> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lightship.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# POST /login

> Authenticate a browser user with username and password. Returns a session cookie used on subsequent requests until logout or password change.

`POST /login` signs a user into the LightShip web UI and starts a browser session. The response sets a session cookie; the caller then sends that cookie on every subsequent request. Automation clients typically use API keys with `Authorization: Bearer` instead.

## Endpoint

```text theme={null}
POST http://localhost:8080/login
```

## Request body

<ParamField body="username" type="string" required>
  The LightShip username.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="password" type="string" required>
  The user's password.
</ParamField>

## Example

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -c cookies.txt \
  -d '{"username": "alice", "password": "..."}'
```

<Info>
  If the user's `must_change_password` flag is true, only `GET /me`, `POST /me/password`, and `POST /logout` are available until the password is changed.
</Info>