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Restoring NuGet Packages in Your CI Workflow

Updated on Oct 27, 2025

This article describes how to use token-based authentication for the Telerik NuGet feed. You will learn how to create and use NuGet API keys to restore Telerik NuGet packages in your Continuous Integration (CI) workflow.

When you need to restore the Telerik NuGet packages as part of your CI, using API Keys provides a secure way to authenticate. This method does not require you to provide your Telerik credentials anywhere in the CI workflow. An API key has a limited scope and can be used only with the Telerik NuGet server. If any of your API Keys is compromised, you can quickly delete it and create a new one.

Generating API Keys

As the Telerik NuGet server requires authentication, the first step is to obtain an API key that you will use instead of a password. Using an API key instead of a password is a more secure approach, especially when working with the .NET CLI or a NuGet.Config file.

Go to the API Keys page in your Telerik account.
Click Generate New Key +.
In the Key Note field, add a note that describes the API key.
Click Generate Key.
Select Copy and Close. Once you close the window, you can no longer copy the generated key. For security reasons, the API Keys page displays only a portion of the key.
Store the generated NuGet API key as you will need it in the next steps.

Whenever you need to authenticate your system with the Telerik NuGet server, use api-key as the username and your generated API key as the password.

Storing API Keys

Never check in NuGet API keys with your source code or leave them publicly visible in plain text (for example, in a NuGet.Config file). An API key is valuable and bad actors can use it to access the NuGet packages that are licensed under your account. A key abuse can lead to a review of the affected Telerik account.

To protect the API key, store it as a secret environment variable. The exact store steps depend on your workflow and environment:

In GitHub Actions, save the key as a GitHub Actions Secret.
In Azure DevOps, save the key as a secret Azure DevOps pipeline variable. If you use an Azure DevOps Service connection instead of secret environment variables, enter api-key in the username field and the API key as the password in the New NuGet service connection form editor.
In Docker images, save the key as a Docker secret.

For more details on storing and protecting your API key, check the Announcing NuGet Keys blog post by Lance McCarthy.

The examples below assume that the secret environment variable name is TELERIK_NUGET_KEY.

Using API Keys

There are two common ways to use a stored API key with the Telerik NuGet server during a build:

Use a NuGet.Config file
Use only CLI commands

For more information on how to use API keys in a build, check the Announcing NuGet Keys blog post by Lance McCarthy.

Using a NuGet.Config File

In your NuGet.Config file, set the Username value to api-key and the ClearTextPassword value to an environment variable name:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <clear />
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
    <add key="TelerikOnlineFeed" value="https://nuget.telerik.com/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
  </packageSources>
  <packageSourceCredentials>
    <TelerikOnlineFeed>
      <add key="Username" value="api-key" />
      <add key="ClearTextPassword" value="%TELERIK_NUGET_KEY%" />
    </TelerikOnlineFeed>
  </packageSourceCredentials>
</configuration>

Using .NET CLI Commands

You can use the .NET CLI add source or update source commands to set the credentials of a package source. This CLI approach is applicable if your CI system doesn't support environment variable secrets or if you do not use a custom NuGet.Config.

To set the credentials in Azure DevOps:

dotnet nuget add source 'https://nuget.telerik.com/v3/index.json' --name 'TelerikOnlineFeed' --username 'api-key' --password '$(TELERIK_NUGET_KEY)' --configfile './NuGet.Config' --store-password-in-clear-text

To set the credentials in GitHub Actions:

dotnet nuget add source 'https://nuget.telerik.com/v3/index.json' --name 'TelerikOnlineFeed' --username 'api-key' --password '${{secrets.TELERIK_NUGET_KEY}}' --configfile './NuGet.Config' --store-password-in-clear-text

When restoring NuGet packages through the CLI, use dotnet restore rather than nuget restore to avoid compatibility errors.