FlashView CLI

A command-line tool for creating and managing encrypted secrets via the FlashView API. Secrets are encrypted locally on your machine before being sent to the server — your plaintext never leaves your device.

Installation

Option 1: Download pre-built binary (recommended if you don't have Node.js)

Download the latest binary for your platform from the GitHub Releases page.

The binary includes a bundled Node.js runtime and is approximately 70-90MB depending on your platform.

macOS (Apple Silicon):

chmod +x flashview-darwin-arm64
sudo mv flashview-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/flashview

Linux (x64):

chmod +x flashview-linux-x64
sudo mv flashview-linux-x64 /usr/local/bin/flashview

Linux (arm64):

chmod +x flashview-linux-arm64
sudo mv flashview-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/flashview

Windows: Rename flashview-windows-x64.exe to flashview.exe and add its directory to your PATH.

Verify download integrity: Each release includes a checksums-sha256.txt file. Verify your download:

sha256sum --check checksums-sha256.txt

macOS Gatekeeper: If you see "this app is from an unidentified developer", right-click the binary and select "Open", or run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/flashview

Windows SmartScreen: If Windows Defender SmartScreen blocks the binary, click "More info" then "Run anyway". The binary is a modified Node.js executable which may trigger false positives.

Option 2: Install via npm (requires Node.js 20+)

npm install -g @pioneer-dynamics/flashview-cli

How to upgrade

Binary users: Download the latest release from the Releases page and replace your existing binary. Run flashview --version to check your current version, or run flashview update to see if a newer version is available.

npm users:

flashview update

Setup

The easiest way to get started is to log in via your browser:

flashview login

This opens your browser, lets you authenticate with your existing credentials (including 2FA and passkeys), choose token permissions, and automatically saves the API token to your CLI config. To update permissions later, just run flashview login again.

Alternatively, you can manually create a token from your API Tokens page and configure the CLI directly:

flashview config set --token your-api-token

The default server URL is https://flashview.link. To use a self-hosted instance, pass --url:

flashview login --url https://your-server.com
flashview config set --token your-api-token --url https://your-server.com

View current configuration

flashview config show

Clear stored configuration

flashview config clear

Usage

Create a secret

# With inline message
flashview create --message "my secret password"

# Pipe from stdin
echo "my secret" | flashview create

# With custom expiry (default: 1d)
flashview create -m "secret" --expires-in 7d

# With a specific passphrase
flashview create -m "secret" --passphrase "my-custom-passphrase"

# JSON output for scripting
flashview create -m "secret" --json

Expiry options: 5m, 30m, 1h, 4h, 12h, 1d, 3d, 7d, 14d, 30d

After creating a secret, save the URL and passphrase immediately — they cannot be retrieved later.

List secrets

flashview list

# Paginated
flashview list --page 2

# JSON output
flashview list --json

Burn (delete) a secret

flashview burn <message_id>

# Skip confirmation
flashview burn <message_id> --yes

# JSON output
flashview burn <message_id> --json

Security Notes

• Encryption is performed locally using AES-256-GCM with PBKDF2 key derivation (SHA-512, 64,000 iterations). The server never sees your plaintext.
• API tokens are stored in plaintext in your OS config directory (e.g., ~/.config/flashview-cli/config.json). On shared systems, set appropriate file permissions: chmod 600 ~/.config/flashview-cli/config.json.
• Passphrases are never sent to the server.