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titleAuthentication

Authentication

python-substack accepts email and password credentials, a cookies JSON file, or a browser cookie header string.

Environment

EMAIL=PASSWORD=PUBLICATION_URL=COOKIES_PATH=COOKIES_STRING=

Use either EMAIL and PASSWORD, or one cookie method. When both cookie methods and email credentials are present, cookie authentication takes precedence.

Cookie file

importosfromsubstackimportApiapi=Api(
cookies_path=os.getenv("COOKIES_PATH"),
publication_url=os.getenv("PUBLICATION_URL"),
)

Export the active session for later use:

api.export_cookies("cookies.json")

Set COOKIES_PATH=cookies.json or pass the file to the CLI:

substack --cookies cookies.json status

Browser cookie string

  1. Sign in to Substack in a browser.
  2. Open developer tools and select the network tab.
  3. Refresh Substack.
  4. Select an authenticated request.
  5. Copy the complete cookie request header value into COOKIES_STRING.
api=Api(
cookies_string=os.getenv("COOKIES_STRING"),
publication_url=os.getenv("PUBLICATION_URL"),
)

Never commit .env, cookie files, passwords, or copied request headers.

Password sign-in

Some accounts use magic-link sign-in by default. To configure a password, sign out of Substack, choose "Sign in with password", and then choose "Set a new password".

Publication selection

Set PUBLICATION_URL for the default publication or override it for one unified CLI invocation:

substack --publication-url https://example.substack.com status

List the publications available to the authenticated account:

substack publications list