Announcement: Upcoming Breaking Changes - Enhancing CLI Credential Security and Mitigating Exposure Risks

## Overview

Self link: [sfdc.co/cli-credential-auth-command-changes](http://sfdc.co/cli-credential-auth-command-changes)

To significantly improve security posture and reduce the risk of accidental credential exposure, the Salesforce CLI team is changing how sensitive authentication artifacts-specifically Access Tokens, Passwords, and SFDX Auth URLs-are returned in command outputs.

Starting May 27, 2026, these secrets will be completely removed from the standard human-readable and `--json` outputs of existing commands. We are introducing new dedicated commands designed specifically for explicit credential retrieval. A temporary environment variable workaround will be available to prevent immediate pipeline breakage, but it will be strictly decommissioned at a later date.

### Why are we making this change?

A recent security review identified elevated risks associated with sensitive credentials being exposed through standard CLI workflows. While historically designed for developer convenience, these outputs present a heightened vulnerability in modern AI-assisted and agentic development environments.

AI coding agents and automated systems often store execution logs in plain text. If an AI agent executes a standard command that returns a credential, that secret may be permanently recorded in unencrypted chat history. To align with broader platform security goals, we are shifting toward an explicit model for retrieving a credential that requires deliberate user intent and is clearly labeled as a high-risk operation. These new explicit commands can be deny-listed from a coding agent's permitted execution.

## Detailed Changes & Impacted Commands

### Removal from Standard Outputs (Effective May 27, 2026\)

Sensitive data (Access Token, SFDX Auth URL, and Password) will be redacted from standard human-readable text and `--json` outputs across several commands:

- Plugin-org
- `sf org display`
- `sf org list`
- `sf org create scratch`
- `sf org resume scratch`
- Plugin-user
- `sf org display user`
- `sf org list users`
- Plugin-auth
- `sf org login jwt`
- `sf org login web`
- `sf org login sfdx-url`
- `sf org login access-token`
- `sf org list auth`

Example:

```
sf org display -o test-axctqdrsf0xf@example.com
Warning: Secrets are now hidden from 'sf org display' command output. Use the 'sf org auth' commands instead. As a temporary workaround, you can set SF_TEMP_SHOW_SECRETS=true to render these secrets. This workaround will be removed in an upcoming release.

Org Description
┌─────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ KEY │ VALUE │
├─────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Access Token │ [REDACTED] Use 'sf org auth show-access-token' to view │
│ Api Version │ 66.0 │
│ Client Id │ 3MVG9i1HRpGLXp.oar0z6z6xsKD_P8CZp5Mb07PzDxTmh90QP8m48lxXCTnL6uYxG65yPUXKFHdWABCDEFHIJ │
│ Created By │ admin@foo.org │
│ Created Date │ 2026-05-19T01:44:44.000+0000 │
│ Dev Hub Id │ admin@foo.org │
│ Edition │ Developer │
│ Expiration Date │ 2026-05-20 │
│ Id │ 00DDP000006GRcP2AW │
│ Instance Url │ https://customer-connect-9302-dev-ed.scratch.my.salesforce.com/ │
│ Org Name │ foo company │
│ Password │ [REDACTED] Use 'sf org auth show-user-password' to view │
│ Signup Username │ test-axctqdrsf0xf@example.com │
│ Status │ Active │
│ Username │ test-axctqdrsf0xf@example.com │
└─────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### New Dedicated Retrieval Commands

If you must explicitly retrieve a credential, you will need to migrate to these new interactive commands:

- `sf org auth show-access-token`
- `sf org auth show-sfdx-auth-url`
- `sf org auth show-user-password`

Example:
```
sf org auth show-access-token

✔ You’re about to reveal the access token for "test-axctqdrsf0xf@example.com". This token grants full access
to the org with your current permissions. Sharing or logging this token is equivalent to sharing your
credentials. Do you want to continue?

# Yes
┌──────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Key │ Value │
├──────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Access Token │ 00DXXXXXXXXXXXX!YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ │
└──────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

> [!NOTE]
> These commands are interactive by default and will render a security warning. To use them in non-interactive environments (like CI/CD), you must explicitly append the `--json` or `--no-prompt` flags.

## **Critical Timeline & Deadlines**

| Date | Milestone | Action Required |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| **May 20, 2026** | Public awareness outreach | Review your internal CI/CD scripts for any exposure dependencies. |
| **May 27, 2026** | **Production Release** | Secrets are removed from existing commands. If your pipelines break, deploy the temporary env variable workaround immediately. |
| **Summer 2026** | **Workaround Deprecation** | The temporary environment variable is completely removed. Your workflows **must** be updated to the new dedicated commands by this date. |

## **Recommended Actions & Migration Path**

We know that thousands of `sf` CLI workflows rely on these outputs every day for legitimate steps like end-to-end testing, scratch org setup, or automated post-deployment steps. To minimize operational disruption, please follow this phased migration path:

### **Temporary Mitigation**

If you cannot rewrite your pipelines before May 27, you can inject a temporary environment variable into your CI/CD environment to maintain legacy behavior:

```shell
# Set this in your CI/CD environment to temporarily preserve old behavior
SF_TEMP_SHOW_SECRETS=true
```

This is a temporary workaround and the support for this environment variable will be removed in summer 2026\.

### **Permanent Migration**

Update your automation scripts to use the new explicit commands. For example, if your CI/CD script was parsing `sf org display --json` to fetch an access token, swap the logic to call the explicit command directly:

```shell
# Legacy way - credentials will be redacted beginning May 27th 2026
sf org display --json
{
"status": 0,
"result": {
"id": "00DBi000003zte4NAB",
"devHubId": "mitchspano.test@agentforce.com",
"apiVersion": "66.0",
"accessToken": "00DXXXXXXXXXXXX!YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ",
"instanceUrl": "https://site-flow-9136-dev-ed.scratch.my.salesforce.com",
"username": "test-rgv2dvamaow7@example.com",
"clientId": "PlatformCLI",
"status": "Active",
"expirationDate": "2026-06-03",
"createdBy": "mitchspano.test@agentforce.com",
"edition": "Developer",
"orgName": "mspano company",
"createdDate": "2026-05-14T20:06:26.000+0000",
"signupUsername": "test-123@example.com",
"alias": "TDX_2026"
},
"warnings": [
"This command will expose sensitive information that allows for subsequent activity using your current authenticated session.\nSharing this information is equivalent to logging someone in under the current credential, resulting in unintended access and escalation of privilege.\nFor additional information, please review the authorization section of the https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_dev.meta/sfdx_dev/sfdx_dev_auth_web_flow.htm."
]
}
```

```shell
# New way - use if you need to parse access token programmatically
sf org auth show-access-token --json
{
"status": 0,
"result": {
"accessToken": "00DXXXXXXXXXXXX!YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
},
"warnings": [
"This command exposes a sensitive Access Token that allows for subsequent activity using your current authenticated session. Sharing this information is equivalent to logging someone in under the current credential, resulting in unintended access and escalation of privilege. For additional information about org authorization, review https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_dev.meta/sfdx_dev/sfdx_dev_auth.htm."
]
}

```

We also recommend prohibiting these `sf org auth show-*` commands from any AI coding agent's permissions.

## Feedback
We would love to hear how your teams are actually using these credentials in your workflows so we can best shape the future roadmap and security posture for the `sf` CLI. Please participate in [this discussion](https://github.com/forcedotcom/cli/discussions/3561).