USAGE(1)

🎀 USAGE(1) — the yubikey-agent glow-up guide 🎀

okay bestie, so this is the USAGE(1) page, and it's all about yubikey-agent — literally the manual you need so your YubiKey stops being mysterious. sit down, grab a strawberry, we're doing this 💖

---

✨ NAME ✨

yubikey-agent — a seamless ssh-agent for YubiKeys 🦋

like, it's an ssh-agent but for your YubiKey, and it just… flows. no drama, no chaos. iconic behaviour, honestly.

---

🌸 CONFIGURATION 🌸

so here's the setup tea. first things first: if you want yubikey-agent to start automatically every time, you enable its service like this:

systemctl --user enable yubikey-agent

and if you just wanna start it once — one-time thing, no strings — you start its service instead:

systemctl --user start yubikey-agent

but wait, there's more 👑 you also have to set the $SSH_AUTH_SOCK variable to point at:

"$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/yubikey-agent/yubikey-agent.sock"

that's the socket. that's where the magic lives. you need it, no skipping 💅

if you're a bash girlie, you can do that by running this command before your first ever use of yubikey-agent:

echo 'export SSH_AUTH_SOCK="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/yubikey-agent/yubikey-agent.sock"' >> ~/.bashrc

and that just appends it to your ~/.bashrc so it sticks around forever. lowkey the easiest glow-up in the whole page 🌈

---

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

here's how you actually call the thing:

yubikey-agent [options] command [arguments]

that's the whole vibe. options, then a command, then whatever arguments that command wants. simple. slay.

⭐ OPTIONS ⭐

• -setup — generate a brand new SSH key on the attached YubiKey 🎀 like, fresh key, new era, main character energy. the key gets made right there on the YubiKey that's plugged in.
• -l PATH — run the agent, but have it listen on the UNIX socket at PATH 🌸 so instead of the default spot, you're telling it exactly where to park its socket. you pick the PATH, it listens there. periodt.

---

💀 quick vibe check: this page is short because the tool is chill. don't overthink it — enable the service, set your $SSH_AUTH_SOCK, and you're literally done.

---

and that's the page, bestie 🫶 this was yubikey-agent, from way back in September 2021, living in section USAGE(1) of the manual. go forth and ssh in peace ✨💖