diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 603dfa1..8bd50d1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,22 @@ alias work_haste="HASTE_SERVER=https://something.com haste"
 
 After which you can use `work_haste` to send hastes to that server instead.
 
+### Authentication
+
+If your haste installation requires http authentication,
+add the following to your ~.bash_profile:
+
+```bash
+export HASTE_USER="myusername"
+export HASTE_PASS="mypassword"
+```
+
+if you are using SSL, you will need to supply your certs path
+
+```bash
+export HASTE_SSL_CERTS="/System/Library/OpenSSL/certs"
+```
+
 ## Use as a library
 
 You can also use `Haste` as a library to upload hastes:
diff --git a/lib/haste/cli.rb b/lib/haste/cli.rb
index f6611e4..213ca11 100644
--- a/lib/haste/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/haste/cli.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ module Haste
 
     # Create a new uploader
     def initialize
-      @uploader = Uploader.new ENV['HASTE_SERVER']
+      @uploader = Uploader.new(
+        ENV['HASTE_SERVER'],
+        ENV['HASTE_USER'],
+        ENV['HASTE_PASS'],
+        ENV['HASTE_SSL_CERTS'])
     end
 
     # And then handle the basic usage
diff --git a/lib/haste/uploader.rb b/lib/haste/uploader.rb
index b6ac235..72ad08c 100644
--- a/lib/haste/uploader.rb
+++ b/lib/haste/uploader.rb
@@ -8,12 +8,16 @@ module Haste
 
   class Uploader
 
-    attr_reader :server_url
+    attr_reader :server_url, :server_user, :server_pass, :ssl_certs
 
-    def initialize(server_url = nil)
+    def initialize(server_url = nil, server_user = nil, server_pass = nil, ssl_certs = nil)
       @server_url = server_url || Haste::DEFAULT_URL
       @server_url = @server_url.dup
       @server_url = @server_url.chop if @server_url.end_with?('/')
+
+      @server_user = server_user
+      @server_pass = server_pass
+      @ssl_certs   = ssl_certs
     end
 
     # Take in a path and return a key
@@ -51,11 +55,31 @@ module Haste
     end
 
     def connection
-      @connection ||= Faraday.new(:url => server_url) do |c|
-        c.adapter Faraday.default_adapter
+      @connection ||= connection_set
+    end
+
+    def connection_set
+      return connection_https if @ssl_certs
+      connection_http
+    end
+
+    def connection_http
+      Faraday.new(:url => server_url) do |c|
+        connection_config(c)
       end
     end
 
+    def connection_https
+      Faraday.new(:url => server_url, :ssl => { :ca_path => @ssl_certs }) do |c|
+        connection_config(c)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def connection_config(config)
+      config.basic_auth(@server_user, @server_pass) if @server_user
+      config.adapter Faraday.default_adapter
+    end
+
     def fail_with(msg)
       raise Exception.new(msg)
     end