Authentication | BioLM Docs

To authenticate API requests made by the Python client, two methods can be used:

set an environment-variable, which is permanent, meaning re-authentication will not be necessary
or log in using the CLI, which will save an access and refresh token that will expire after a period of inactivity.

Environment variable authentication

Obtain an API token from your BioLM User page, then set the environment variable BIOLM_TOKEN. The legacy name BIOLMAI_TOKEN still works but emits a deprecation warning.

Note

Ensure you replace the example API token with your own.

bash

export BIOLM_TOKEN=9944b09199c62bcf9418ad846dd0e4bbdfc6ee4b

For Bash

bash

echo "export BIOLM_TOKEN=9944b09199c62bcf9418ad846dd0e4bbdfc6ee4b" >> ~/.bash_profile && source ~/.bash_profile

For Zsh

bash

echo "export BIOLM_TOKEN=9944b09199c62bcf9418ad846dd0e4bbdfc6ee4b" >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

For Python

python

import os
os.environ['BIOLM_TOKEN'] = '9944b09199c62bcf9418ad846dd0e4bbdfc6ee4b'

Alternatively, with biolm-sdk installed, in your Terminal run biolm login.

CLI authentication

bash

biolm login

The command will:

Check for existing valid credentials
If credentials are missing or invalid, open a browser for OAuth authorization
Save credentials to ~/.biolm/credentials

bash

Login succeeded! Credentials saved to ~/.biolm/credentials

Note

If you have credentials from an older install at ~/.biolmai/credentials, they are still read with a deprecation warning. New logins write to ~/.biolm/credentials.

bash

biolm login

If already logged in:

text

Credentials location: ~/.biolm/credentials
Run ``biolm status`` to view your authentication status.

Custom OAuth client ID:

bash

biolm login --client-id YOUR_CLIENT_ID

Or set the BIOLM_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID environment variable (legacy: BIOLMAI_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID).

Custom OAuth scopes (supported: read, write, introspection):

bash

biolm login --scope "read write"

Examples

bash

biolm login

bash

biolm login --client-id abc123xyz

bash

biolm login --scope "read write"

Credentials file format

Credentials are saved to ~/.biolm/credentials in JSON format with:

access — short-lived access token
refresh — refresh token for renewing access
OAuth metadata (token_url, client_id, etc.) when using biolm login

See Migration to biolm-sdk 1.0 for the full list of renamed environment variables.