Authentication

gplay authenticates to the Google Play Developer API with a service account. You can let gplay set everything up for you, or create the service account by hand.

One-command setup (recommended)

gplay setup --auto

This drives the whole flow via gcloud:

1. Installs the gcloud CLI if it’s missing (Homebrew on macOS, curl on Linux)
2. Logs you into Google Cloud
3. Enables the Android Publisher API
4. Creates a service account and downloads a JSON key
5. Stores the profile in ~/.gplay/config.json
6. Opens Play Console for the one manual step: granting the account access

Useful variants:

gplay setup --auto --project my-gcp-project   # explicit GCP project
gplay setup --auto --dry-run                  # preview the gcloud commands
gplay setup --auto --no-browser               # CI / agent friendly
gplay setup                                   # print manual instructions

Already have a service account key?

gplay auth login --service-account /path/to/service-account.json

Manual setup

Create the service account by hand (full control)

1. Create a Google Cloud project at console.cloud.google.com.

2. Enable the API — APIs & Services → Library → search “Google Play Android Developer API” → Enable.

3. Create a service account — IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → Create. Then open it → Keys → Add Key → JSON, and save the file securely.

4. Grant access in Play Console — play.google.com/console → Users and permissions → Invite new users → enter the service account email (name@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com) → set permissions → Invite.

5. Log in with gplay:

gplay auth login --service-account /path/to/service-account.json

Validate your setup

gplay auth doctor

auth doctor checks the credential file, API access, and app permissions, and explains exactly what’s wrong when something fails. It can even fix common issues:

gplay auth doctor --fix --confirm

Multiple accounts (profiles)

gplay auth login --service-account key.json --profile work
gplay auth switch --profile work
gplay auth status

Or set per-invocation with the GPLAY_PROFILE environment variable.

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
GPLAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT	Path to service account JSON
GPLAY_PACKAGE	Default package name
GPLAY_PROFILE	Active profile name

Caution

Never commit service account JSON files to source control. gplay stores only a path reference to the key in its config.

Next step

Ship something: Quickstart →