Authentication

The CLI needs your API key to make requests. There are three ways to provide it, listed in order of precedence.

Option 1: Login Command (Recommended)

Run rs login to save your API key to the config file:

rs login

Enter your API key: rs_live_xxxxx
API key saved to ~/.config/renderscreenshot/config.json

Authenticated as: My Team
Plan: Growth
Credits remaining: 11,482

Your key is stored locally and used for all subsequent commands.

Option 2: Environment Variable

Set RS_API_KEY in your shell or CI/CD environment:

export RS_API_KEY=rs_live_xxxxx
rs take https://example.com

This overrides the config file and is ideal for CI/CD pipelines, Docker containers, and scripts.

CI/CD Examples

GitHub Actions:

- name: Take screenshot
  env:
    RS_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RS_API_KEY }}
  run: rs take https://example.com --preset og_card -o screenshot.png

GitLab CI:

screenshot:
  script:
    - rs take https://example.com --preset og_card -o screenshot.png
  variables:
    RS_API_KEY: $RS_API_KEY

Option 3: Command Flag

Pass the key directly with --api-key:

rs take https://example.com --api-key rs_live_xxxxx

This overrides both the config file and environment variable. Useful for one-off commands or testing with a different key.

Signed URL Keys

To generate signed URLs, you also need your public key ID and secret key:

rs login --signed-urls

Enter your API key: rs_live_xxxxx
Enter your public key ID: rs_pub_xxxxx
Enter your secret key: rs_secret_xxxxx

All keys saved to ~/.config/renderscreenshot/config.json

Or set them as environment variables:

export RS_API_KEY=rs_live_xxxxx
export RS_PUBLIC_KEY_ID=rs_pub_xxxxx
export RS_SECRET_KEY=rs_secret_xxxxx

View Current Status

rs whoami

Account:    My Team
Plan:       Growth
Credits:    11,482 remaining
API Key:    rs_live_...xxxxx (last 5 chars)
Config:     ~/.config/renderscreenshot/config.json

You can also view and manage individual config values with rs config:

rs config                          # Show all config
rs config get api_key              # Get a specific value
rs config set api_key rs_live_xxx  # Set a value

Logout

Remove stored credentials:

rs logout

Credentials removed from ~/.config/renderscreenshot/config.json

Config File Location

The config file is stored at:

You can override this with the RS_CONFIG_PATH environment variable:

export RS_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/config.json

Config File Format

{
  "api_key": "rs_live_xxxxx",
  "public_key_id": "rs_pub_xxxxx",
  "secret_key": "rs_secret_xxxxx"
}