1Password CLI Skill

Setup

Choose one of the following authentication methods:

Option A: Desktop App Integration (Recommended for Local)

If you have a 1Password Desktop app installed:

1. Open Settings $\rightarrow$ Developer $\rightarrow$ Integrate with 1Password CLI.
2. No shell config required.

Option B: Session Token Caching (Best for WSL/Linux)

If the Desktop bridge doesn't work, use the session manager to avoid repeated password prompts:

1. Run the interactive setup wizard npx 1password-cli-setup and enable "Session Token Caching".
2. Or manually add to shell config:

   source ~/.config/op-ssh/op-session-manager.sh

Option C: Service Account (Best for CI/CD and Headless)

1. Go to https://op.serviceaccounts.1password.com
2. Create a Service Account and copy the token.
3. Add to your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

   export OP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN="your-service-account-token-here"

Reload your shell and verify setup:

source ~/.zshrc
op account list

Features

CLI Tool: op-reference

Manage 1Password secret references:

op-reference check           # Verify 1Password CLI authentication
op-reference list            # List available vaults and items
op-reference get "op://..."  # Get secret value by reference
op-reference copy "op://..." # Copy reference to clipboard
op-reference add NAME REF   # Save named reference
op-reference env FILE       # Load .env.1pass with references resolved

Environment Files

Use .env.1pass files with secret references:

# User-level: ~/.config/op-ssh/.env.1pass
# Project-level: ./.env.1pass (in project root)

# Format:
OPENAI_API_KEY="op://Private/API-Keys/openai"
DATABASE_URL="op://Work/Database/prod"

Secret Reference Syntax

Format: op://vault/item/field

• op://Private/API-Keys/openai
• op://Work/Database/production

Usage with AI Agents

Automatic Loading

The Pi extension automatically loads:

1. User-level: ~/.config/op-ssh/.env.1pass
2. Project-level: ./.env.1pass (overrides user)

Pi Commands

• /op-status - Check authentication and loaded variables
• /op-env - Load project environment
• /op-env-user - Load user environment
• /op-get op://... - Get a specific secret
• /op-list - Show loaded variables

Custom Tool: op_get_secret

Retrieve secrets by reference without exposing them in context:

{
  "reference": "op://Private/API-Keys/openai"
}

Environment Levels

Configuration follows cascading precedence:

1. User Level (~/.config/op-ssh/.env.1pass) - Global secrets
2. Project Level (./.env.1pass) - Project-specific, overrides user

LLM Context and Best Practices

When building AI tools or interacting with LLMs regarding 1Password, always refer to the official LLM-optimized documentation:

• Full Index: https://developer.1password.com/llms.txt
• CLI Docs: https://developer.1password.com/llms-cli.txt
• SDK Docs: https://developer.1password.com/llms-sdks.txt
• Secrets Automation: https://developer.1password.com/llms-secrets-automation.txt

To fetch specific pages as Markdown for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), append .md to any documentation URL (e.g., https://developer.1password.com/docs/cli/get-started.md).

Agent Hooks

1Password provides agent hooks that run inside supported IDEs and AI agents (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf) to validate and verify 1Password setup before shell execution or tool use.

The available hook is 1password-validate-mounted-env-files which validates mounted .env files from 1Password Environments.

Installing Hooks

You can install the agent hooks from the 1Password/agent-hooks repository:

git clone https://github.com/1Password/agent-hooks
cd agent-hooks

# Install for Cursor
./install.sh --agent cursor --target-dir /path/to/your/project

# Install for Windsurf
./install.sh --agent windsurf --target-dir /path/to/your/project

# Install for Claude Code
./install.sh --agent claude-code --target-dir /path/to/your/project

The script will bundle the hooks and optionally create the required config file (e.g. .cursor/hooks.json or .windsurf/hooks.json).

Files and Directories

~/.config/op-ssh/
├── .env.1pass           # User-level environment
├── references.conf      # Named references
└── op-ai-helper.sh      # Helper functions

~/projects/project/
└── .env.1pass           # Project-level environment (overrides user)

Troubleshooting

Service Account Required

Error: Not signed in to 1Password
Solution: Set OP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN in ~/.zshrc

Secret Not Found

Error: Secret not found: op://...
Solution: Verify the reference in 1Password: op://vault/item/field

1Password CLI Not Found

Error: 1Password CLI (op) not found
Solution: Install from https://1password.com/downloads/command-line/

Advanced: oprun for Secret Injection

For applications, use oprun (the shell helper) to inject secrets:

# With environment file
oprun --env-file app.env -- node app.js

# With command-line arguments
OPENAI_API_KEY="op://Private/API-Keys/openai"
oprun -- node app.js

Original Article

Based on: "Combining Keychain and 1Password CLI for ssh-agent management" by Bas Nijholt.