diff --git a/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.coffee b/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.coffee
index 6209742a..73d2fd8a 100644
--- a/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.coffee
+++ b/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.coffee
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 async = require('async')
+_ = require('lodash')
 
 server = require('../../server/server')
 token = require('../../token/token')
@@ -25,3 +26,14 @@ exports.getToken = token.getToken
 # TODO: Maybe we should post to /logout or something
 # like that to invalidate the token on the server?
 exports.logout = token.clearToken
+
+exports.parseCredentials = (credentials) ->
+	result = credentials.split(':')
+
+	if result.length isnt 2
+		throw new Error('Invalid credentials')
+
+	return {
+		username: _.first(result)
+		password: _.last(result)
+	}
diff --git a/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.spec.coffee b/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.spec.coffee
index 9b2bb855..63ef7637 100644
--- a/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.spec.coffee
+++ b/lib/cli-modules/auth/auth.spec.coffee
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 expect = require('chai').expect
 nock = require('nock')
+_ = require('lodash')
 async = require('async')
 auth = require('./auth')
 config = require('../../config')
@@ -160,3 +161,30 @@ describe 'Auth:', ->
 				], (error) ->
 					expect(error).to.not.exist
 					done()
+
+	describe '#parseCredentials', ->
+
+		describe 'given colon separated credentials', ->
+
+			username = null
+			password = null
+
+			beforeEach ->
+				username = 'johndoe'
+				password = 'mysecret'
+
+			it 'should parse the credentials correctly', ->
+				parsedCredentials = auth.parseCredentials("#{username}:#{password}")
+				expect(parsedCredentials.username).to.equal(username)
+				expect(parsedCredentials.password).to.equal(password)
+
+			it 'should throw an error if it has two or more colons', ->
+				parseFunction = _.partial(auth.parseCredentials, "#{username}:#{password}:#{username}")
+				expect(parseFunction).to.throw(Error)
+
+				parseFunction = _.partial(auth.parseCredentials, "#{username}:#{password}:#{username}:#{password}")
+				expect(parseFunction).to.throw(Error)
+
+			it 'should throw an error if only the username is passed', ->
+				parseFunction = _.partial(auth.parseCredentials, username)
+				expect(parseFunction).to.throw(Error)