credctl setup gcp-cred-file

Synopsis

credctl setup gcp-cred-file [flags]

Description

credctl setup gcp-cred-file generates a JSON credential configuration file that GCP client libraries and gcloud can use to authenticate via credctl.

The generated file uses the executable-sourced credentials format. When a GCP client library needs a token, it executes credctl auth --provider gcp --format executable to get a signed JWT, then handles the STS exchange and service account impersonation itself.

This file is a static configuration — it doesn’t contain credentials or expire. GCP client libraries invoke credctl auth on demand whenever they need a fresh token. You only need to regenerate it if you change the credctl binary location or GCP Workload Identity settings.

Set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to the output file path, or pass it to gcloud with --cred-file.

Requires GCP to be configured first (credctl setup gcp).

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`--output`	string	`~/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json`	Output file path for the credential config.

Examples

Default output path

credctl setup gcp-cred-file

Credential configuration written to /Users/you/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json

To use with GCP client libraries:
  export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/Users/you/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json

To use with gcloud:
  gcloud auth login --cred-file=/Users/you/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json

Custom output path

credctl setup gcp-cred-file --output ~/my-gcp-creds.json

Using with GCP tools

# GCP client libraries (Terraform, Go/Python/Node SDKs)
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=~/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json

# gcloud CLI
gcloud auth login --cred-file=~/.credctl/gcp-credentials.json

# Verify
gcloud storage ls

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Credential config file written successfully
1	Error (device not initialised, GCP not configured, or other error)