Install & authenticate the CLI
With a credential in hand from the previous step, you can install the waypoint CLI and log in.
Install the CLI
Run the install script in your shell:
curl -sSfL https://software.gowithdante.com/install.sh | sh
This downloads the waypoint binary for your platform and places it on your PATH. To self-update later, run waypoint update (or waypoint update --check to see the latest version without installing).
Authenticate
Pick the command that matches the credential you obtained.
Bootstrap token (the onboarding happy path):
waypoint login --bootstrap wpkx_live_<token>
The CLI redeems the single-use bootstrap token and stores the permanent API key it receives in return.
API key (CI, a second machine, or explicit key management):
waypoint login --key wpk_live_<key>
This stores the raw key directly — no further ceremony.
The onboarding walkthrough gives you a single combined command that does both at once:
curl -sSfL https://software.gowithdante.com/install.sh | sh && waypoint login --bootstrap wpkx_live_<token>
To sign out and remove the stored credential later, run waypoint logout.
Where credentials are stored
By default, waypoint login stores your API key in your OS keychain — macOS Keychain, libsecret on Linux, or the Windows Credential Vault — under the service name waypoint-framework. This is the recommended path for everyday use.
For headless environments such as CI, where no keychain is reachable, pass --file to store credentials in a JSON file instead:
waypoint login --file --key wpk_live_<key>
This writes ~/.waypoint/credentials.json with mode 0600. The file is intended for headless CI contexts, not day-to-day use. The CLI always tries the keychain first, then falls back to this file.
The service URL
The CLI talks to the Waypoint service at a default base URL of:
https://api.gowithdante.com/staging
You can override it with the --service flag or the WAYPOINT_SERVICE_URL environment variable (the flag takes precedence). Most users never need to.
The API base is on the /staging stage today. A future production cutover may change the default; if you have a hard-coded URL anywhere, expect it to update at that point.
Store mode (advanced — usually automatic)
Waypoint resolves an artifact store mode automatically; you should not need to set it. The CLI auto-detects:
customer— when credentials are present (the normal end-user mode). Artifact content lives in the hosted service and is cached locally under~/.waypoint/cache/.local— when no credentials are present (an unauthenticated fallback for CI/tests).
A third mode, dogfood, exists only for the Waypoint framework's own repository and is never auto-detected.
You can force a mode with the WAYPOINT_STORE_MODE environment variable (customer | local | dogfood), but treat this strictly as an advanced override — once you're logged in, you're in customer mode automatically.
Verify it worked
Confirm your install and authentication with a quick command:
waypoint version
This prints the CLI version, commit, and build date. You can also run waypoint status from inside a Waypoint repo for a one-screen health check.
Use the waypoint version subcommand — waypoint --version is not wired up and will error as an unknown flag.
Once the CLI is installed and authenticated, continue to Create a project.