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Retrieve detailed key information for dashboard interfaces and administrative purposes. Use this to build key management dashboards showing users their key details, status, permissions, and usage data. You can identify keys by keyId or the actual key string. Important: Set decrypt: true only in secure contexts to retrieve plaintext key values from recoverable keys. Required permissions:
  • api.*.read_key or api.<api_id>.read_key (to read key information)
  • api.*.decrypt_key or api.<api_id>.decrypt_key (additionally required when using --decrypt)
See the API reference for the full HTTP endpoint documentation.

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Usage

unkey api keys get-key [flags]

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Flags

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--key-id
string
required
The database identifier of the key to retrieve, returned from keys.createKey. Do not confuse this with the actual API key string that users include in requests. Find this ID in creation responses, key listings, dashboard, or verification responses.
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--decrypt
boolean
default:"false"
Whether to include the plaintext key value in the response. Only works for keys created with recoverable=true and requires the decrypt_key permission. Returned keys must be handled securely — never logged, cached, or stored insecurely.

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Global Flags

FlagTypeDescription
--root-keystringOverride root key ($UNKEY_ROOT_KEY)
--api-urlstringOverride API base URL (default: https://api.unkey.com)
--configstringPath to config file (default: ~/.unkey/config.toml)
--outputstringOutput format — use json for raw JSON

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Examples

unkey api keys get-key --key-id=key_1234abcd

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Output

Default output shows the request ID with latency, followed by the key details: 
req_2c9a0jf23l4k567 (took 45ms)

{
  "keyId": "key_1234abcd",
  "start": "sk_prod",
  "enabled": true,
  "name": "Production API Key",
  "createdAt": 1704067200000,
  "permissions": [
    "documents.read",
    "documents.write"
  ],
  "roles": [
    "editor"
  ]
}
With --output=json, the full response envelope is returned: 
{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_2c9a0jf23l4k567"
  },
  "data": {
    "keyId": "key_1234abcd",
    "start": "sk_prod",
    "enabled": true,
    "name": "Production API Key",
    "createdAt": 1704067200000,
    "permissions": [
      "documents.read",
      "documents.write"
    ],
    "roles": [
      "editor"
    ]
  }
}
Last modified on March 26, 2026