ak
Manage the authentik identity provider
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
ak command [options]
DESCRIPTION
ak is the command-line interface for authentik, an open-source identity provider. It manages the authentik server, workers, database operations, and configuration import/export.The server command starts the web interface and API server. Background tasks like email sending and LDAP synchronization require a worker process running separately.Blueprints provide declarative configuration management. Export configurations with export_blueprint for version control or migration, and apply them with import_blueprint.For account recovery when users are locked out, create_recovery_key generates a time-limited recovery URL. The first argument is the validity in minutes and the second is the username. This requires access to the server command line.authentik supports various authentication protocols including SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, SCIM, and proxy authentication for applications that don't support SSO natively.
PARAMETERS
--bind address
Address for server to listen on.--help
Display help information.
CONFIGURATION
/etc/authentik/config.yml
Main authentik configuration file for database, secret key, email, and logging settings.blueprints/
Directory containing declarative YAML blueprints for configuration-as-code.
COMMANDS
server
Start the authentik web server.worker
Start a background worker process.migrate
Apply database migrations.createsuperuser
Create an administrative user interactively.create_recovery_key minutes user
Generate an account recovery link valid for the given number of minutes.dump_config
Print the full effective configuration as YAML.export_blueprint
Export current configuration as blueprint YAML.import_blueprint file
Import configuration from blueprint file.version
Display version information.repair
Run diagnostic and repair routines.shell
Open interactive Python shell with authentik context.dbshell
Open database shell.
CAVEATS
Requires Python environment with authentik installed. Database must be configured and accessible. Most administrative tasks are performed through the web interface; CLI is primarily for server operations and emergency recovery.
HISTORY
authentik was created by Jens Langhammer and first released in 2020 as a modern alternative to older identity providers. Built with Django and designed for containerized deployments, it provides comprehensive identity management features. The project gained popularity as a self-hosted alternative to commercial identity providers, offering features like application proxying, multi-factor authentication, and extensive protocol support.