Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.0.0 or higher, or the Bun runtime

Installation

Global Install (Recommended)

# Using npm
npm install -g @helgesverre/namecheap-cli

# Using pnpm
pnpm add -g @helgesverre/namecheap-cli

# Using Yarn
yarn global add @helgesverre/namecheap-cli

# Using Bun
bun install -g @helgesverre/namecheap-cli

Run Without Installing

You can try out the CLI without installing it globally:

# Using npx
npx @helgesverre/namecheap-cli domains list

# Using bunx
bunx @helgesverre/namecheap-cli domains list

API Credentials Setup

Before using the CLI, you need API credentials from Namecheap:

1. Log in to your Namecheap account
2. Go to Profile > Tools > API Access
3. Enable API access (requires account balance > $50 or 20+ domains)
4. Whitelist your IP address
5. Copy your API key

TIP

You can find your current public IP address by visiting whatismyip.com or running curl ifconfig.me in your terminal.

Authentication

Once you have your API credentials, authenticate the CLI:

namecheap auth login

You will be prompted for:

• Username -- Your Namecheap username
• API Key -- From the API Access page
• Client IP -- Your whitelisted IP address

First Commands

After authenticating, try these commands to verify everything is working:

# List your domains
namecheap domains list

# Check domain availability
namecheap domains check example.com

# View DNS records for a domain
namecheap dns list example.com

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

Error	Solution
"Not authenticated"	Run namecheap auth login
"IP not whitelisted"	Add your IP at Namecheap > Profile > API Access
"API access disabled"	Enable at Namecheap > Profile > Tools > API Access
"Invalid API Key"	Re-run namecheap auth login with the correct key
"Domain not found"	Check the domain name and verify ownership

Check Status

You can verify your authentication and configuration at any time:

# Verify authentication
namecheap auth status

# Check current config
namecheap config list