vultr-cli 401 under sudo: config file not found in root's home directory

TL;DR

vultr-cli reads its API key from $HOME/.vultr-cli.yaml. When you run it under sudo, HOME becomes /root, so the CLI looks at /root/.vultr-cli.yaml instead of your user's config, finds nothing, and every command fails with 401 Unauthorized. Fix it with one of these: run with sudo -E so your home and environment carry over, copy your config to /root/.vultr-cli.yaml with mode 600, or pass the key inline as sudo VULTR_API_KEY [your value] api key] vultr-cli account.

Verbatim error

Error:
Please export your VULTR API key as an environment variable or add 'api-key' to your config file, eg:
export VULTR_API_KEY [your value]

With a missing or empty key, API calls then return 401 Unauthorized and vultr-cli exits with code 4 (authentication failure).

When this applies

• You ran vultr-cli as your normal user and it worked, but the same command under sudo fails with 401 or the "add api-key to your config file" error.
• sudo vultr-cli account created a mysterious empty /root/.vultr-cli.yaml file (vultr-cli does this on first run as root instead of erroring cleanly).
• You installed vultr-cli system-wide (e.g. /usr/local/sbin/vultr-cli) and now scripts or automation running as root cannot authenticate.

When this does NOT apply

• A 401 on a non-sudo command: the key itself is wrong, expired, or lacks the needed scope. Regenerate it in the Vultr control panel under API.
• 401 Unauthorized IP address: Vultr restricts the key to allowed IPs. The caller's IP is not on the allowlist, fix that in the control panel, not on the CLI side.
• 403 errors: a scope/permission problem, not a missing config.

Diagnose

1. Confirm which home directory sudo is using:

sudo sh -c 'echo $HOME'

Expected output: /root. That is why your user config is not read.

2. Confirm the user's config exists and has a key -

ls -la ~/.vultr-cli.yaml && grep -c '^api-key value ' ~/.vultr-cli.yaml

Expected: the file exists and the grep prints 1. If the file is missing, you never configured vultr-cli for this user; see step 1 of the fix below instead.

Fix: pick one

1. Preserve your environment with sudo -E (quickest, no files changed):

sudo -E vultr-cli account

Expected: sudo -E keeps HOME pointing at your home directory, so the CLI finds your existing ~/.vultr-cli.yaml. Note the calling shell must already have VULTR_API_KEY exported if the config relies on the env var instead of the file.

2. Copy the config to root's home (best for cron/CI where sudo -E is unavailable):

sudo cp ~/.vultr-cli.yaml /root/.vultr-cli.yaml
sudo chmod 600 /root/.vultr-cli.yaml

Expected: sudo vultr-cli account now authenticates. Mode 600 keeps the key readable only by root.

3. Pass the key inline (one-off, avoids touching config files):

sudo VULTR_API_KEY [your value] api key] vultr-cli account

Expected: the command authenticates. The key stays out of root's config; it is visible in the process list briefly, so prefer option 1 or 2 for repeated use.

Verify any fix with sudo vultr-cli account, which prints your account info and exits 0 on success.

Root cause

vultr-cli resolves its config path from the HOME environment variable ($HOME/.vultr-cli.yaml). sudo resets HOME to /root by default, so the CLI reads a different config file than the one you set up. A missing key means the API requests go out without credentials, and the Vultr API answers 401.

Edge cases

• Related bug (vultr-cli v3.4.0): --config /path/to/file.yaml is ignored and the CLI still tries $HOME/.vultr-cli.yaml. If you hit this, use the VULTR_API_KEY env var approach instead of --config.
• Running as root on first use writes an EMPTY /root/.vultr-cli.yaml. An empty file does not error at read time; the CLI just proceeds with no key and 401s. Delete or replace it before applying the fixes above.
• sudo -E is blocked by some sudoers configurations (SETENV not allowed). Use option 2 or 3 then.
• On systems where root's home is not /root, check the actual home with sudo sh -c 'echo $HOME' before copying.

Tool and version compatibility

• vultr-cli v3.x (the $HOME/.vultr-cli.yaml behavior and the 401 message are confirmed on v3.4.0; the sudo HOME reset applies to all v3 releases).
• Linux and macOS sudo behavior. Not applicable to Windows.

Variant phrasings

• "vultr cli 401 unauthorized when using sudo"
• "vultr-cli asks for api key under sudo but config exists"
• "Error Reading in file: /root/.vultr-cli.yaml"
• "vultr-cli sudo VULTRAPIKEY not picked up"