diff --git a/pkg/runner/options.go b/pkg/runner/options.go
index c120d84..77f2068 100644
--- a/pkg/runner/options.go
+++ b/pkg/runner/options.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package runner
 import "github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags"
 
 type Options struct {
-	PdcpAuth  bool
+	PdcpAuth  string
 	CveIds    goflags.StringSlice
 	CweIds    goflags.StringSlice
 	Vendor    goflags.StringSlice
diff --git a/pkg/runner/runner.go b/pkg/runner/runner.go
index 7794100..c4fba89 100644
--- a/pkg/runner/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/runner/runner.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func ParseOptions() *Options {
 	flagset.SetDescription(`Navigate the CVE jungle with ease.`)
 
 	flagset.CreateGroup("config", "Config",
-		flagset.BoolVar(&options.PdcpAuth, "auth", false, "configure projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) api key"),
+		flagset.DynamicVar(&options.PdcpAuth, "auth", "true", "configure projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) api key"),
 	)
 
 	flagset.CreateGroup("OPTIONS", "options",
@@ -154,6 +154,25 @@ func ParseOptions() *Options {
 	if !options.Debug {
 		options.Debug = env.GetEnvOrDefault("DEBUG", false)
 	}
+	if options.Version {
+		gologger.Info().Msgf("Current Version: %s\n", Version)
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
+	// api key hierarchy: cli flag > env var > .pdcp/credential file
+	if options.PdcpAuth == "true" {
+		AuthWithPDCP()
+	} else if len(options.PdcpAuth) == 36 {
+		PDCPApiKey = options.PdcpAuth
+		ph := pdcp.PDCPCredHandler{}
+		if _, err := ph.GetCreds(); err == pdcp.ErrNoCreds {
+			apiServer := env.GetEnvOrDefault("PDCP_API_SERVER", pdcp.DefaultApiServer)
+			if validatedCreds, err := ph.ValidateAPIKey(PDCPApiKey, apiServer, "cvemap"); err == nil {
+				_ = ph.SaveCreds(validatedCreds)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	if options.Limit > maxLimit {
 		options.Limit = maxLimit
 	}
@@ -194,15 +213,6 @@ func New(options *Options) *Runner {
 }
 
 func (r *Runner) Run() {
-	if r.Options.Version {
-		gologger.Info().Msgf("Current Version: %s\n", Version)
-		os.Exit(0)
-	}
-
-	if r.Options.PdcpAuth {
-		AuthWithPDCP()
-	}
-
 	if r.Options.Silent {
 		gologger.DefaultLogger.SetMaxLevel(levels.LevelSilent)
 	} else if r.Options.Verbose {