infisical/docs/cli/commands/bootstrap.mdx

---
title: "infisical bootstrap"
description: "Automate the initial setup of a new Infisical instance for headless deployment and infrastructure-as-code workflows"
---

```bash
infisical bootstrap --domain=<domain> --email=<email> --password=<password> --organization=<organization>
```

## Description

The `infisical bootstrap` command is used when deploying Infisical in automated environments where manual UI setup is not feasible. It's ideal for:

- Containerized deployments in Kubernetes or Docker environments
- Infrastructure-as-code pipelines with Terraform or similar tools
- Continuous deployment workflows
- DevOps automation scenarios

The command initializes a fresh Infisical instance by creating an admin user, organization, and instance admin machine identity, enabling subsequent programmatic configuration without human intervention.

<Warning>
  This command creates an instance admin machine identity with the highest level
  of privileges. The returned token should be treated with the utmost security,
  similar to a root credential. Unauthorized access to this token could
  compromise your entire Infisical instance.
</Warning>

## Flags

<Accordion title="--domain" defaultOpen="true">
  The URL of your Infisical instance. This can be set using the `INFISICAL_API_URL` environment variable.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --domain=https://your-infisical-instance.com
```

This flag is required.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--email">
  Email address for the admin user account that will be created. This can be set using the `INFISICAL_ADMIN_EMAIL` environment variable.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --email=admin@example.com
```

This flag is required.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--password">
  Password for the admin user account. This can be set using the `INFISICAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD` environment variable.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --password=your-secure-password
```

This flag is required.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--organization">
  Name of the organization that will be created within the instance. This can be set using the `INFISICAL_ADMIN_ORGANIZATION` environment variable.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --organization=your-org-name
```

This flag is required.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--ignore-if-bootstrapped">
  Whether to continue without error if the instance has already been bootstrapped. Useful for idempotent automation scripts.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --ignore-if-bootstrapped
```

This flag is optional and defaults to `false`.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--output">
  The type of output format for the bootstrap command. Supports `k8-secret` for Kubernetes secret integration. This flag is optional and defaults to "".

```bash
# Kubernetes secret output
infisical bootstrap --output=k8-secret --k8-secret-template='{"data":{"token":"{{.Identity.Credentials.Token}}"}}' --k8-secret-name=infisical-bootstrap --k8-secret-namespace=default
```

When using `k8-secret`, the command will create or update a Kubernetes secret directly in your cluster. Note that this option requires the command to be executed from within a Kubernetes pod with appropriate service account permissions.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--k8-secret-template">
  The template to use for rendering the Kubernetes secret data/stringData section. Required when using `--output=k8-secret`. The template uses Go template syntax and has access to the bootstrap response data.

```bash
# Example template that stores the token
infisical bootstrap --k8-secret-template='{"data":{"token":"{{.Identity.Credentials.Token}}"}}'

# Example template with multiple fields
infisical bootstrap --k8-secret-template='{"stringData":{"token":"{{.Identity.Credentials.Token}}","org-id":"{{.Organization.ID}}","user-email":"{{.User.Email}}"}}'
```

Available template functions:

- `encodeBase64`: Base64 encode a string

Available data fields:

- `.Identity.Credentials.Token`: The machine identity token
- `.Identity.ID`: The identity ID
- `.Identity.Name`: The identity name
- `.Organization.ID`: The organization ID
- `.Organization.Name`: The organization name
- `.Organization.Slug`: The organization slug
- `.User.Email`: The admin user email
- `.User.ID`: The admin user ID
- `.User.FirstName`: The admin user first name
- `.User.LastName`: The admin user last name

This flag is required when using `k8-secret` output.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--k8-secret-name">
  The name of the Kubernetes secret to create or update. Required when using `--output=k8-secret`.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --k8-secret-name=infisical-bootstrap-credentials
```

This flag is required when using `k8-secret` output.

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="--k8-secret-namespace">
  The namespace where the Kubernetes secret should be created or updated. Required when using `--output=k8-secret`.

```bash
# Example
infisical bootstrap --k8-secret-namespace=infisical-system
```

This flag is required when using `k8-secret` output.

</Accordion>

## Response

### JSON Output (Default)

The command returns a JSON response with details about the created user, organization, and machine identity:

```json
{
  "identity": {
    "credentials": {
      "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZGVudGl0eUlkIjoiZGIyMjQ3OTItZWQxOC00Mjc3LTlkYWUtNTdlNzUyMzE1ODU0IiwiaWRlbnRpdHlBY2Nlc3NUb2tlbklkIjoiZmVkZmZmMGEtYmU3Yy00NjViLWEwZWEtZjM5OTNjMTg4OGRlIiwiYXV0aFRva2VuVHlwZSI6ImlkZW50aXR5QWNjZXNzVG9rZW4iLCJpYXQiOjE3NDIzMjI0ODl9.mqcZZqIFqER1e9ubrQXp8FbzGYi8nqqZwfMvz09g-8Y"
    },
    "id": "db224792-ed18-4277-9dae-57e752315854",
    "name": "Instance Admin Identity"
  },
  "message": "Successfully bootstrapped instance",
  "organization": {
    "id": "b56bece0-42f5-4262-b25e-be7bf5f84957",
    "name": "dog",
    "slug": "dog-v-e5l"
  },
  "user": {
    "email": "admin@example.com",
    "firstName": "Admin",
    "id": "a418f355-c8da-453c-bbc8-6c07208eeb3c",
    "lastName": "User",
    "superAdmin": true,
    "username": "admin@example.com"
  }
}
```

### Kubernetes Secret Output

When using `--output=k8-secret`, the command creates or updates a Kubernetes secret in your cluster and logs the operation result. This is particularly useful for automated bootstrapping scenarios such as Kubernetes Jobs, GitOps workflows, or when you need to immediately store the admin credentials for use by other applications in your cluster.

## Kubernetes Integration

### Prerequisites for k8-secret Output

When running with `--output=k8-secret`, the command must be executed from within a Kubernetes pod with proper service account permissions. The command automatically:

1. Reads the service account token from `/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token`
2. Reads the CA certificate from `/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/ca.crt`
3. Gets the Kubernetes API server URL from environment variables (`KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST` and `KUBERNETES_SERVICE_PORT_HTTPS`)

### Required RBAC Permissions

Your service account needs the following permissions:

```yaml
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: infisical-bootstrap
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["secrets"]
    verbs: ["get", "create", "update"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: infisical-bootstrap
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: your-service-account
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: infisical-bootstrap
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
```

## Usage with Automation

For automation purposes, you can extract just the machine identity token from the response:

```bash
infisical bootstrap --domain=https://your-infisical-instance.com --email=admin@example.com --password=your-secure-password --organization=your-org-name | jq ".identity.credentials.token"
```

This extracts only the token, which can be captured in a variable or piped to other commands.

## Example: Capture Token in a Variable

```bash
TOKEN=$(infisical bootstrap --domain=https://your-infisical-instance.com --email=admin@example.com --password=your-secure-password --organization=your-org-name | jq -r ".identity.credentials.token")

# Now use the token for further automation
echo "Token has been captured and can be used for authentication"
```

## Notes

- The bootstrap process can only be performed once on a fresh Infisical instance
- All core flags (domain, email, password, organization) are required for the bootstrap process to complete successfully
- Security controls prevent privilege escalation: instance admin identities cannot be managed by non-instance admin users and identities
- The generated admin user account can be used to log in via the UI if needed
- When using `k8-secret` output, the command must run within a Kubernetes pod with proper service account permissions
- The `--ignore-if-bootstrapped` flag is useful for making bootstrap scripts idempotent