local/bin/op or /opt/homebrew/bin/op

See /1password-inject command for guided setup.

Shell plugins

Authenticate third-party CLIs with biometrics via the 1Password desktop app:

op plugin list
op plugin init openai
op plugin init claude

Supported plugins include AWS, GitHub, GitLab, OpenAI CLI, Claude Code CLI, Terraform, ngrok, and more.

Per-directory credential switching: https://www.1password.dev/cli/shell-plugins/environments

Details: references/shell-plugins.md

Safety rules

• Never write resolved secret values into source files
• Use secret references (op://...) in templates, not plaintext
• Never echo secrets in agent output — confirm success by variable name
• Add .env.tpl (with references) to git; never commit .env with real values
• For JSON output: op ... --format json + jq for parsing

Command reference

Full reference: references/commands.md and https://www.1password.dev/cli/reference

Quick structure: op [noun] [verb] [flags]

Key nouns: item, vault, read, run, inject, environment, plugin, service-account, signin, whoami