modbender pscale auth
Manage authentication for the PlanetScale CLI.
Common Commands
# Login to PlanetScale (opens browser)
pscale auth login
# Logout
pscale auth logout
# Check current authentication status
pscale org show
Authentication Methods
1. Interactive Login (Default)
Opens browser for OAuth flow:
pscale auth login
Best for: Local development, first-time setup
2. Service Tokens (CI/CD)
For automated environments:
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN_ID=<token-id>
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN=<token>
pscale database list --org <org>
Best for: CI/CD pipelines, automation, production deployments
See pscale-service-token skill for token creation.
Workflows
First-Time Setup
# 1. Login
pscale auth login
# 2. Verify authentication
pscale org show
# 3. List databases to confirm access
pscale database list --org <org>
Switch Between Accounts
# Logout current account
pscale auth logout
# Login with different account
pscale auth login
CI/CD Authentication
# Create service token (see pscale-service-token)
pscale service-token create --org <org>
# Use in CI/CD environment
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN_ID=<token-id>
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN=<token>
# Test authentication
pscale database list --org <org>
Troubleshooting
Login fails / browser doesn't open
Symptoms: pscale auth login hangs or fails
Solutions:
- Check network connectivity
- Ensure firewall allows https://auth.planetscale.com
- Try headless browser auth (not supported by pscale, use service tokens instead)
- Use service token for non-interactive environments
"Unauthorized" errors
Symptoms: 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden responses
Solutions:
- Run
pscale auth logout && pscale auth loginto refresh session - Verify organization access:
pscale org show - Check service token hasn't expired (if using tokens)
- Ensure token has required permissions (database read/write, branch create, etc.)
Multiple accounts / wrong org
Symptoms: Cannot access expected databases
Solutions:
- Check current org:
pscale org show - Switch org:
pscale org switch <org-name> - List all orgs:
pscale org list - Logout and login with correct account
Service token authentication fails
Symptoms: Token authentication not working in CI/CD
Solutions:
- Verify both
PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN_IDandPLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKENare set - Check token hasn't been revoked:
pscale service-token list --org <org> - Ensure token has required permissions for the operation
- Use
--debugflag to see authentication details
Related Skills
- pscale-service-token - Create and manage service tokens for CI/CD
- pscale-org - Switch between organizations
- pscale-database - Database operations requiring authentication
References
See references/commands.md for complete pscale auth command reference.