Fly.io "No access token available" (FLY_API_TOKEN) in CI

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

flyctl authenticates non-interactively with FLY_API_TOKEN. When it is unset, flyctl reports it has no access token and points you at flyctl auth login, which cannot run in CI.

What this error means

A flyctl deploy step fails with "Error: no access token available. Run flyctl auth login to obtain one".

Error: no access token available. Run `flyctl auth login` to obtain one

Common causes

No token in the environment

CI cannot run interactive flyctl auth login, so without FLY_API_TOKEN flyctl has no credential.

The token secret was not exposed to the step

The secret exists but was not mapped into the job env, so flyctl sees no token.

How to fix it

Set FLY_API_TOKEN from a secret

1. Create a deploy token with flyctl tokens create deploy.
2. Store it as a CI secret named FLY_API_TOKEN.
3. Expose it to the deploy step (flyctl reads it automatically).

env:
  FLY_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FLY_API_TOKEN }}

Use a scoped deploy token

A deploy token is scoped to one app, which is safer for CI than a full account token.

flyctl tokens create deploy -a my-app

How to prevent it

• Use an app-scoped deploy token for CI.
• Keep FLY_API_TOKEN in CI secrets.
• Set it at the job level so all flyctl calls are authenticated.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Terraform documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation