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Before you begin

You can authenticate 1Password developer tools in two ways:
  • Local development: Use the 1Password desktop app for fast setup and human-in-the-loop approval with biometrics.
  • Automation and production: Use service accounts for automated workflows with least privilege access.
This guide focuses on local development. For CI/CD, containers, and production workflows, see Secure your deployments.
Prefer to let your AI coding agent do the setup? If you use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor on Mac or Linux, install the 1Password app, then paste this into your agent:
The agent sets up 1Password developer tools and checks that everything works. If a required setting in the app is turned off, the agent tells you where to find it. Windows and AI chats in a web browser aren’t supported yet.

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Step 1: Install the 1Password app

If you haven’t already, sign up for a 1Password account. Then install 1Password for Mac, Windows, or Linux. After you install the app:
  1. Open the 1Password app and select your account or collection at the top of the sidebar.
  2. Navigate to Settings > Security.
  3. Turn on the setting to unlock the app using Touch ID, Windows Hello, or Linux system authentication. This allows you to authenticate most developer tools with your fingerprint.

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Step 2: Install 1Password CLI

1Password CLI (op) lets you access secrets and manage your account from your terminal and scripts. It’s the fastest way to start experimenting with 1Password developer tools. To install 1Password CLI, use one of the following package managers, or download the latest release.
See the full CLI installation guide for requirements and additional Windows, Linux, and manual installation options.
Then turn on the app integration to sign in with the accounts you’ve added to the app and authenticate commands using your fingerprint.
  1. Open the 1Password app and select your account or collection at the top of the sidebar.
  2. Navigate to Settings > Developer.
  3. Select Integrate with 1Password CLI.
Enter any 1Password CLI command to trigger the authentication prompt to sign in. For example, op vault list lists all the vaults in the authenticated account.

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Step 3: Create an Environment

Environments are like vaults for your developer credentials. You can manage your project’s secrets together in an Environment, then securely load each set of secrets directly from 1Password when you need them. Start by creating an Environment for a specific project or development context, like iOS App Staging.
  1. In the 1Password app, select Developer in the sidebar, then select Environments.
  2. Select New environment, enter a name, and select Save.
  3. Open the Environment, then select Import .env file to import project secrets from an existing environment file or New secret to add secrets manually.
After you create the Environment, you can select Manage environment > Manage access to share it with other people on your team.

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Step 4: Load your first secret

You can access the project secrets stored in an Environment directly from 1Password using a locally mounted .env file or 1Password CLI.
A locally mounted .env file lets you access your Environment from tools that expect an environment file on disk. The contents of this file aren’t tracked by Git or stored on disk, and are only available at the moment you access it.
  1. In the 1Password app, go to Developer > Environments and open the Environment you created in step 3.
  2. Under “Connect to”, select the Connect button next to “Local .env file”.
  3. Select Choose file path and choose the path on your device where you want to create your local .env file, then select Mount .env file.
To confirm you can access your secrets, open your terminal and navigate to the directory where your local .env file is saved. Then run the following command with the name of your file.
An authorization prompt is shown when you try to access a mounted `.env` file through your local terminal.
You can also read project secrets from Environments in your code using 1Password SDKs.

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Next steps

You’re set up. Pick what you’re building next:

Set up SSH and Git

Store SSH keys in 1Password and approve Git pushes and commit signing with your fingerprint.

Deploy with secrets

Load secrets into CI/CD, containers, and production apps.

Give your AI agent secrets

Give coding agents project secrets without plaintext .env files on disk.

Build an integration

Use the SDKs and APIs to work with 1Password from your code.