diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d5e1ba4..f5d8caf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ optional arguments:
   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
   -t TOKEN, --token TOKEN
                         File to store token in
+  -a AUTHFILE, --authfile AUTHFILE
+                        File to store credentials in (instead of using username and password)
   -s [BOOL], --skipVerify [BOOL]
                         Skip Ssl verification
   -r [BOOL], --raw [BOOL]
@@ -119,3 +121,13 @@ can be found at https://pypi.org/project/pcomfortcloud/
 ### How to publish package;
 - `python .\setup.py sdist bdist_wheel`
 - `python -m twine upload dist/*`
+
+## Auth File
+Instead of specifying the username and password on the command line, they can optionally, be stored in a YAML file.
+To use the auth file, on the command line, set the username to authfile and set the password to the full path of the YAML file 
+
+The format of the auth file is:
+```
+username: USERNAME
+password: PASSWORD
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pcomfortcloud/__main__.py b/pcomfortcloud/__main__.py
index b2a19a6..e4d7c62 100644
--- a/pcomfortcloud/__main__.py
+++ b/pcomfortcloud/__main__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import argparse
 import json
+import yaml
 import pcomfortcloud
 
 from enum import Enum
@@ -37,11 +38,11 @@ def main():
 
     parser.add_argument(
         'username',
-        help='Username for pcomfortcloud Comfort Cloud')
+        help='Username for pcomfortcloud Comfort Cloud. If "#" is used then the password parameter is a YAML file containing both the username and password')
 
     parser.add_argument(
         'password',
-        help='Password for pcomfortcloud Comfort Cloud')
+        help='Password for pcomfortcloud Comfort Cloud. If "#" used as the username, then this parameter is a YAML file containing both the username and password')
 
     parser.add_argument(
         '-t', '--token',
@@ -197,6 +198,27 @@ def main():
         help='date of day like 20190807')
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
+    
+    # if username has been specified as the string "auth" then password is actually a filename containing both the username and password
+    if args.username == "#":
+        # args.password should actually be a filename, try and read it as as yaml file
+        with open(args.password, "r") as file:
+            try:
+                cfg = yaml.load(file, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
+                # grab the user and pass out of the auth file
+                # replacing that which was specified on the command line
+                args.username=cfg["username"]
+                args.password=cfg["password"]
+                print ("Retrieved username and password from authfile")
+            except yaml.YAMLError as e:
+                print("YAML format error with authfile: " + args.authfile)
+                print(e)
+                quit()
+            except Exception as e:
+                print("YAML configuration error with authfile (missing fields?): " + args.authfile)
+                print(e)
+                quit()
+        
 
     session = pcomfortcloud.Session(args.username, args.password, args.token, args.raw, args.skipVerify == False)
     session.login()
@@ -215,6 +237,7 @@ def main():
                 raise Exception("device not found, acceptable device id is from {} to {}".format(1, len(session.get_devices())))
 
             device = session.get_devices()[int(args.device) - 1]
+
             print("reading from device '{}' ({})".format(device['name'], device['id']))
 
             print_result( session.get_device(device['id']) )