Biometric unlock in CLI not working

[monsoon8715]

Hi
Biometric unlock in CLI is not working, prompting me for a master password instead.

I use 1password for personal stuff, and the way it works there, I can do

op read "op://secret/reference

1password desktop / cli intergration prompts me to confirm on my apple watch, and I’m off to the races.

I can’t get it to work with BitWarden with biometric unlock (either touchid or apple watch) ( we use BW at work) , I would prefer watch - since I use my laptop in a clamshell mode

 bw list items                                                                     
? Master password: [input is hidden]

I’m using latest macos, with latest bitwarden desktop app and cli.

Bitwarden Desktop App
Version 2025.2.0
SDK 'main (28c7e29)'
Shell 34.0.0
Renderer 132.0.6834.83
Node 20.18.1
Architecture arm64

Bitwarden-Cli
bw -v                                                                                          
2025.1.3

[Nail1684]

I may be in the wrong here, since I don’t use the CLI myself, but it seems to me, biometric unlocking is not available for the CLI.

It’s neither mentioned here Unlock with Biometrics | Bitwarden nor here Password Manager CLI | Bitwarden.

[monsoon8715]

I was going based on these forum posts:
Alas you maybe correct. I only found 1 mention here 4 years ago, people requesting this feature. I just hoped it might have been available already.

Biometric unlock for Bitwarden CLI

Feature name Biometric unlock for Bitwarden CLI Feature function Add biometric unlock feature to the command line interface in the same way that we have it for the web browser extensions for MacOS, where the browser extensions contact the desktop app for the biometric authentication. This will provider quicker unlock of the command line interface.

I submitted support ticket ( since we are using paid version) to get a definte reply from BitWarden as well.

[Nail1684]

@monsoon8715

I only found 1 mention here 4 years ago, people requesting this feature. I just hoped it might have been available already.

Ah. Since that feature request is still open, chances are, it’s really not implemented…

[monsoon8715]

So I just heard back from Support. So they are implemnting it , but it’s not working yet

Currently, Bitwarden does not support biometric unlock via the CLI, including using the Apple Watch or Touch ID. The feature to unlock Bitwarden using the Apple Watch is a requested feature but has not been fully implemented yet. The macOS desktop app supports Touch ID only when the laptop display is active, and users must use the master password to authenticate when in clamshell mode.
For now, you will need to enter your master password manually in the CLI. If you prefer using biometric authentication, you might need to wait for future updates that could potentially include this feature.

[Nail1684]

@monsoon8715

So they are implemnting it , but it’s not working yet

@monsoon8715

you might need to wait for future updates that could potentially include this feature.

(emphasis added)

… sounds like it may be not tomorrow, to be honest…