> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# get-permission

> Retrieve details about a specific permission in your Unkey workspace using the CLI including its name, description, and creation date.

Retrieve details about a specific permission including its name, description, and metadata.

Use this to inspect a permission's current state, verify its configuration, or look up its name and description. The returned data includes the permission's unique ID, human-readable name, URL-safe slug, and optional description.

**Required permissions:**

* `rbac.*.read_permission` (to read permissions in any workspace)

<Note>
  See the [API reference](/api-reference/permissions/get-permission) for the full HTTP endpoint documentation.
</Note>

## Usage

```bash theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
unkey api permissions get-permission [flags]
```

## Flags

<ParamField body="--permission" type="string" required>
  The unique identifier of the permission to retrieve. Must be a valid permission ID that begins with `perm_` and exists within your workspace.
</ParamField>

## Global Flags

| Flag         | Type   | Description                                              |
| ------------ | ------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--root-key` | string | Override root key (`$UNKEY_ROOT_KEY`)                    |
| `--api-url`  | string | Override API base URL (default: `https://api.unkey.com`) |
| `--config`   | string | Path to config file (default: `~/.unkey/config.toml`)    |
| `--output`   | string | Output format. Use `json` for raw JSON                   |

## Examples

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Basic theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
  unkey api permissions get-permission --permission=perm_1234567890abcdef
  ```

  ```bash JSON output for scripting theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
  unkey api permissions get-permission --permission=perm_1234567890abcdef --output=json
  ```

  ```bash Pipe the permission name to another command theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
  PERM_NAME=$(unkey api permissions get-permission --permission=perm_1234567890abcdef --output=json | jq -r '.data.name')
  echo "Permission name: $PERM_NAME"
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Output

Default output shows the request ID with latency, followed by the permission details:

```text theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
req_1234abcd (took 38ms)

{
  "id": "perm_1234567890abcdef",
  "name": "documents.read",
  "slug": "documents-read",
  "description": "Allows reading document resources"
}
```

With `--output=json`, the full response envelope is returned:

```json theme={"theme":"kanagawa-wave"}
{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_1234abcd"
  },
  "data": {
    "id": "perm_1234567890abcdef",
    "name": "documents.read",
    "slug": "documents-read",
    "description": "Allows reading document resources"
  }
}
```