buttondown logout

Clear stored credentials and log out

The logout command removes your stored API key and clears all local credentials.

Usage

buttondown logout

Example

$ buttondown logout
Logged out!

What Gets Removed

The logout command clears your entire Buttondown CLI configuration, including:

• Your API key
• Your base URL (if customized)
• Any other stored settings

After logging out, you’ll need to run buttondown login again before using commands that require authentication.

No Options

The logout command doesn’t accept any flags or options. It simply clears your stored credentials.

When to Use Logout

You might want to log out when:

• Switching to a different Buttondown account
• Removing credentials from a shared machine
• Troubleshooting authentication issues
• Decommissioning a development environment

After Logging Out

Commands that require authentication will fail:

$ buttondown logout
Logged out!

$ buttondown pull
Error: --api-key is required for the pull command, or run 'buttondown login' first

You can still use the create command since it doesn’t require authentication:

$ buttondown create --title="Draft Post"
Created new draft email: ./buttondown/emails/draft-post.md

Alternative: Using —force with login

If you just want to switch API keys, you don’t need to log out first. Use buttondown login --force instead:

# No need to logout first
$ buttondown login --force --api-key=new-api-key
✓ Successfully configured API key!

Configuration File Location

The logout command removes the configuration file from:

• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/buttondown-cli-nodejs/
• Linux: ~/.config/buttondown-cli-nodejs/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\buttondown-cli-nodejs\

Next Steps

After logging out, you’ll typically want to:

• Run buttondown login to authenticate with a different account
• Or simply close your terminal if you’re done using the CLI