Sign in with an API token

The CLI acts as you through an API token, a long string that starts with mdk_. Commands that publish or look up your files need one. Peer-to-peer send and get work without it.

1. 1

   Open API tokens

   #Copy sectionAsk about this

   Go to markdrop.in/settings/tokens while signed in.

2. 2

   Create it

   #Copy sectionAsk about this

   Choose Create token, name it after the device or script that will use it (for example "My laptop" or "CI"), and choose Create token.

3. 3

   Copy it now

   #Copy sectionAsk about this

   The full token is shown once. Choose Copy token and keep it somewhere safe until you've saved it in the CLI.

markdrop login

Paste the token when asked. Nothing is shown while you paste. The CLI checks the token with Markdrop and prints the account it belongs to:

  ✓ Logged in as you@example.com. Token saved to /Users/you/Library/Application Support/markdrop/token

If Markdrop rejects the token, nothing is saved. If Markdrop can't be reached, the token is saved anyway and checked on first use.

You can also pass the token without the prompt:

markdrop login --token mdk_••••
printf '%s\n' "$MY_TOKEN" | markdrop login   # read from a pipe

The token is stored in a file only your user can read (mode 0600, in a folder with mode 0700):

Set MARKDROP_CONFIG_DIR to keep it somewhere else. The file is then $MARKDROP_CONFIG_DIR/token.

Set MARKDROP_TOKEN in the environment, or pass --token to a single command:

export MARKDROP_TOKEN=mdk_••••
markdrop upload demo.mp4

markdrop upload demo.mp4 --token mdk_••••

When more than one is set, the CLI uses the first it finds in this order:

1. --token on the command
2. MARKDROP_TOKEN
3. The token saved by markdrop login

markdrop login warns you when MARKDROP_TOKEN is set, because that one wins over the token it saved.

Store the token as a secret in your CI system and expose it as MARKDROP_TOKEN. For example, in GitHub Actions:

- name: Publish the demo video
  env:
    MARKDROP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MARKDROP_TOKEN }}
  run: |
    curl -fsSL https://github.com/himanshkukreja/markdrop/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
    markdrop replace demo-clip build/demo.mp4 --json

In scripts, --json prints one JSON object on standard output and nothing else. See Upload and replace files.

markdrop logout

This deletes the saved token from this computer. It doesn't revoke the token: anyone who copied it can still use it. To end a token everywhere, open markdrop.in/settings/tokens, choose Revoke on its row and confirm with Revoke token. Anything using it, such as a VS Code window or a CI job, stops working at once.

More about tokens on the web: API tokens.