nmcli-agent

Register nmcli as a secret agent and listen for secret requests

$ nmcli agent secret

$ nmcli agent polkit

$ nmcli agent all

nmcli agent command

nmcli agent runs nmcli as an agent daemon that responds to NetworkManager's requests for secrets (passwords, keys) or polkit authorization requests. This is useful in environments without a desktop secret agent or polkit agent.
As a secret agent, nmcli can provide Wi-Fi passwords, VPN credentials, and other secrets when NetworkManager needs them to establish connections. It prompts the user in the terminal for required credentials.
As a polkit agent, nmcli handles authorization prompts for privileged NetworkManager operations, allowing command-line authentication without a graphical polkit agent.

secret, s

Run as a NetworkManager secret agent to provide passwords/credentials

Run as a polkit agent to handle authorization requests

Run as both secret and polkit agent

The agent runs in the foreground and must remain running to handle requests. Only one secret agent or polkit agent of each type can be registered at a time. Primarily useful for headless systems or terminal-only environments.

nmcli(1), nmcli-general(1), NetworkManager(8), polkit(8)